Ashley is an artist based in Northern Virginia. She is drawn to juxtaposition: complementary color palettes, earth tones and fluorescents, solid color and pattern, opacity and translucency, abstraction and realism, vintage and modern. Her favorite songs feature dramatic tempo changes.
She thinks carefully about the use of negative space and the practice in mindfulness of discerning what to paint and what to leave out. Through abstraction, and specifically color, form, and marks, she seeks to communicate the intangible — a moment in time, a sensation, a fleeting thought.
Through realism, she hopes to express the poetry of ordinary life. For her this is the essence of memory, a fragment in focus immersed in a field of vague impression. Some of her favorite artists are Helen Frakenthaler, Cy Twombly, Lou Ros, Zoey Frank, and Felicia Forte.
Ashley grew up in Connecticut, then studied at Boston University where she received a BA in International Relations inspired by an interest in travel and different cultures.
However, after school she felt pulled to visual arts, her first love, and began working in graphic design and later creative direction.
After a decade in design she transitioned to studying drawing and painting at The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia and The Art Students League of New York. Her work is influenced by architecture, music, the places she’s been around the world, and her experience of motherhood.
Exhibitions
2023 October 2023 Open Exhibit, Juried group exhibition, Alexandria, VA
2020 Focus Under Forty, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT.
2020 Spring Juried Show, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT.
2019 Autumn Juried Show, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT.
2019 Focus Under Forty, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT. Honorable Mention
2018 Autumn Juried Show, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT
2016 Mark Twain Library 44th Annual Art Show, Juried group exhibition, Redding, CT
2016 Focus Under Forty, Juried group exhibition, Rowayton, CT. First Place in Oils
2015 Mark Twain Library 43rd Annual Art Show, Juried group exhibition, Redding, CT
2015 Inspiration, Juried group exhibition. Rowayton, CT
2014 Dia de los Muertos, Juried group exhibition. Arlington, VA
Education
2005: BA, Boston University
2015, 2016: The Art League School, Alexandria, VA
Portrait Painting in Oil with Edward J. Reed
Figure and Portrait Drawing and Painting in Oil with Robert Liberace
2017, 2018: private study with Felicia Forte
Workshops:
2016: Portrait Painting in Oil, Casey Childs, Purcelville, VA
2016: The Figure in Charcoal: Teresa Oaxaca, The Art League School, Alexandria, VA
2015: Investigating the Contemporary Portrait in Oils: David Kassan, The Art Students League of NY
2008: Head Studies and Painting the Figure: Clayton J. Beck III, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ
2008: Investigating the Rhythm and Emotion of the Portrait: David Kassan, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