OPRAH: So tell me where your, tell me where your inspiration
to paint comes from.
My inspiration comes from--
OPRAH: Did you like Picasso?
You know, I never even knew about Picasso.
I didn't even know who Picasso was.
I just was enjoying myself and I started painting this way
because I wanted to be different and I wanted--
OPRAH: When did you start painting?
How old?
ALEXANDRA: I start painting when I was two actually
in coloring books, then at four and five
I was working with water colors. OPRAH: Inside the lines or out?
ALEXANDRA: Outside, of course. OPRAH: Outside, of course.
Could you tell me what the names of these paintings are?
ALEXANDRA: Yes.
I'm fascinated by what you see and what we see
and how you saw that.
ALEXANDRA: The left one is "Summer in Europe"
and the right one is "Sunflower Fields",
and I really, I love both of them and I love them all.
You are amazing.
ALEXANDRA: Thank you.
You're an amazing child.
11.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Today Alexander is 30 years old and a new mother.
We checked in with her at her studio in Los Angeles.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ALEXANDRA: Show them into the studio?
Let's go.
This is my studio mascot, Sophia.
So this is my studio.
It's in my parents' backyard.
I produce the majority of my work here.
I am never really into starting a piece
and finishing it in one sitting.
I have pieces in here actually that I've recently
come across that I probably did even before I
was on the "Oprah" show, so-- [LAUGHTER]
This was in 1985.
I was eight years old.
I don't think my brother was born yet.
It's crazy.
Being on the show had a huge impact on my career inevitably.
I mean, the audience that you reach through TV is huge,
as we all know, but especially through Oprah's show
was immense.
So this is a painting I started when I was nine years old.
And this was my interpretation of Pocahontas at the time
and then, you know, revisited years later.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
My passion for painting as a child
was something that was not really understood by my peers.
So I was a little bit of an outcast in that sense.
I mean, did I make sacrifices?
Did I make very explicit choices, you know,
and choose my career over going to every single football game,
or going to every single school dance,
or every single birthday?
Absolutely.
Do I regret it?
No.
Did I get frustrated then?
100%, of course.
You know, I was 16, I was 17.
It's a natural feeling to feel like you're missing out
on things, but I never had the feeling of being forced
to do that, and I think that that's
where the difference lies, is I actually made
the choice for myself.
[HUMMING]
The most I've ever sold a painting for, I think,
is somewhere around $400,000.
I have been incredibly lucky to make a very good living
from my work and not only provide for myself
but provide for my family and my extended family.
And that has surely been one of the greatest gifts
that I've been able to receive and also give at the same time
through my career.
My parents have been very dedicated to,
you know, managing my work and I think that is definitely
a lot of the reason why I was able to remain grounded,
because there was just so much going
on at one point in my life.
I mean, it would been super easy to just
fall off the edge and kind of lose sight of everything.