A five-decade journey from design to painting

A career spanning graphic design, teaching and painting will come together in From Design to Light, a solo exhibition opening at the St John Ambulance & Rescue HQ in Valletta on Friday 16 October 2026.

The exhibition brings together work from across five decades, tracing Doranne Alden’s journey from her early training in art and professional career in graphic design to a life devoted to painting. Around 25 to 30 framed works will be on display, combining a retrospective selection with more recent paintings.

Michael Frendo will officially open the exhibition at 7.30pm on Friday 16 October. The exhibition will run from 17 to 31 October and is the first exhibition to be held at the St John Ambulance & Rescue HQ.

The title, From Design to Light, reflects two disciplines that have remained closely connected throughout the artist’s life. Although graphic design became her profession from an early age, painting was never abandoned. “I have always been a watercolourist,” Alden says. She describes painting not as something she returned to later in life, but as a constant thread running through her career.

Alden began learning art at around the age of 14 at Msida Polytechnic. At 18, she entered the world of graphic design, where she initially worked with Promotion Services and Rowland Phototypesetting before joining JPA Advertising at 21.

During her years at JPA, she worked on the original design and paste-up of Circle Magazine. She overaw its design during its first five years. She became head designer at approximately 24, before co-founding Details Design Ltd in 1990.

In 1995, Alden moved to Germany, where she taught painting and held exhibitions. Following her return to Malta in 2003, she continued teaching and exhibiting, while also developing a programme of painting activities. Since 2012, she has organised painting weekends and painting holidays in Gozo, as well as painting trips abroad, including group trips to Tuscany.

The exhibition brings together these different strands of her career, looking at the development of her work over five decades while also reflecting the places, experiences and memories that have informed her painting.

Among the works on display is the title painting, Catching Fishing Bait, Golden Bay (2026). The selection also includes paintings inspired by Malta and Gozo, alongside works drawn from places and memories accumulated over the years, including Comino Channel, Red Vespa, Mum’s Heavenly Terrace, The Orange Orchard in Buskett and Prickly Pear Delight.

The retrospective section opens with Freesia in Orange Vase, offering an entry point into a body of work that spans decades and demonstrates the continuing relationship between observation, design and the possibilities of watercolour.

From Design to Light opens at 7.30pm on Friday 16 October 2026 at the St John Ambulance & Rescue HQ, Valletta. The exhibition is open from 17 to 31 October 2026