Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Jones.
Andrew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Colorado and spent much of my middle and high school years immersed in the snowboard community. My friends and I were on the mountain every day, competing, traveling and having a blast. As a kid from Colorado, I spent the winters snowboarding and summers building skate ramps and making a mess in my parent’s garage. Snowboarding was everything to my friends and I, giving us an early sense of curiosity and community, as well as a defiant visual style and spirit.
I moved to San Diego to attend college and at the time the street art scene was exploding, so as a young student I started to make work with similar materials like spray paint, stencil, and collage with flat, bold and graphic sensibilities. I was a kid from a small mountain town and was inspired by this urban phenomenon.
During school, I started to think more critically about the function of public art and architecture, policy and community engagement, and the nuanced fabric of our urban communities. Since then my creative practice has used the urban environment as a catalyst, representing diverse people, places and textures in what I like to call the poetry and rhythm of the seemingly mundane.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like anyone, I have had my ups and downs but I suppose I wouldn’t be where I am without them. I went to college with varying frequency for 6+ years and spent a lot of time considering if the college route I was on was right for me. I wanted to study graphic design and be a more formal Designer but I had a natural inclination to work with my hands, and with more analog materials. This didn’t mean I couldn’t still be a designer, I have just had to rethink what a designer could be, and what kind of work an artist or designer with my background could excel in.
Please tell us more about your work.
I specialize in mixed media painting, poster design, and custom typographic work, and would love to do mural projects soon. My work originates through a self proclaimed term I refer to as the Still City, based on small moments in our urban landscape that are just a little strange, but not without intrigue.
I use imagery and textures from the urban landscape to speak on our relationships to places and spaces, our relationship with others. I also use writing and poetry as a way to generate ideas and tell stories. The written words are often represented in my visual work, sometimes overtly but often abstracted. I like to think of it as visual poetry.
This year some of my paintings found homes in Europe and Canada, which is the first time my paintings have been purchased outside the US. A big moment for me.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is the freedom and ability to create work that resonates for as long as possible. I want to be 80 years old and still thinking through new concepts in my sketchbook, excited as ever about sharing new work and ideas.
It is the opportunity to collaborate with passionate people, and be well compensated in the process so that I may reinvest in my business, pursue bigger projects, crush massive goals, and create a system to support my community and champion causes I care about.
I want to – to quote the author and artist Austin Kleon – “worry less about getting things done, worry more about things worth doing. Worry less about being a great artist, worry more about being a good human being who makes art. Worry less about making a mark, worry more about leaving things better than you found them.” (Austin Kleon, Keep Going.)
Contact Info:
- Website: andrewcarljones.com
- Phone: 970.376.3490
- Email: andrewcarljones@gmail.com
- Instagram: @andcjones
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