An Inside Look at the Colorful World of Artist Alex Proba

Although she came from a family of doctors, Alex Proba found her niche in artistic pursuits. Proba does everything from branding work and graphic design to abstract art. “I try to touch every type of surface,” she explains. “I see everything in life as a canvas.” Proba’s commissioned work appears at unique locations like basketball courts, bars, swimming pools and hotel walls. “These are applications where people don’t normally think about doing art,” she says. Pool Mural

Proba began painting as a teenager. She later attended design school and started creating visual art several years into her career. A client approached her to paint a mural, and even though she had never done one, she was up for the challenge. That first job evolved into more murals and commissioned artwork for Proba, who says that she has worked as an artist since 2013, but it’s only been in the last three years that she’s been able to make it a full-time career. “In the past, I worked for an agency or start-up company at the same time that I was running my studio.”

“I see everything in life as a canvas.” Pool Mural

It took Proba a long time to convince her parents that she wasn’t going to become a starving artist. Then in 2015, she created a collection that was featured in The New York Times. “At that point, my dad began to see that I was doing something right.”

What inspires her? “I always seek out the unexpected and what is hard to figure out. I try to make it work,” she replies. One of her most known art forms is painting the bottoms of pools; she paints the surfaces with bright colors that are atypical of traditional pools. “Pools are a good example because the water is always a turquoise color that we all see.” She enjoys the transformation that occurs when the pool is painted to when it’s full of water. “It gives a new dimension to my work—adding nature on top of it and seeing what happens.” Pool Mural

Credit: Madeline Tolle

One of her favorite aspects of her career is being able to do something different every day. “It never gets boring for me,” Proba says. “One day I’ll be painting, and the next day, I’ll be designing.” Equally rewarding is seeing people’s delighted reactions. “I want to make people happy with my work.”

Pool Mural

Photography Provided By: Madeline Tolle + Alex Proba

Lynne Eodice

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Lynne Eodice is an accomplished writer & photographer. She is the former Features Editor for Petersen’s PHOTOgraphic magazine, and has contributed her writing and/or editorial expertise to Photographer’s Forum, Rangefinder, DoubleExposure.com, California Tour & Travel, Family Photo and Adorama’s Learning Center. She is also the author of Photos That Inspire: Photo Workshop, an instructional book that’s illustrated with more than 200 images by various photographers, published by Wiley & Sons.