Live & Learn

Arizona Daily Wildcat After all of the Christmas craze over the Sesame Street character, Tony Jones shows off his "Tickle This Elmo" T-shirt.

Jones returned to school in the fall of 1994 after receiving a Vietnam Veteran academic scholarship and selling his plane, which he used as a flight instructor. Now at age 47, he will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in May.

"I went back to school, not to necessarily get my degree, but to become stimulated again," said Jones, "My Friend Felix invited me to return and see the amazing results of the computer and how it has integrated itself into the art world."

To make his computer art, Jones photographs his original canvas works, scans them into his computer and then alters them.

"I don't want to be trite," he said. "What's inside of me is dynamic and the computer helps me be more versatile. I can take a photograph or painting and with my computer, work on progressions of the original."

Jones signs his work as D'Orsay (he got his middle name from the famous French museum) and has a show at D.O. Draver Fine Art Gallery in Breckenridge, Colo. He's preparing another show at a gallery in Vail.

Known as "Tony" among friends, the artistic side of him has been with him ever since he was a child and has always played a significant role in his life. He began when he was 12-years-old and continued during his high school days at Salpointe, where he won medals from the Hallmark foundation for his oil works.

During his two-year service for the 71st Aviation company in Vietnam, Jones painted artwork on the front of assault helicopters in his squadron and on the helmets of the pilots.

"The flight crews paid me $50 a nose and $15 a helmet," he said, "It was an honor to have your symbol on your aircraft."

Similar variations of a rattlesnake sitting alone or sometimes squeezing the life out of an enemy soldier became so popular that the company became known as The Rattlers.

Jones said one of the hardest things to handle about the war was when someone got killed a week or sometimes even a day before they were scheduled to go home.

"It was my job to log all of the pilots' hours," he said," I would joggle the times for pilots who were supposed to go home soon so that they didn't have to fly as many missions, and in return they taught me how to fly."

Upon returning from the war, Jones first attempted to go back to school and enrolled at the UA in the fall of 1972.

He soon found that the combination of some people's unfriendliness toward vets and the stress of the school environment was too much to handle.

"When I got back, all I wanted to do was to grow my hair long and look like a hippie so that I could fit in with everyone else. But I was feeling a lot of post-traumatic stress and wasn't getting along with authority figures like bosses and teachers," he said.

After dropping-out of school, Jones went into real estate and pursued another dream, aviation.

He bought 15 acres on the northwest side and built his first home in 1975.

Jones believes that there is an art to everything and found the masonry work on his home to be challenging and rewarding.

During the same time he was married briefly and had a daughter, Jennifer, with his wife. She also attends the UA.

Frank Felix, director of scholarship development at UA and a close friend from high school, helped Jones get back to school.

Felix has always supported Jones' art and believes Jonesis a great inspiration to others, especially younger students who should learn not to strive toward their aspirations.

"If you have enthusiasm and imagination and the talent like Tony, you can overcome the bumps in the road of life and have a great pay-off." Felix said, "The fact that Tony sold his plane to get back to school shows how much commitment he really has."

One constant in Jones' life has been his strong motivation not to regret life decisions.

"Life's too short to just sit around and be a wisher. If there's something I want to do, I'm going for it," he said.

And when Tony says this he means it. While watching TV, Tony was inspired with an idea for a T-Shirt.

" One morning last December I was getting ready for school and was watching the news. All these people were fighting in this K-Mart over some Elmo dolls. I couldn't believe how crazy people were going and how much they were willing to pay, so I grabbed myself and said, Tickle this Elmo," Jones said.

The thought of it made him laugh and he realized immediately he had something that was simple but ingenious. He could make a T-shirt that said "Tickle This Elmo" with an arrow pointing downward.

He called his good friends Gary and Judee Limmer, who own a T-shirt and gadget store in the Tucson Mall He asked them if they thought the saying would have selling potential.

Gary Limmer was equally enthused and contacted a national T-shirt distributor to see if their marketing department was interested in the T-shirt idea.

The company bought the rights to the saying and made several thousand shirts and distributed them nationally to hit stores about a week before Christmas.

"It was great, I didn't have to do anything. Next thing I know I get this royalty check in the mail - just because one morning the idea popped into my head," Jones said smiling.

A national store chain has placed several orders, which gives Jones and the Limmers 7 percent of the wholesale price.

"You never know what exciting turns your life can make if your willing to take a chance," Jones added.

Jones has five acres of land near his home that he would like to use as an art studio and gallery that can double as a cultural center. Poetry readings, outdoor theater productions and music festivals are some of the activities he'd like to host.

In the spring of 1996, he took an advanced artist video class and produced a nine and a half minute documentary on Vietnam using actual super 8mm footage from the war with the help of his friend. Films like his would also be shown at his cultural center.

He hopes that revenue generated from his artwork and the T-shirt will be enough to start the project.

" I believe everything I set out to do in life I was able to accomplish. Whether it made me happy or not is another question. I think art is something that will settle me, bring me peace, maybe create some interesting things for other people," Jones said.