This past Wednesday, I had the honor of joining G. Love & Special Sauce on stage to live painting during their epic performance at The Freebird in Jacksonville, Florida.

I am incredibly appreciative of Garrett for allowing me to be a part of their performance. The show and painting and the post-party on the bus was just a blast.

Jay Alders and musician/long time friend, G Love will share the stage at Freebird Live in Jacksonville Beach, Florida on January 25th. G Love will provide the tunes and Alders will back him up by doing a live painting on stage.

Alders often paints to G Love’s music while in his studio so the live collaboration is sure to be a mind-blowing one.

The Void Lounge (sponsored by Void Magazine) at Nippers Beach Bar and Grille in Jacksonville Beach, Florida is featuring Jay Alders art work in their newest exhibit. Alders designed a custom cover for Void’s “Green Issue” back in November and was enthralled to be the feature artist in the Void Lounge.

Pieces such as Throwing Lines, Shifting Perceptions, Right Past the Light and more will be on display January 18^th through February 18^th.

The entire city was pulsating with miles of art galleries, exhibits, street artists painting walls, DJ’s, live music, free drinks and almost no cops anywhere. I couldn’t believe how alive Miami was with the expressive energy of art everywhere. I was overjoyed!

My friends Carina and Kevin were cool enough to let me crash on their couch for the weekend. Carina is super into street art,works for Quiksilver and is a talented creative person in her own regard. She was my personal guide to all the hot spots and gave me some insight into some of her favorite artists.

When I arrived, I found out that my friend Garrett (aka G Love) was performing that evening, I told Carina and her and Megan were really amped on seeing him play, so we went over to Purdy Lounge and caught up with Garrett and his awesome girlfriend Sarah and friend Shelby.  It was good seeing them and a kick ass way to start a weekend in Miami.

We drank entirely too much and paid the price for it the next day…Blaahhhh. But it was a fun night of drunken goofiness and art-overload.  Kevin made me vegan pancakes and everything seemed to be ok.

I saw most of the big time indoor exhibits like SCOPE and Underbelly Project and saw some really cool stuff.   I went to the convention center which was the “main event” and was baffled by a lot of it. There were some big names like Picasso on display, but mostly a lot of shit like this exhibit of rocks arranged on the floor. (see below). I mean, what the f–k is that?

The highlight for me at the convention center was seeing Mark Ryden‘s piece (below).  I am not a believer that anything is art, to me, skill, technique and creativity is where it’s at and Ryden knows what the hell he’s doing. I definitely was more inspired by the outdoor street art than by the fancy shmancy 5 figure priced tape measure sculptures and blurry photos of pubic hair.

Overall though, I am stoked to go back next year, I had a blast and filled my thirst for culture for a little bit. I hope to be involved in it next year in some way with my art.

The Slater Brothers Invitational has brought thousands of spectators to converge on this exciting event, hosting amateur and professional athletes in surfing and skateboarding.

Jay Alders is proud to be a sponsor  again this year of the event and donating a limited edition signed gallery wrapped canvas print of “Burning Inspiration” to help The Slater Brothers to raise money for the World Skin Cancer Foundation. Additionally Jay will be live painting on stage with Donavon Frankenreiter and painting a skateboard deck on the beach.

This year, we will also include our 2nd annual 5K beach fun run and, for the first time, a volleyball tournament, stand-up paddle board contest, a Friday night concert by Donavon Frankenreiter and Saturday night movie premier.

The event will also include a vert ramp exhibition with high-profile skate professionals which has been very popular among the spectators in past years.

More info: slaterbrothersinvitational.com

After our show together in Massachusetts Sean and I teamed up again this time in my home state at one of my favorite local hangs, Surf Taco in Red Bank, NJ. Seen above in this pic are myself, Rob (Co-owner/Founder of S.T.), The Davey-meister, Michael Courtney and Ed Pierce (Co-Founder of S.T.)

We had a real good turn out for such a last minute event with people driving in several hours to join us. We had some surf industry iconic friends such as surf photographer Steve Fitzpatrick (above) and shaper Jim Barnes join us too.

But one of the best things about our show was having my parents and nieces come out to support me, seen here above are me and my folks.

]]> http://jayalders.com/events/art-show-with-sean-davey-at-surf-taco.html/feed 0 http://jayalders.com/travels/northeast-surf-art-festival-july-9-10th-2011.html http://jayalders.com/travels/northeast-surf-art-festival-july-9-10th-2011.html#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:47:38 +0000 Jay Alders http://jayalders.com/?p=2364

I’d never fully experienced the Massachusetts shoreline until recently when I exhibited my artwork there.  I was really impressed with the vibes up there. We had a great time immersing ourselves in the local scene and connecting with people over …

I’d never fully experienced the Massachusetts shoreline until recently when I exhibited my artwork there.  I was really impressed with the vibes up there. We had a great time immersing ourselves in the local scene and connecting with people over art and music. The ocean really does unite people.

