"I love design, I love colour, I love texture. And I love how all the elements come together.
The absolute joy is being able to create a one-off piece for someone, incorporating the design motifs they like. People give me colours, animals, patterns, a mood or occasion as inspiration… That emerges into something very special for them and for me."
Alex Stewart Carter
The art of decorating objects with paper cut-outs
The word decoupage or découpage comes from the French word decouper, meaning to cut out or cut from something, although the art of layering cutouts is thought to have originated in East Siberian tomb art before reaching popularity in twelfth-century China.
You may have an image of decoupage being applied to wooden or card items, such as the screens, tables and trinket boxes that became popular in the Victorian era. But around twenty-five years ago, while living in the United States, Alex discovered the surprising technique of applying decoupage to glass.
Fascinated by the potential of this unusual art form, Alex spent a decade exploring how it worked and learning from like-minded enthusiasts. The rest is history: decoupage glassware has proved an endless source of inspiration.
The nature of the medium means her work is constantly changing: it’s very hard to produce the same thing twice. Drawing on beautiful vintage images and handcrafted papers from all over the world is an endless design adventure.
Vintage botanical art prints are painstakingly cut out by hand and paired with exquisite, handmade papers sourced from around the world.
Layer by layer, papers are carefully arranged onto durable glassware until all surfaces have been completely covered.
Alex works hard to create a beautiful interplay between the designs on the outside and inside of the object, so there's something new to discover from every angle.
This careful design work is carried out by hand, which means no two pieces will ever be the same.
Multiple layers of hardwearing lacquer are applied to each decoupage glassware design.
Each layer of lacquer demands a lengthy drying process to ensure the paper layers receive maximum protection for long-term use in the home.
Decoupage is a culmination of the many skills Alex has accumulated over a diverse artistic career.
Alex fell into her early fate as a picture framer quite by chance, spending a decade learning and working - half by trial and error, half by training with a variety of very skilled experts.
The beauty of picture framing is that it demands the mastery of a wide range of traditional creative skills, from gilding and faux-painting to woodwork.
Alex still makes use of her picture framing skills to frame the artwork of her talented daughter, painter Phoebe Stewart Carter.
Alex studied under master of traditional arts, Mike McNeil, to learn the extraordinary techniques of faux painting and faux marbling.
Here you can see a before (right) and after (left) transformation of a table that Alex has skilfully upcycled to look like an antique.
Faux marbling, or marbleizing, is an old artisanal skill used to give wood, walls and other surfaces the appearance of polished marble.
The technique creates an ideal way of recycling and upcycling vintage furniture, adding depth and interest to interiors, or as a more practical alternative where genuine marble would be prohibitively heavy or expensive.
You'll find countless examples of Alex's expert faux painting and marbleising in the backdrops to her decoupage glassware.
