We each have different memories and emotions associated with the word “home. For some of us, that means just one town. For others, we wander often running to or from something. Just like “the now“, home is nothing more than a state of being. Not necessarily geographically confined. When I travel I meet new people,…
Fine Artist Jay Alders explains some of the hidden meanings in this surreal mermaid oil painting. A piece of art is often meant to communicate and provoke change. Watch this short video to get some insights into this piece. This surrealist painting of mermaids symbolically raises issues of marriage equality, gay rights and unification of…
When I was a kid, I ran off to the beach as soon as school was over every day, anxious to surf with my friends. I was in love with the ocean. Before I knew it, I was founding my school’s environmental club, surfing every chance I could get, and pledging my devotion to vegan…
Check out this short video with some behind the scenes insights to the Jay Alders snowboard art painting, “Moonlight Glide.” Prints available at: shop.JayAlders.com
Using Yoga poses for re-centering and balance. Read the Article on Elephant Journal > My wife Chelsea was almost six months pregnant with our first child when we moved back home from Florida to the New Jersey shore. Soon after, I started a painting inspired by the jetties and hollow waves of the New Jersey beaches…
Happy 6 month birthday to my sweet, beautiful and loving daughter. My little Summer Emerson. I can’t believe how much she’s grown and changed in such a relatively short amount of time. For that matter it’s just surreal how much has both changed and stayed the same. I continue to do yoga, hang out with…
As people around the globe celebrated World Water Day 2014 on Saturday, we payed homage to water in our own special way: by taking our daughter to her first swim lesson. When Chelsea suggested that we start Summer’s swim lessons when she is not even six months old yet, I sort of wondered how that…
Stay Gold Cafe and Lounge in Belmar, NJ introduces a new menu featuring a healthy new vegan BLT named “The Jay Alders”. Alders is a former Belmar resident, dedicated vegan and frequents this new hot spot and if you find yourself at the Jersey Shore, make sure to stop by! Above: Chelsea, Summer and Jay…
I had just gotten back from Hawaii for the first time when I finished this surf art oil painting. I had the concept in mind before the trip. I asked my now wife Chelsea to pose for some reference shots which I put a trippy spin on. It had started to come together but I couldn’t decide…
I’m a Dad!!! It’s a Girl!! 3AM…on 10/10/13 (or 10/10/13 for all of my European friends) my wife woke me up and told me that she’s in labor! *My eyes opened wide*….Ok game on! After laboring at home restfully for five hours, it was time to go. The car was packed, doula was on her…
I’m about to become a Dad. I think I’m still in denial that I’m even old enough to be someone’s father. But my friends who have kids that are already cooler than me sort of bring me back to reality. My wife is pregnant. Very pregnant. Like her due date is tomorrow. So ready or…
When I was live painting at the Fosters Belmar Pro recently, Mike Robertson came up to me and showed me his new surf tattoo that he got inspired from my surf art painting “Belmar Barrel”. He went on to tell me of his experiences after Hurricane Sandy plowed through the area and the unity and…
One of my favorite events of the year….The Belmar Pro, hosted in my former home town. This year I set up again in the perfect weather of the late summer with my lovely wife Chelsea. The waves weren’t too cooperative as they usually are this time of year, but we had such a fun…
I saw so many familiar faces that I love and met so many nice people at the Algonquin Theatre in one of my favorite beach towns, Manasquan, New Jersey. This was my first big art show back in my home state since I moved home in July and what a welcome I got! (What a…
On Aug 30, 2013 , I was up in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts for the first time. It’s a beautiful spot and I had a blast with some really good friends. For a second time this month, I shared the stage with my good friend G. Love as I did some live painting during his performance. This…
I was picked last for every team sport in school, I didn’t seem to fit in and had a problem with authority. I questioned everything. By today’s standards I probably would have been medicated and classified with at least a few labels. But since my childhood, my art carried me through and made me whole. Every…
Enter now through the end of July 2013 on Womens Surf Style Magazine for a chance to win free Art from Jay Alders. WSSM Magazine will chose 2 random winners to receive a signed Art Print by Jay Alders.
When we close our eyes and drift off to sleep, we become void of the filters and judgements that our awakened reality holds on to so tightly, we become free. We drift off into the paradigm of dreams. Connecting to inner peace and that place of spiritual connectivity is to enter the state of creative…
By 2007, my vision of becoming a professional fine artist had started to gain momentum. What once seemed like a dream job, had by this point become my main career focus. When I say dream job, let me just be clear… This was so dreamy that I can’t really say I ever made…
Throughout my adult life I seemed to have been drawn towards dating unstable nutty dramatic women. Sound familar? Well, with age, I’ve learned that judging people only proves one thing, that we are being judgmental. Doing so attempts to remove the burden of our own responsibility in any given situation. Looking at my past relationships…
I’d like to share with you my new painting, “Down to Earth”. It’s painted on a wood panel measuring 18 x 40 x 2.5 inches (45.7 x 101.6 cm). The underpainting was done with multiple layers of acrylic paints with over a dozen layers of oil glazes and opaque highlights lying above the acrylics. The…
The warm summer sun, waves peeling, the mesmerizing light reverberating through the ever-changing forms of the ocean and the sight of a beautiful girl wading towards the sea. For many of us, these things bring us passion, tranquility, maybe even envy. This painting has been an ongoing project for some time now and I wanted…
Damn…These guys know how to play some funky music. It’s always a treat getting to sit side stage and be inspired. I got to catch up with my good friends G Love and Special Sauce this week when they rolled into town for a two night gig at the Freebird Live. The shows were insane…
There are only a few college professors that I took classes with at Montclair State whom really had a major impact on my career. Lou Carbone was one of those people. Though many years have passed since those illustration classes with Lou, we’ve kept in touch and he’s always been an artist & friend whom…
My friend Steve Adams was in town = playing with his band Nick Bluhm and the Gramblers on January 15th. It was Steve’s birthday at midnight and we took him out for some local fun. Steve also plays in one of my favorite jam bands, ALO which is definitely worth giving a listen to. We all…
This video has been floating around Facebook. This morning , I finally set aside time to watch it. It put me to tears of joy…Literally. This was so inspiring, brilliant and compelling, that I must beg you to watch it now. If you feel as strongly about it as I do, spread the love. It’s…
Last weekend we had two of our favorite Massachusetts buds stay over, Brian Bishop who flew in for the King of Kona 2013 contest in Jacksonville, Florida, up the road from our house and Patrick Hall in town for Surf Expo. These are probably two of the most animated friends we have, so to have…
We have choices each moment of each day and within those choices we speak out. Choosing to live consciously with love guiding you is not always the easiest path, but it is the most humane and spiritual. We each are raised and programmed differently but there comes a point in life which we must open…
This was my little man. I never could have imagined all that we’d go through together when he followed me home through the cold streets of Hoboken 16 years ago. He kept me company as my roommate in nine different places over the years. He slept on me & cuddled with me almost every night,…
This week’s brutal massacre in Newtown, Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School left 20 children and 6 adults dead. All this deserving talk of gun control. Let’s start talking about how absolutely fucked up our mental illness & healthcare system is in the U.S. We have millions of people drugged up & abusing “legal meds” with…