Dear Visitor,
A warm welcome to the 303,000,001th (303 million plus 1) internet website result inspired by Bill Alexander, German Artist (Google’s classification). Please take a moment to fathom that number. 300,000,001 people on 08. November 2021. That would be a very populous country.
Now consider the following:
- 135,000,000 results for Leonardo da Vinci, Polymath
- 137,000,000 results for Pablo Picasso, Spanish Artist
- 69,600,000 results for Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Artist
- 52,400,000 results for Michaelangelo, Italian Sculptor
- 162,000,000 results for Bob Ross, American Artist
Bonjour, Hola, Ciao, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Hello and Hi.
My name is Talore Hillton. Among other aspects of our lives together, I was the Executor of William “Bill” Alexander’s estate. While I sort of knew Bill Alexander the artist and “celebrity”, I really knew Pop, the flawed and amazing man, (he called me Sandy or SandyBandy when feeling playful), who had that immense presence when I first met him at age 15, even though he was basically busking in shopping malls to put food on the table. He was then and still is quite the guy when you think of what he started.
Many years ago I published an article that caught the eye of a German vocational school teacher. Not an artist, but interested in art, it seems, is Stephan Petersen. If I was to describe Stephan it may be as a cultural historian of sorts. He is also quite skilled as a techie for this social media rich global society. Stephan resurrects forgotten cultural contributors to ensure they get their due by building first rate websites that memorialize them. Like the long forgotten recording artists/band, Clover. Or so it appears to me. Anyway, I like Stephan and his idea to build this website to memorialize Bill Alexander.
Stephan and I have agreed that our mission/purpose for the site is to simply acknowledge Bill and do what he would have wanted, given the opportunity. That is to encourage or support all those who were inspired by Bill and to continue to inspire where possible. All 300 million and growing. (54 million about seven years ago when I first published that article). That includes all those who paint, teach or promote art because of Bill, regardless of style or products, including Bob Ross and his followers. All those like myself who were inspired to do “unrelated to art accomplishments”. And, all those people who have Alexander paintings hanging on walls, hiding in closets, attics, basements or storage lockers. If anything, we would like them to know they own art of some significance when compared to those of other famous artists I mentioned above. Would you mind owning a Van Gogh or Picasso?
In pursuit of our mission, it is not our intention to fund raise. If money is required, we are like Bill in knowing what “happy bucks” are and that they will just appear organically if money becomes a necessity. For the record, Bill was an extremely generous man. He frequently gave away paintings for any good story or cause. He wasn’t a shrewd negotiator and knew it. He was just happy making a living as an artist. So few have that good fortune despite their skills and talents. From him I learned life was rarely about money. If you did the right thing for yourself and others, the money would just come and it does.
To prove that point, there are obviously millions of people who use Bill’s name and/or image to benefit financially without paying royalties, etc. I’m pretty sure Bill wouldn’t care. He would be both impressed and pleased someone is making a happy buck because of him. So, please keep your wallets hidden and credit card numbers to yourselves. I think from his point of view, he would feel honoured that his energy continues to exist for the goodness of humanity.
But we do want something from you if you were inspired by Bill.
We want your stories. It can be as simple as:
- Hi, my name is …
- Bill Alexander inspired me to …
- Because of that inspiration, the following happened …
Both Stephan and I look forward to hearing from you, but please, not all 300 million at once.
Sincerely,
Talore Hillton and Stephan Petersen
PS #1: This one is for you, Pop. May you live forever in our hearts and minds.
PS #2: Send your stories to: