Android Friends & Family,
On January 18th my beloved art barn / studio / temple completely engulfed in flames. Everyone in my family is ok.
We don’t know how it started. What we do know is everything in and around the barn is gone.
All my art.
All my tools.
Decades of sketchbooks.
A library of art books.
Computers and hard drives.
Fine art sketches.
Original art.
My father designed and built this barn with his hands. I grew up in this barn. Nearly every material thing I cared about was inside. Decades of sketchbooks, all my archived originals, drawings and paintings, all of my art materials, terabytes of over 20 years of digital art, and all of my projects. All of the tools and equipment that I rely on to support my team and protect my family. All my photos and memories, the material residue and treasures acquired over decades of my best life are in ashes.
I have never felt more naked and vulnerable. I felt like I had lost my structure, my territory, my identity, and my future was burning before my eyes. But today, I have never felt so held and loved by so many people around me. It’s intense. I carry a lot of fears, and the barn was the rock that I relied on to make me and my family feel safe. Making art has always been my primary language for expressing my love. It was so gut-wrenching to see so much of my love and so much of my life-force destroyed. The fire burned so many of my attachments, and I can see now that I was attached to the idea that I needed all of that art to be loved, to share love, and to have value. But I was wrong. Love wins and forgives everything. This feels like a huge turning point in my overall life strategy. I’m doing my best to surrender to it, to learn how to be vulnerable enough to receive all this love and accept it, and it’s now my opportunity to hold it, reflect it, and discover new ways of expressing my love in return.
On the first day, I was so devastated and afraid that this loss and catastrophe would define me. But now, I am slowly beginning to realize that by embracing my power as a leader and cultivating the rebirth of this space with the support of my community, we can outshine this disaster. Together, we can create a new meaning, envision, and build a story and a space that serves a greater mission, and one that receives and projects a greater love.
My deepest, truest thank you to all of the brave firefighters and first responders from the Lyons, Left Hand and Hygiene Fire Departments. Their heroic efforts and equipment were able to contain the inferno, prevent it from spreading, and keep us safe.
My heart has been blasted open by all the love and support that my friends and community have shown up with .
I have never lost so much matter that mattered and never gained so much in spirit and support .
Thank you for the thousands of messages, comments, donations and wild acts of love and generosity we have received in the past seven days . Thank you for being the healing momentum of this transformational resurrection . We will never forget this and never forget the power of your love ❤️
If you’ve ever been inspired by my art, here are ways you can help:
1) Due to an overwhelming amount of support we have closed donations on the GoFundMe page. The page will remain up and we will continue to share updates there.
2) You can send direct funds to PayPal (@andrewjones1475) or Venmo (@Android-Jones) to avoid fees.
ETH can be sent to wallet 0x81B5F7a75267C4EeDcB559F4aF3404545142f00D
3) Buy Android Jones art and merchandise on my website.
4) If you are local to the Longmont/Lyons/Boulder Colorado area and know of a great place to set up a studio either temporarily or permanently, or would like to help with clean-up efforts, please let us know through our contact page.
5) If you are one of my patrons and you’re feeling called to help me with a big contribution (support a new computer setup / build a new studio / replenish the traditional art station), I would deeply appreciate it right now. Please reach out by contacting me through Chelsea on my contact page and we’ll set up a time to talk.
6) Stay tuned, hug your people, and celebrate the art in your life.
Thank you all, I love you all so much.
Love,
Android
More information and updates are available on GoFundMe and Youtube.
Physical items can be sent to:
Android Jones
PO Box 150
Lyons, CO 80540
Thank you to Denver Westword , Denver 7 , The Daily Camera & Lucid News for covering our story.
Watch a recent talk from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado with Android about the fire here.