Courtesy of FuelTV: Posted January 28, 2008 Jay Alders is a young fresh new talent. He was recently chosen to be a featured artist in the Winter X Games this past weekend, with a custom painted snowboard that was auctioned off for cancer research through the V Foundation. We decided to take it upon ourselves to find out a little more about his work and how he was chosen. How did the X Games feature happen? One of the EXPN guys who’s running some of the events saw my work and reached out to me asking if I’d be interested in lending my talents to help raise money for Cancer research. I lost two Grandparents to Cancer and this cause is very personal to me. I was honored to be approached by the X-games and thought it would be a fun thing to do. They sent me a blank snowboard with a license to create whatever I wanted and I just went at it. How has having your work on sites like Myspace and Facebook affected your success? What a weird point in history we live in, where social networking websites become a mandatory prerequisite towards achieving one’s goals. They definitely have helped a lot, not only for my career but to just have the technology to allow me to communicate with friends around the world. It would be so cool if some of history’s great masters were alive today, so we could just “friend request” them or “throw a sheep” at them online. How does your life translate into your work? My paintings just “come to me”, usually when I am chillin’ out at home or with friends and family...I’ll get this idea. Most often, my concepts for paintings arrive to me as a culmination of thoughts, shapes, colors, energy, feelings and techniques. I try and not plan it out too much. So usually subconsciously, whatever is floating through my head at one particular time or another has to just come out. Often these themes are from my experiences or dreams. What inspires you/who inspires you? The deep answer, goes something like this: I am constantly inspired by things around me, but also things inside of me. I believe we are all connected with one another and the Universe, thereby making my work be in direct relation with the energy around me. I am constantly seeking to be inspired or observe greatness. This can come in the form of a seagull flying by, a voice in a song, a sunset, the color of a shadow being cast on the sand, the curve of a woman’s torso or from seeing the reflections in a drop of water. People who humble me with their overwhelming talent inspire me very much. When I am around greatness, I am inspired. Whomever and whatever that may be. Do you have a favorite artist? Way too hard of a question to answer. I can rattle off about fifteen to twenty from the past five hundred years. But if I was forced to say one, I’d say that Salvador Dali has been a constant source of humility and inspiration. How attached do you feel to you work, do you have a hard time selling it? My paintings become a snapshot of my life as I am painting it. During those painting sessions, it was my therapist, my journal and my teacher. After it’s done, I might put it away and not look at it for a while, like I would with vacation photos in an album. But when I do look at it again, I feel very emotionally tied to it. It reminds me of the struggles in trying to finish it and also the bliss and euphoric highs you get when you’re just in the “zone”. Is there one place that you dream about showing your work? I don’t really dream about stuff like that. I try and keep my ego out of the process to just keep it real with myself. I am super thankful for all the opportunities and know that where ever I am suppose to show will come to me when I am ready. To Check out Jay’s work, go to his website: www.jayalders.com
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