Channelling life’s intensities and the birth of Zara Muse.

By Katie Emberley

People have preconceived ideas about artists. Melancholy, troubled, dissatisfied, eccentric, brilliant, difficult. Almost like there must be something intrinsically ‘wrong’ with them to fuel their artistic process. To some degree this is true in the sense that ‘art’ becomes this beautiful channel for all of life’s intensities. What we can’t say out loud, we can paint. What we can’t put into words, we can sculpt, what we can’t express, we can sing. It is why through the centuries those that love art, try to look at the messages deeper within it, what is it saying that the artist cannot? How does it make us feel? what is the ongoing impression it leaves on us?

Alex isn’t melancholy, troubled, dissatisfied or difficult. However, brilliant and eccentric she is as all artists should be. As down to earth of the dirt and grass is, Alex is so real, authentic and a wide-open book. Alex’s art doesn’t just begin and end with glorious portraits of women, it starts with every interaction she has with people. Interested in their stories, who they are and what their opinion is. It all forms the stories of which she so beautifully depicts on the canvas. I don’t think this is intentional either. It is just who she is. Joyful, giggly and never taking herself or life too seriously. The work speaks a different truth though. Within the celebration there is real depth, resilience, a contemplation and a toughness.

This is what I want to understand when I sit down with Alex. How Alex AKA Zara Muse and this ever-growing glorious collection of feminine portraits has come to be.

Alexandra Johnson AKA Zara Muse is a hot commodity on the London Art scene. A complete sell out of each collection, a definitive signature style at which the industry can’t get enough of and a fairly sudden rise to fame.

I expect to hear a story of a struggling artist that was discovered later in her career, the truth is more surprising and forms the basis for this artist’s inspiration.

Alex started her career as a trader in the City, a successful fund manager, a World away from where she is now. Alex met her husband at work and they quickly became a trading power couple and carved out quite the lifestyle. A 2.5-million-pound house in Essex and 3 kids later the couple decided that one of them would have to sacrifice their career to be available for the children, Alex happily volunteered. Apart from coming from an artistic family, with a well-known painter cousin and a legacy of skilled creatives, Alex isn’t thinking of art at the this stage in her life.

One day out of the blue, Alex’s husband told her that family life was no longer for him and he wanted out, so he left the family home, moved in with another woman and took the income with him.

This couldn’t have come at a worse time for Alex, her Mother Jan was suffering with cancer and now required around the clock care which meant Alex could not go back to work to generate an income.

The pain and intense pressure of a marriage breakdown coupled with a terminally ill parent would take most people to their knees, however Alex was determined to see her family through the storm. Against the odds and without support Alex managed to pay all of her children’s school fees up front. ‘I knew then that no matter what happened, I could see all 3 of them through their private education. I was determined not to disrupt their schooling and do my best at creating some kind of stability’.

Alex had to sell their gorgeous £2.5 million pound property and massively downsize until she found her feet. Alex lost her lovely Mum in 2019 after devoting 2 years to her round the clock care.

In all that sorrow and loss Jan had imparted a great sense of humour and hard-working values in her daughter Alex, it is what picked her up, got her through and propelled her children to thrive.

It was this process and the stage in her life’s journey that drove her to pick up a paintbrush and a pallet knife, with a very clear brief in her mind. ‘I wanted to paint women, their faces, their profile, from all backgrounds, in all of life phases’.

In all of that diversity, there would be one unifying factor that Alex wanted obvious within her work, resilience.

It worked, it worked intensely, and it worked quickly. Alex was swiftly picked up as a resident artist by The Grove Gallery in Fitzrovia and soon had such a demand she couldn’t paint fast enough.  Sell out shows last year saw her prices skyrocket in the tens of thousands per piece with the investment potential of each piece proving highly lucrative.

Hotels came knocking with now several sites including The Fairmont Group and I’oscar displaying Alex’s work. Limited edition prints were created to make Zara Muse more widely available for all art loving consumers.

A special commission in collaboration with Astrea London saw 14.9-carat DSV1 worth of diamonds embedded in one of Alex’s portraits entitled ‘Revolution’ this imposing piece is the first of its kind.

A recent introduction into Dubai has seen Zara Muse infiltrate the Middle Eastern art scene with the vibrant pallet knife acrylics adorning the walls of the most discerning art lovers. Michelin star restaurants want their walls to be as glorious as their dishes with the Zara Muse adorning the walls of the most premium establishments including Kanishka in Mayfair.

So what next for Zara Muse now that Alex has met all of her goals and then some.

‘I want to champion and support women, women in business, entrepreneurs, working Mums. Remind them of their resilience, show them how I did it and nourish a supportive network. I will continue to create of course but I will always come back to my ‘why’. Strength and resilience, of my mother, myself and all of the wonderful women in my life’.

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