Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Freeland.
Ashley, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I always loved creating art when I was young but fell out of it in junior high school where it wasn’t exactly encouraged or supported. I picked drawing and painting back up in college, where to my great surprise I had actually gotten better purely as a result of getting older. I found that drawing relaxed and inspired me in a way that other activities never could. From them on I focused a lot on oil painting, and on creating art that I found weird and/or humorous. I participated in a few gallery shows and had one of my own. There wasn’t a better feeling in the world than seeing your art hanging up in a room at a show and having your friends and family come just to see it. I eventually realized (or rather was talked into it because I was initially resistant) that I could combine my love of art with an actual career, which is how I ended up in graphic design.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
During the day I’m a full-time graphic designer for EF Education First, where I’ve gotten to do a lot of illustration work, which I love. Outside of work I now mostly focus on illustration, and I still particularly love creating things that marry humor and art, or that bring up issues that are important to me but not in a way that are intended to shock or disturb. Animals are often central to my work, and I am passionate about their fate in this world, which we’ve managed to thoroughly disrupt. I’m typically more interested in focusing on animals in my work than people.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I don’t think the role of artists has changed. I don’t know that it will until robots start creating better art and people don’t want to create art anymore (hopefully this is an unnecessary fear and I’m just being paranoid…) Robots notwithstanding, art will always serve to educate, inspire, and sometimes alarm. Political issues don’t usually find their place in my work; I tend to focus more on overarching issues that mean a great deal to me like the impact humans have on this earth and our obsession with technology.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The best place to see my work is on my website, ashleyfreeland.com, which I update semi-regularly. I’m not very into social media so I don’t post a lot, but I might publish the occasional picture of my work on Instagram @ashfree84. The best way to support my work is to contact me for freelance or commissioned work, which I’m always happy to do!
Contact Info:
- Website: ashleyfreeland.com
- Email: hiya@ashleyfreeland.com
- Instagram: ashfree84
Image Credit:
All image credit mine.
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