thank you @twestivalSF

Wow I have been so unmotivated to create art for the past 8 months. As you can see from the lack of posts. At my day job I do mind numbing tasks all day and then I am exhausted when I get home. This mundane routine had me in a creative rut. The only thing that keeps me remotely sane is listening to podcasts for the eight hours that I have to work. Recently I was listening to an episode of Leo Laporte's "the Tech Guy" and they were discussing the entertainment industry and all the problems with piracy. Leo keeps using the analogy of the NYC fruitstand that entices people in with the fresh fruit sitting outside. Now anyone walking down the street could steal a piece and surely some do but the amount of sales they get from the fruit being on display far out weighs the risk of theft. This got me thinkng about my art. Artists concentrate so much on trying to sell art and finding buyers and getting into gallery's. I tried that scene and won a few contests but my art was not getting sold and I was unmotivated to create anything new. So I decide why not just give it away and maybe some people will like it and maybe somone will actually want to pay for some of it. So thats why I started my twitter @freeportrait. My idea is to do one 8x10 portrait for one person everyweek. You send me a picture and in one week I send you a piece of art created from the picture. Pretty simple concept that gets me working and being creative and makes people happy. So right now I am starting a portrait for @adevine of his daughter. Photos will be up as soon as it is finished.

Follow me up @freeportrait and @alexandergjones

work in progress

I am finally graduating from college this Saturday. It is great to be able to do art on my own and not for a project. This is my most recent piece and my first water color portrait. I am going to have to move all my art paraphernalia so I wont be able to work on stuff until I set up my new work space in my apartment.

I am currently exhibiting three pieces in the Lakeland Art Association's Spring Juried Show. The gallery is located at 120 N First St, Pierceton, IN. Theses pieces will be on display until the end of May. The reception for the show is this Saturday at 1:30pm. I will post and let you know if I win any awards.