We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My mother has always been a huge influence in my life. As I kid if I ever showed interest in a creative practice my mother always encourage me and provided me with the resources to explore. She gave me the space the learn but also gave me the space to fail and learn what worked best for me. Though she was very driven in her own career as a writer turned email systems engineer, she never pressured be one thing or the other. What was most important to her was that I kind and respectful not only to others but to myself.

As I prepared for college, I expressed my fears and worries about studying the art. She pulled me aside and told me “This is who you are, if you feel called to it, you need to follow it.” This gave me the courage to follow through, and without her words and constant encourage I don’t think I would be a practicing artist today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started sketching and painting as a child, and later went on to study graphic design at Austin Peay. While studying there I took an Illustration class that completely changed my perspective on artmaking. During one of my final projects in the class, I started experimenting with digital illustration and developing a style. I have always struggled with self doubt, and while I was wondering if I should continue, my professor told me that I was on to something and that should keep at it. I still create digital illustrations and that same style and it even influences a lot of my abstract work today.

After graduating I started working at sign shop as a production associate. I would clock out and work 4-5 hours on digital illustrations with an almost monk-like discipline. As I began to learn more about the techniques and process involved production and fabrication process, my concept of artmaking began to stretch beyond the canvas. While there I learned how to use a CNC laser cutter which has become crucial to my process. Another aspect that was vital to my artistic discovery was the abundance of unconventional materials to incorporate into my work like acrylic, vinyl and unique aluminum laminates.

Today most of my work focuses on abstracting natural landscapes and color stories. I laser cut mixed materials that vary in height and paint them. I then place them together to give them an almost topographic feel.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist, is seeing other people connect with your work. Speaking to other people and learning about their perspectives is like opening a window to the unseen.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

This isn’t a lesson I had to unlearn but it was a lesson that I learned that has been vital to my creative process. I learned that if something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to start over. The idea of “sunk cost” in a project can keep you from starting over fresh and keep you tolling away on changes that never bring you closer to success. What really drove this home for me was an experience I had in a watercolor painting class. For one particular project my professor had us do an architectural painting of our home, he had us display them on the wall. He took a couple seconds to look at them all and said “This is incorrect, paint them again”. He repeated this process, SEVERAL times, I’m not entirely sure if he was trying to teach us a crucial lesson or if he was just messing with us. Regardless, I started to understand when to keep going, and how to let go of the preciousness of my own work when I needed to cut my losses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alexisjones.work
• Instagram: _agene