My good mate Sean Davey flew in from Hawaii’s North Shore to co-headline the art exhibit with me and to hang with us for the week back in Jersey. Pictured here above is Sean and I with our buddy Patrick Hall who set up the event , Josh Walker owner of Bern Unlimited and some local friends.

 

Zappy,Sean, Me and Patrick pose in front of my outdoor exhibit as the event kicks off.

 

One of the highlights of the weekend was catching up with Donavon and my bro’s in the band.  Here is Eric dancing his fingers across the keys with Donny, Craig,Pete  and Grundy in the background.

 

 

 

 

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The 2011 Foster’s Belmar Pro is New Jersey’s biggest surf contest, every year growing in popularity and reputation. For the 2nd year in a row Jay Alders was asked by his hometown to design a surf poster for the event.

This year’s design, titled “Belmar Barrel” is set to be released in September as a vibrant 18×24 inch limited edition signed poster. It features one of Belmar, NJ’s epic dawn patrol tubes with seagulls flying above & the warm sun punching through the face of the wave.  This piece is unique also in that it was painted digitally from start to finish!

There will only be 250 of these hand signed limited edition surf posters available. They’ll be sold on Jay’s Online Shop and at the Foster’s Belmar Pro.

For more info on the contest, go to BelmarPro.com

Painting on stage at The Stone Pony with Donavon and band - © 2011 berryphotographics.net

There are extreme emotional & creative swings that every artist must endure. It’s part of the creative path we are on. We put up with & accept the frustration and insecurities because when good things happen and those pure moments flow through us, it makes it all worth it.

This past Friday,July 22,2011 was one of those magical moments that will be a bookmarked in my memory bank. It was the first time I ever did live painting on-stage which would normally on it’s own be enough of a fun new experience. But this was in one of my hometown’s historic & favorite venues The Stone Pony with some of my favorite musicians who are also close friends of mine whom I adore, Donavon Frankenreiter and his intensely talented band. (Eric Brigmond, Craig Barnette, Matt Grundy,Pete Winders)

Donavon and I have casually talked about doing live painting before, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago in Massachusetts where we were doing a Surf Art & Music Festival  together that we committed to making it happen in Asbury.  Chelsea and I have been spread real thin the past weeks since then, packing up the house for our upcoming move to Florida. It’s all come together so fast, I just mentally didn’t have time to think about the live artwork until the day of the show.

We’ve had a heat wave here in New Jersey the past couple weeks and this was another upper 90 to 100 degree sweltering summer day. I met up with Donavon and the guys at the bus in the morning. We were all craving some water time with friends so my buds Eric Brigmond, Seth Pettersen and their stage-tech Neil piled into my jeep along with our boards and we drove over to Loch Arbor for a morning surf.  It looked like a clown car with Seth riding in the trunk all squished. As I was paddling out, I saw my friend and local surf legend Vince Troneic (You can see him featured in the newest Surfer’s Journal) We enjoyed some cold small sets rolling through to start our day.

We met Donavon at the beach in Asbury afterwards. He had just finished his surf lessons with the inner city kids and he was easy to spot with his bright colored umbrella hat and longboard. We borrowed some longer boards from my friend Jenn at Lightly Salted Surf Mercado and all had a great time splashing around and catching waves.

People kept asking me what I was going to paint as if I had some grand plan, but I just figured that when I am home I turn on music and get in the zone, so why not in front of five to six hundred people? But then soundcheck happened and the clock was ticking and I started getting nervous. My large paintings usually take a while, what if I can’t do anything cool in an 70-90 min’s? After all, I had prepared a 3 foot by 3 foot wooden panel and that was a big area to cover in a short amount of time especially without having it sketched out first at all.

A couple hours before the show Chelsea saw me stressing. I often over analyze things and she knows it. She calmly gave me some paper and a pen and told me to just start drawing. Within an hour of sitting in the green room I had a couple loose ideas scribbled down on a paper I stuck in my pocket.

Side Stage before show. photo: ©2011 Mike Berry

After seeing Donavon and the guys perform so many times as a fan and a friend, it was pretty surreal standing on side stage waiting to go on with them. I’ve always dreamt of  being a rockstar and this was the closest I’ve ever come. Donavon walked on stage and then myself, Pete, Craig, Eric and Grundy took our respective spots.  I glanced down at the audience filled with local friends and familiar faces and took my spot behind Donavon ready to make them proud.

Each song’s completion was another tic on the clock. I sped through trying to not get lost in details, it was all about having fun. As the last song ended I dropped my paint brush in the water can and completed the piece. Donavon high fived me and helped me down over the amps onto the front of the stage with him. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and embraced the gratitude I felt.

Check out this time lapse video that Donavon released as one of his Mustache Manifestos 

(Thank you to Craig Barnette for the awesome video editing!)