Our Fellow Artists: Erin Ashley

"DAY DREAMS" by Erin Ashley

"I begin my work without any preconceived ideas at all what the finished work is going to look like.  I like the idea of each painting being a journey, ending at a beautiful destination.  My paintings are made with lots of color and textures, bringing out the old with the new."
~ erinashleyart.com


Artist Erin Ashley has a hand (or brush) in everything, it seems, with a resume that includes designing a logo for Cartoon Network, selling work to Dream Works Studios, displaying art at a castle in Italy, and having art shown behind the scenes on the Rosie O'Donnell show--to highlight a few items!  Her work is full of texture, boldly proclaiming itself to the viewer with thick lines surrounding layers of mixed media.  Once Ashley's portraits have the viewer's attention, they invite further exploration of all the unseen layers: both on canvas and in meaning.

"Lost Love" by Erin Ashley

Ashley's art is at once contemplative and joyful, celebrating the composition of line and color, form and shadow.  Each stroke appears to have fallen on the canvas exactly where it was meant to fall, but is actually the result of several strokes covered by several more, building towards a final painting that would have as deep a history as the earth's layers, were we able to peer down to the core.





I asked Ashley about her process, both in the studio and in self-promotion:





Where do you draw inspiration? 

I see abstracts in so many things, it could be anything from an old dumpster to the way a shadow forms on an object. I don't really search for inspiration, it just comes to me in a natural kinda raw way; I don't think you can force inspiration, you have to feel it first and believe in what you see and create like you want, never questioning yourself or your talent.
 

"ENVY" by Erin Ashley

How do you promote your work?
I promote my work on a few art sites but mainly my art publishers do a lot of my promoting through selling my art prints in major stores, catalogs, magazines etc..

Describe your workspace.

My workspace is in a 3 car garage.  It's clean at this moment but that's because I worked on it yesterday. Normally it is a disaster! I am a very messy painter, when I get into a piece there is no stopping me and paint goes everywhere, I use the floor sometimes as my palette tray.. you get the idea.

How do you decide when a painting is "finished?"
A painting is finished when I stand back stare at it, leave and then look at it 15 minutes later. If something is bugging me and just doesn't feel right, it's not done.

"One Heart Too Many" by Erin Ashley

You can see more of Erin Ashley's work at her website, her prints site, or by watching her slideshow on Youtube.