Life & Work with Alex Hood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Hood. 

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

My name is Alex, I use he/they pronouns and my art or “stage name’ is ADHDalex

I’m a multimedia artist AKA “Jack of All Arts… Master of None”

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My Social Links:

https://linktr.ee/Adhdalex

Instagram: @adhdalexmerch // @marvelousmagicalminiatures // @fairyfindr

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I’m a 30 year old Trans Man born & raised in the Metro-Detroit area. I was always really talented and interested in anything and everything creative! The moment that I could hold a crayon, I was making artwork for my parents and friends. I spent all of my school years diving deep in art classes and any creative activity I could get my hands on! My first creative inspiration was my maternal grandma who was an incredible painter, illustrator, and multimedia artist. We spent many memorable hours making art (usually paint-by-numbers) and watching Bob Ross episodes together!

My earliest artistic hyper focus was probably be drumming or my photography. Before then, I was kind of just trying a ton of different things to see what stuck, my parents were getting a bit restless because I would go through hobbies and art hyperfocuses so quickly that they would be wasting a lot of money on things that I would have have-finished and lose interest in (joke’s on me because I’m still exactly like this LOL).

With both of my parents being extremely talented singers, I was always interested in singing and playing music myself. I’ve dabbled in lots of instruments but had the most “formal training” in the flute in middle school and high school band class, and in high school, after several instances of getting in trouble for beatboxing or drumming with my pencils and pens on my desk, my parents put me in lessons for drum set. This was a very good decision on their behalf, as I became less disruptive during class and had an outlet for my undiagnosed ADHD energy on top of my musical interest.

All through my life, I’ve really struggled with my anger & mood dysregulation, what I used to think was just me being a terrible person, I now know to be some of the more negative side effects of having ADHD with a little bit of trauma sprinkled in there too.

With the help and encouragement of my wife Skyrah, our 7 fur babies (5 cats, 2 dogs), a good therapist, and the WANT to want to be a better human, not only for myself but those who love me and support me, I’ve been able to start digging myself out of this hole.

My art is my therapy, when I’m feeling depressed, angry, anxious, unbalanced, sad, lethargic, there’s always some artform that I can engage in and find peace, tranquility, a sense of calm among the chaos of our own minds and the increasingly unsafe and scary world around us. I actually wrote a whole blog called “Escaping Into Enchantment” ( https://adhdalexart.wixsite.com/fairyfindr/post/escaping-into-enchantment ) about how I use imagination and storytelling to escape into new realities with my fairy gardens and miniatures, that I wrote for Mental Health Awareness Month this past May.

I’m currently living in Romulus with my wife Skyrah, she’s one of my biggest inspirations as a human and multimedia artist. She’s constantly going after what she wants in life without compromising herself, her art, ( https://linktr.ee/djskyrah ) or her boundaries, and that’s something I strive for in myself and my own art and life. Without her encouragement and support, and the unconditional love I get from her and my other loved ones, I certainly wouldn’t have the self-esteem or courage to be putting myself and my art out here like I am now.

What’s to come for ADHDalex? Well, quite a bit, actually, I’m working on a new website for one, I launched a Blog for my FairyFindr project which includes interviews with local artists and fairy gardeners, as well as those I’ve met throughout the world online, through our shared love of folklore, fantasy, and fairy gardens or miniatures. You can find all FairyFindr links  here: https://linktr.ee/fairyfindr

I want to get a consistent artistic flow going, its a process. Having ADHD just makes the process a little more interesting, but I’m using it to my advantage and hosting an ADHD and Neurodivergent art show for and by ADHD and NEURODIVERGENT artists. We will be showcasing a lot of our half-finished works, the diversity of art that each of us creates, and even have a HANDS-ON section of our art show where you can touch and interact with the pieces.

I’ve amassed a really talented collective of queer or trans ADHD and neurodivergent folks called Procrastination Nation, and our Art show is called the “Art Without Attention Convention.”

**SAVE THE DATE!!!**

Opening Night is Friday, September 29, 2023,

at Affirmations in Ferndale, Michigan. 5-8 pm!

There is a public event available on Facebook which you can find the link to on our LinkTree:  https://linktr.ee/artwithoutattn

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely been a hard road full of struggles, fear of rejection, procrastination, and just lack of confidence in myself as a business owner and artist- but this has definitely changed for the better! One of my favorite business influencers is GaryVee, he’s full of amazing advice about having empathy and compassion and confidence as you operate your business and connect with your audience or community!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

This is my favorite and most hated question… I’ve struggled with keeping my mind and creative ideas in one lane. When I was growing up, I would voice my concerns and people would just tell me “find one you are really good at and just stick to that forever” and I always thought that was such an impossible and unfulfilling task for me.

Because of being an ADHD artist, my art is literally all over the place, just like my brain! I’m a multimedia artist who has changed their business name more times than I care to admit- that’s why I eventually settled on ADHDalex as my Artist name and I have projects under that umbrella that have different names for different interests and parts of my creative process.

For example: ADHDalex is an umbrella for ALL of my different types of art, and I have other projects by other names, such as my Fairy Garden and Folklore blog- FairyFindr, my One Of A Kind OOAK custom Queer + Trans barbie dolls- Marvelous Magical Miniatures, my ADHD+Neurodivergent Art show- Art Without Attention Convention, etc.

One of my abandoned projects was called “Feelin’ Fly Bowties” but I ended up not following through with that one, maybe one day, who knows LOL. But my names almost always have alliteration or a play on words or sayings because I’m a huge language and writing nerd.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?

I was a spastic ball of energy who was always getting into trouble or creating, drawing, or building something, or digging up antique toys, like metal toy cars in the garden in my parents’ backyard, climbing trees and sitting at the top of them, running around shirtless and barefoot like a little feral child. You never knew what I was getting into and honestly not much has changed! Ha

Pricing:

• Small Merch – $1 – $15 (pins, lighters, stickers, etc)
• Photography Portraits – $30 – $150 (RedBubble Link in Linktree)
• Clothing- $25 – $200 – (one of a kind fashion or Print On Demand on RedBubble)
• Custom Dolls- Starting at $150
• Custom Outdoor Fairy Garden Installations: Starting at $150
• Indoor Fairy Gardens: $50-$175 each one of a kind

Contact Info:

• Website: http://linktr.ee/adhdalex
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/artwithoutattn?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adhdalexmerch?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adhdalexart

Image Credits
IPhone Photography