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Welcome to Pairings
Pairings by Jann Alexander include creativity, inspiration, books, writing, photography, art, history, travel, Texas life, lore and more
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Jann Alexander
Apr 18, 20141 min read
A Pot of Gold On Top of the Badlands
A Pot of Gold in the Badlands by Jann Alexander © 2012 As if the Badlands in South Dakota aren’t breathtaking enough, a rainbow...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 17, 20141 min read
Yummy Enough to Eat, But Far Better to Collect
Austin, Texas artist Lynn Bridge says she got inspired to create mosaic plates “one day when I was eating lunch, and was thinking about...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 15, 20141 min read
Have You Ever Been Possessed?
Are you possessed by color? For artist Paul Klee, the attraction to color and light was a turning point in his career. On his 1914 visit...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 14, 20141 min read
A Monument to the Ghosts of Terlingua
Terlingua Ghosts by Jann Alexander © 2012 The small town of Terlingua, Texas, near the Mexico border, is a former cinnabar-mining...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 10, 20142 min read
Why Making Art Is Messy
Flower Child on the Porch by Jann Alexander © 2008 “Clutter and mess show us that life is being lived . . . Tidiness makes me think of...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 8, 20141 min read
On the Edge of Two Worlds
Mayan Messenger by Jann Alexander © 2012 You can climb to the top of a distant civilization in Tecoh, a tiny Yucatán town whose...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 7, 20141 min read
Color Riot on Aisle 9
Color Riot by Jann Alexander © 2014 The day may be dreary and distinctly unAustin-like, but my local Sprouts did its best to incite a...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 6, 20142 min read
How to Awaken the Creative Spirit
Awakening by Jann Alexander © 2014 “May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.” —Thich Nhat Hanh Captured on...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 5, 20142 min read
Are Shelfies The New Selfies?
At first glance, a shelfie is a generous way to share your library of ideas instead of your silly selfie face. But at worst, shelfies...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 3, 20148 min read
There Is Nothing Fair About Fair Use
Too Late to Look for the Spear by Jann Alexander © 2013 Royalty-free art is everywhere. Why rip it off? One of my cherished,...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 2, 20141 min read
How Does Nature Inform Your Art?
Centering by Jann Alexander © 2014 Nature inspires Being centered is the best place to be when you’re making art. Nature enlightens...
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Jann Alexander
Apr 1, 20143 min read
Attention Small Brands, You Can’t Waste Time on Facebook Anymore
Fans: 1,022. Reach: 1. Creative types have relied upon Facebook ‘s free brand pages to spread their word for a long time. Remember how...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 30, 20141 min read
Divergent in Photography and Thought
Choices by Jann Alexander © 2014 With apologies to Robert Frost: Two canals diverged in a field, and I – I focused on the most alluring...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 28, 20141 min read
Life on the Street in Color
Street life in Mexico doesn’t get much more colorful than this. On a sizzling summer day in Valladolid, in Yucatan, it’s all quiet—but...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 27, 20141 min read
You Are the Most Important Influence for Your Art
It’s all about you. Who you are is what you make, and what you make of it. — Jann Alexander on Influences . . . . . HERE’S WHERE I...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 25, 20143 min read
Are We Enslaved By Our Tech Tools?
Too Long at My Mac by Jann Alexander © 2011 Keeping up with the marvels of tech life crowds out the space we have for creative thought....
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Jann Alexander
Mar 23, 20141 min read
Watering the Desert: Reflections as Distortions
Desert Reflections Jann Alexander ©2010 Reflections of the vast brown Chihuahuan desert that surrounds a vivid green church in the tiny...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 21, 20141 min read
Reflections: Like a Mirror Unto the Soul
Mirrored Lily by Jann Alexander © 2014 Reflections are easily found in nature. Reflections upon oneself, within one’s soul: not so...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 20, 20143 min read
Pi in the Sky Writing
Pi in the Sky Writing by Jann Alexander © 2014 Look up. You might be surprised at what you see, and what you can shoot. When I stepped...
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Jann Alexander
Mar 19, 20142 min read
You Are a Fountain of Ideas
Ideas by Jann Alexander ©2014.jpg Brenda Ueland had a lot to say about creativity ; in fact, she herself was an inexhaustible fountain...
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