After graduating from Dermott High School in May 1971, Alexander moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he studied Architecture at Pines Vocational Technical School, which is now Southeast Arkansas College. One of his earliest series of paintings, the "Dermott Series", depicted his childhood memories of growing up in Dermott,Arkansas. Six of those paintings are now a part of the permanent collection at the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. His career as a professional artist began when he created several lines of greeting cards in 1991. He called his first line of cards "The Expressions Line", but did not trademark the name. As a result, Hallmark Cards now has used the name on a line of their cards since 1997. His greeting cards are not tied to the Hallmark line in any way. Between 1991 and 1994 he created many drawings, including "Renetta", "Girlfriends", "Cowboy Fiddler", "Young Kennedys", and "Roundup". In 1999 Alexander painted his "Detroit Series", a series of paintings of many sites in Detroit, Michigan. The paintings were first shown at the American Black Artist Institute in Detroit.