AUTHENTICITY: MAKING OF THE COLLECTION
I was feeling a bit lost in who I was, which I think is a pretty common feeling in your mid-twenties…
It was the first time outside of school I created a body of work within a theme. I had been creating post grad here and there, not really focused on any one thing. Trying out different mixed media compositions, playing with the idea of adding in more realistic elements like mountains, or using only black and white, but nothing was sticking, nothing felt right. Most of my energy was going to my retail career, so I was only painting on nights and weekends sporadically. I would go months without picking up a brush. Which I have found is very unhealthy for me. When I look back on my life and the times I have struggled with life the most, its always been a time when I wasn't creating.
After an especially dry spell of not painting, going through a major transition in my retail career, and spending the majority of my creative energy teaching paint and sip classes, this collection was born. It was the first time since I was in college that a piece of artwork felt like me, felt authentic to that unique style of painting I worked so hard to develop in school. I began working on it in the fall of 2019.
“Shape” in the process of being created. I often create sitting on the floor without an easel, materials strewn about
Choosing the colors and materials was really inspired by looking at my past pieces and realizing I loved working within a neutral color palette as opposed to bright colors. In college I used a lot of color. Outside of school when I started my journey as an artist “outside the classroom” I started to use only black and white and neutral colors, which are a big part of my home and wardrobe aesthetic as well. It was fun to paint and create without having to worry about the painting being graded as an assignment and really allowed me to start to feel confident in my style. Choosing tissue paper in black and white stripes from a Sephora bag, and pages of a vintage book I found at a Minneapolis antique store, I wanted to choose only materials that I liked and felt like me, not something in hopes someone else would like it. In my past works post college everything was very chaotic, a lot of paint and layers. This time I wanted to play with bigger brush strokes and let some of the paper materials be more focal without being totally covered in paint, creating a calmer composition.
At first, I didn't plan on it being a collection. As I kept creating, I realized this could be the start of something new, a new era as me as an artist. Then everything fell into place when I started watching what other artists were doing and how much I loved creating in a collection based way. It was what I loved most about my classes in high school and college, so I figured why not give it a try. Instead of just making one painting with these materials and colors, why not dive deeper into this style and concept and make more.
“Mokara” in the process of being created
March 2020 the world stopped. With no where to travel for work, transitioning to working from home, no paint and sip classes to teach, I poured my energy into finishing this collection. I knew it wouldn't be perfect, but I was excited for it to be my first. AND it helped me finish a canvas I started years before but could never quite get right...and became one of my favorite pieces in the collection.
Deciding on a name was hard, but when I realized this collection was really a culmination of the exploration of my artistic style thus far in my career (high school, college, post grad), and was an attempt at creating something for me, not for school or for anyone else, that honored the colors I love, materials I gravitate towards and the style I love to create in, it felt very authentic. That feeling of authenticity of self was not something I had felt in a long time, or was familar with at all. Its hard to stand confident in your authentic self in a world with endless opinions. We’re taught to value the opinions and instruction of others over our inner voice. This collection stands to change that, and hopefully inspire you to allow your authentic self to be more of your real self.
I didn't have a website, a brand, or any idea what I was doing but I put the collection up for sale on my personal facebook and instagram in May of 2020. Two of my friends were in love with a few of the pieces and now 2 of them live in Columbia Falls, MT (“A Former Life” and “Nostolgia”) and one lives in Omaha, Nebraska (“Mokara”). I am proud that they found themselves homes and inspired me to keep creating work, I am so grateful for their support in my first collection!
May 2020 with the first release of the Authenticity Collection! The original collection was 7 paintings ranging in size from 12 x 16 in to 24 x 48 in. This is me in my living room, since I created the collecting sitting on the floor late at night working on the pieces during lockdown, that my collection image should be there too.
This sparked something inside me that had been brewing since I was 18 years old, but was put on hold while I built up my career in retail. I realized this was not a one and done, and I needed to be making art, sharing collections with the world and inspiring others through the messages my paintings represented. I spent the next 3 years getting myself, my artwork, my studio, my schedule, aligned so that I could build out a website, file for an LLC and actual make this dream of selling art official. That is where you are today! Exploring my new website and the first official collection re-release in my little corner of the internet.
Re-release of the Authenticity Collection in 2023
After creating the original collection in 2020, and before embarking on my next collection Curious Minis (available soon!) I created one more piece in this same style and color palette. She sat on the sidelines for a few years, and when I started to curate the collection again and get it ready to list here on ashleyannart.co it felt right to add her in! A few final touches of increased contrast, more black paint and adding in a title word from a 1960 Saturday Evening Post magazine found in an antique shop the collection felt complete. “Adventures of the mind” is the fourth painting in the final re-release of the Authenticity Collection!
Thank you for reading the story behind this collection! It is a pivotal one in my art journey and the first of many to be featured here on Ashley Ann Art.
All pieces are available now in the shop section of the website!