Meet Alan Moore | Folk Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alan Moore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alan, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Most important! It’s hard to boil it down to just one factor. I am going try my best. Let’s go with hard work. Lots and lots and lots of hard work, and then more hard work, and then add on a bit of hard work. A recent Jerry Saltz article How to Be an Artist (November 2018) was not only an excellent read and super insightful, but also in some ways was a wonderful summary of our 15 year art hobby turned art business journey. One of the quotes in Jerry’s Lesson 5: Work, Work, Work was from Sister Corita Kent. She said, “The only rule is work. If you work, it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch onto things.” There really is no substitute for doing. Making all the time. If not making physically, dreaming up the next thing to make. I don’t know if it is just natural for me as a artist, or an addiction, or a decade long discipline, but I am always working – always creating. In my quiet moments (there are very few) I think about what I would do if I was suddenly blind – I would write novels or poetry. If I suddenly lost the use of my arms, I would pick up a paint brush with my toes or my teeth. I cannot not create, something, anything, all the time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The Moores are a family of seven who live in beautiful Colorado. We create bright, colorful, folk art out of upcycled and repurposed materials. Our primary medium are vintage 1970s beer and soda cans, bottle caps and salvaged woods. We currently sell in 17 galleries and shops across they nation with works shipped as far as Australia and Hong Kong. Our art is made as a team. There are very few pieces that are made solo. Alan, Isabella (19) and Emma (17) are the primary creators. One of my main goals as a father and an artist is to pass on a life skills to my children. Bringing my kids along for the ride in this creative entrepreneurial adventure is teaching them invaluable skills for every aspect of their life. Our materials are quite unique. For the last nine years we have been collecting vintage 1970s beer and soda cans for our art. Along with the cans we have been collecting bottle caps from all eras. We mount our art on upcycled and salvaged woods. Over the years we have collected over 40000 cans and over 3 million bottle caps. Half of the time it takes to make a piece of our art is finding the materials from all over the world. I consider myself a creative entrepreneur. My corporate job is in design/construction management which I have been doing for almost 20 years. All things art happen in every spare moment I have between “real” job and family time. I think having a corporate job has really helped me as an artist. Many artists lack the business skills it takes to make it. Those lack of skills or mentorship in the business realm is often the road block to artists succeeding in their field. Also my corporate job was able to fund our art business for several years as we were moving from hobby to small business. It is helpful to have a funding source as you are starting an entrepreneurial adventure.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Denver Area: Dry Dock Brewery Declaration Brewing Company Eat everything at Root Down eat everything at Work and Class great sushi at Sushi Den Icecream at High Point Creamery RINO – all the cool grafitti a visit to the art studio of Thomas Evans – Detour303 any mural in town by Anthony Carcia – Birdseed Anthony Coffee at any Corvus and Atlas location. Coffee at Sonder Mountain Stuff: Kenosha Pass drive Silver Dollar Lake hike – Georgtown North Table Mountain hike – Golden St. Mary’s Glacier hike – St Mary’s Mayflower Gulch hike – Leadville Independence Pass drive Aspen is quite cool Skate Parks: Ulysses Park in Golden, Colorado Roxborough Skate Park – Roxborough

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My folk art had its early beginnings about 28 years ago as a high school art assignment. My art teacher, Vivian Komando, introduced the class to different primitive artists in history and had us create several pieces of our own. That same year, I was introduced to Jasper Jones and fell in love with his work. My first two works were watercolor on rice paper and acrylic on recycled peg board. Over the decades my primary mentors have been fellow artists who have been growing along the same trajectory in our careers. Since social media has blown up the last decade mutual inspiration seems to cross all state lines (US) and all international borders. One of the primary reasons I am on Instagram a lot is to learn from others who are successful artists and who are at the same time quite savy business people.

Website: http://www.themoorefamilyfolkart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themoorefamilyfolkart/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themoorefamilyfolkart/

Image Credits
Alan Moore Press Photo PHOTO-ELISA KENNEDY, The Moore Family Folk Art – XL Owl 37X25 $1900, Isabella Moore – Studio Photo – Photo Curtus Tucker, Emma Moore – Studio Photo – Photo Curtus Tucker, Moore Family Press Photo – ELI PACE, The Moore Family Folk Art – Large Bee – 40X29 – retail $120, The Moore Family Folk Art – XL Cutthroat Trout – 60X24 – $1900, The Moore Family Folk Art-XL Octopus, The Moore Family Folk Art – Large Our Lady