Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Alonso-Rodriguez
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been interested in drawing, painting, making things out of found objects, music, and any other creative processes, as far back as I can remember, but I never thought of these interests as career opportunities. They were things my blue-collar family saw as hobbies and entertainment but not as ways of supporting oneself.
I came to the US at age 9, arriving in Miami in 1966, speaking no English and with the excitement of being in a new place and the sadness of leaving my immediate family behind. It was my father who selflessly encouraged me to come here for a chance of a better life, something for which I’ve always been grateful.
After a while, life in the states with my legal guardians became increasingly difficult, leading me to drop out of school without finishing 12th grade, running away from an abusive situation, and at times not having a place to call home. After finding a job and some stability, I kept teaching myself to play guitar, something I had been doing since childhood. My first creative job was in music. After entering many talent shows and playing open mics, I remember feeling ready to audition. I found out the owner of a new lounge was a big Cat Stevens fan, so I, looking and sounding very much like the British singer, decided to learn as many of his songs as possible. After getting the job on my own, I informed my piano playing singing partner that we had a job! With him and on my own, I played many clubs and private events from Key West to Fort Lauderdale but after a few years, I wanted to play different types of music, which didn’t go over too well with audiences that came to hear what they expected.
This search for something more, led me to the West Coast. First San Francisco and then Seattle in 1982. While I sold my first two paintings to a friend who managed an Inn on San Francisco’s Lombard Street, it wasn’t until I moved to Seattle that visual art became a more serious, though accidental pursuit.
Having experience working in frame shops, I got a job at Park Lane Framing the first week I arrived. I had found a great apartment in a great neighborhood at a great price but there was no budget for art. I decided I’d create some work myself and be surrounded by original works rather than going with the IKEA poster option. The owner of the shop noticed what I was bringing in to frame and suggested I hang some of it on the gallery walls. That’s how people first started noticing my visual art.
Being self-taught, I now had to figure out how the business part of an art career worked. Just as I did with music, I began to enter juried art shows to develop a resume and a track record that would appeal to professional galleries. Probably because of my naiveté (and young age), I decided I would approach Francine Seders Gallery, which many considered to be the best gallery in Seattle. Fortunately, they signed me up right away, and because so often several things happen consecutively, good things in this case, I also signed up with a gallery in Long Beach, California.
I have since shown my work throughout the US and have been included in shows traveling through Canada and Latin America. Currently, I am represented by ArtX Contemporary in Seattle and Jorge Mendez Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. I won several awards in the Pacific Northwest, including one from the Mayor of Seattle and from Washington State’s Governor. My work is included in many permanent corporate collections as well as in museums. Now, back in Florida, my goal is to find representation in my home state and possibly a couple of other cities on the East Coast.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I didn’t have the benefit of a college or even an Art education, so things such as techniques, critiques and other advantages that are available to those having a formal education and planning on an art career, were things I had to find out on my own and learn through trial and error. That said, it also gave me the freedom to experiment without feeling I had to fit into any art movement or stay in any specific category. In the end, I feel this might better fit my personality and fiercely independent streak.
An art career is not for the faint at heart, sometimes regardless of your background. There is a lot to put on the line. You’re pouring out your heart and soul and talent, and it is up to the public and perhaps a handful of critics and curators, whether what you make is considered worth something. It requires a lot of hard work and perseverance, since most of us must be artist, promoter, bookkeeper, salesperson, and everything else involved to make it all work.
I’ve had my share of highs and lows throughout this crazy career, but I cannot imagine doing anything else or stopping any time soon.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I consider myself and abstract artist. I love other artists’ representational work, I’m just not that interested in doing that myself. I like to work in series and develop certain parameters within each one. I set arbitrary rules that help me focus on the concept I want to put forth. As an example, my Horizon Series always start out with a horizon line, based of fond childhood memories I have of going to the beach with my father, looking out to the horizon, while also knowing that I would find myself on the other side of the horizon I was looking at from Cuba. Sometimes the horizon line is very visible and sometimes not. The color schemes change as does the mood or intensity of each painting, but they are all done on unprimed canvas to emphasize saturated color. They are usually square, though sometimes vertical rectangles, and there is always that ever-present horizon line, in there somewhere. These are my meditative works, and they have a very different feel than some of my other series, like the Baranda Series, inspired by my father’s wrought iron designs, and the Strata series, inspired by the earth’s seismic formations.
I have also designed public outdoor projects. It’s a very different hat to put on but I love the balance between making studio work and creating something for a specific audience that can be seen by the public at any time. Whatever project I take on, it is super important to me that the craftmanship is of my highest, self-imposed standards. Concept alone doesn’t cut it if the execution of the artwork doesn’t measure up. I make things that make me happy or make me think. The creative process is what is important to me. Once the work is done, I want it to bring joy to someone else. At home, I am surrounded by other artists’ works. My work is in my studio.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’m not a big believer in the concept of completely being self-made. There are always other people and circumstances that shape the person we become and the paths we take in life. Sure, I taught myself to paint and design outdoor projects, etc., which requires talent and the ability to follow through, but if it wasn’t for people like Dan Michelson who owned the frame shop where I worked back in 1982, encouraging me to show work, or Francine Seders, who took a chance on a young self-taught artist, and the many other people that have played a part in my success, my life might look a little different. This goes for friends that have my back, to collectors that purchase work because it speaks to them and want to support artists, to folks who are open enough to be curious about how an artist might think. My father has always been my biggest inspiration. He was selfless enough to put his wants aside so that I would thrive. I always think of that when I’m not feeling at my best, and it gives me the push that I need to make sure that his sacrifice was not in vain.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.juanalonsostudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juan_alonso_studio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuanAlonsoStudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykWW93QaE7k&t=2s
