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Created using Caran d'Ache colored pencils in my Sakura sketchbook.
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I'm getting involved with Coloricombo by the artist Esté MacLeod. I've done these challenges in the past, however with our recent move I've had to put art on the back burner. Cheers to restarting old habits in the new year!  
When my eldest was younger, she forged a relationship with our dog. Watching this friendship unfold was so special. I started sketching what it might evolve into in a few years. These are now factually true sketches which once were a daydream. Drew in quick sketches at first but the two-tone watercolor was needed to add the binary relationship of excitement and warmth (yellow) with the comfort and calm (blue). These five are a sampling of a collection.
We are on our way to Edinburgh from St. Andrews via train. I brought my Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils along with a portable paint brush/water set to capture the Scottish countryside. 
(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?
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.
A mini collection of original watercolors will be listed this weekend. I'm seriously in love with each of these ladies and am excited to see where this mini collection takes us.  If you are a Collector, you will receive 10% off.
With the brutality and oppression of BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) in America and across the world, my words are just not forming and the overwhelming feelings of sadness, regret, and pressure are mounting. If you were to ask me if I am a racist I would give a whole-hearted "NO." I have been reading resources being posted since the death of George Floyd and it would appear that I have been indirectly in the past. There were so many times in my youth that I did not stop others from speaking hateful words. I should have. I feel ashamed. Name calling, jokes, hateful speech, discrimination, profiling – I experienced all of this and did nothing. I got nervous, couldn't find the words. Silence is compliance. Moving forward I will find the words, even if they come out wrong the first time, the second time, the third time. I will fight those hateful words with you. It's time for me to show that I am antiracist. We are stronger together. The time is NOW to step up and do something, anything, to end racism. This illustration depicts people coming together to fight for justice, to protect and support one another. There is anger, grief, and sadness. But there is also hope, motivation, and love. 
 Anyone else experience this?? The thrill of dipping your hands into the bath after reading in the tub? I always have a book in the tub with me and the delicate maneuvers to make sure the book doesn’t get wet but I have maximum coverage has become an art form. Also, can I have that rug??
Trying something a bit new. Combining my love for typography and my love of watercolor. Et voilá, see below. Thoughts? Explore more? Add to the shop? Throw 'em in the bin?  Happy Mother’s Day to my Mama and all the mamas, mamas-to-be and carers in the world 🧡You may not always feel it but you are loved, appreciated, strong, beautiful, and overall awesome.
This illustration is from the viewpoint of my kids. They have been seeing a lot of this view lately, from behind the green tape, as I work on the 2020 collection, a commission piece, developing the shop, creating doodles and so forth. I have that heavy mother’s guilt some days when I explain I need to work instead of play, a new concept for them. I’ve been with them nearly everyday of their lives. But also from this view, they see their Mommy creating her dream, fulfilling the “When I grow up I want to be...” question (answer: artist), struggling and persevering, learning, figuring, succeeding.... It eases the worry I have just a bit 😊  I'm not crazy about sneaking out, but it's the only way I'm able to get a run in these days. Otherwise, it's "I want to go! I want to go!" followed by tantrums unimaginable prior to COVID 19.
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Images are ©Ashley Stuart. All reproduction or use of images is prohibited without written consent. If you see an artwork that you would like to own, but it's not in the shop, get in touch and I'll try to make it happen!
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Ashley Stuart is a painter, illustrator, and collage artist based in Maryland.
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© ASHLEY STUART 2024. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.