ASHLEY STUART
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#InTheStudio

29/7/2020

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I have been focused on the Just Beyond collection artwork and building my small business. Illustration has been set aside and, oh! how I miss it. When I woke up this morning I decided to squeeze in an hour of sketching. Those sketches turned into macrame plant holders, caught fish on the dock, a reading list, and a zen cup of tea. Using my favorite three colors, I worked as I always do: little to no sketching prior, laying down fields of color, and then giving form and shape with watercolor pencils. After doing some additional iterations, prints of the best will be put into the shop come September.
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The Collector

22/7/2020

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The Collector is my newsletter connecting a community of people that all have one thing in common: an appreciation of art. You'll be part of exciting conversations, see glimpses of works in progress, hear first-hand of new products and studio news, and ultimately, a chance to really connect with me and my artwork. As a token of my appreciation for your subscription, I'm also offering 10% off the first order to those who join. So will you join?
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We are RADIKL

22/7/2020

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Underwater Sunrise, 2020
Recently I joined We Are Radikl, a group that fiercely supports female founders and it has been awesome. I've received guidance (already!) for some business practices and it is really lovely to hear of other women's achievements, struggles, and practices. And one of the best bits, I've met another artist who has graciously offered her advice which is worth more than anything. A huge thank you.

I'm so excited to see where this takes me and my art. Support in anything you try to conquer is required so if you're trying to start something new, dig your heels in and find some help. No shame, only growth.
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The life behind windows

21/7/2020

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Sketch of a hotel building across from my balcony in Honolulu, HI
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Window view in Bath, UK
I have always had an interest what lies behind windows: who lives there? why do they put certain belongings on display? what does this say about them? what do they hope it says? why do some people leave curtains open all night and others leave them closed all day?

My fascination started as a photography project in Charleston, SC. The primary focus was nighttime as the homes façade looked so different with various rooms lit. The project never took off as I really didn't want to walk the fine line between artist and creeper. But my fascination has remained. I've moved to sketches and, more recently, paintings. This sketch is from a trip to Honolulu, Hawai'i. A huge sky-rise hotel was situated across from our balcony and each morning and each evening I would study the life that was on display or wonder about the life that was hidden.

My latest IGTV Monday featured the first painted window – check it out. This was a window from a Georgian home in Bath, UK. It had the loveliest front garden, full of color and life. And my children's shoes on the seat matched the palette.
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Mother and Child Relationship

8/7/2020

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(Flow of consciousness entry) Exploring the qualities of the complex relationship between mother and child, in addition to the self (adult female and mother). My initial thoughts are to create representational shapes of the roles. How do they interact? How do they interpret each other? Maybe think magnets - cycle of repelling and drawing closer, repel, draw, repeat. What shape is a child? What shape is a female or a mother?
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Yesterday I took my children to Nene Park visitor centre where we each bought a drink: two apple juices and a coffee. As the girls played, I sketched the juice and coffee and maybe found my representational shapes: Rectangle and circle.

This morning at the coffee shop, following a call with a dear friend, I explored these shapes briefly. How does a female's body change throughout pregnancy? What shapes is she comprised of? What does it mean when one shape is forced into another shape, only to birth yet another shape? Sketches below.
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In response to a quick sketch exercise created, a friend mentioned 3-D glasses. This has stuck with me as I think through how this relationship would be best described or transcribed or created or... . The layering of two colors, the creation of another color where overlapped is quite representational of this relationship. Cyan and yellow, green? Magenta and yellow, orange? Is magenta associated with female too often? Would blue be too strong or infer different meaning? Could I use ink? Watercolor? Screen print? My brain is completely overflowing right now! More to come.
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Inspired By: louise Bourgeois

7/7/2020

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"Bourgeois uses the spider, both predator (a sinister threat) and protector (an industrious repairer), to symbolise the mother figure." ​
Tate, The Art of Louise Bourgeois, accessed July 8, 2020, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/louise-bourgeois-2351/art-louise-bourgeois.

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Maman, 1999, Bilboa Spain
I am in the yellow on the right, trying to be brave and touch the sculpture. It didn't work.
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Spider, 1997, Washington DC
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Nearly under Maman, heart pounding.
I first learned of Louise Bourgeois in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Gardens in Washington, DC. This was in our pre-kids era and we used to go for jazz and sangria on hot summer nights, dipping our toes in the pond. Wandering through the gardens, my intense fear of spiders kept me from one of the most fascinating interpretations of the "mother". It wasn't until I visited the Bilbao Guggenheim that I really felt a connection with these sculptures (still couldn't touch them though) and the artist Louise Bourgeois.

​Quietly exploring her exhibition space along, my husbands rocking our sleeping one year-old, I realized some of my negative feelings and experiences toward "Hollywood" motherhood were being validated in an unexpected and pleasing way. Even now, thinking back, I'm not sure I can put the experience into words; I just remember the experience being quiet and loud, and eerie and comforting, simultaneously. To say the very least, it was unforgettable.
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  • About
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