Alec Cowan was born in 1912 in England. He studied at Regent Street Polytechnic in London, University of Texas, San Fernando State College, and Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. He settled in Laguna Beach, California, and produced decades of work in etching or block print. He was included in exhibitions in Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Denver Museum, Boston Museum of Art, Pasadena Art Museum, Kennedy Galleries in NY and Weythe Gallery in NY.