Congratulations to artist Ashley Lane, our latest Instagram winner! An artist based in The Woodlands, Texas, Ashley uses bold color and texture in her botanical and wildlife designs: "
I intertwine realism and abstractions to capture the spirit of our perfectly imperfect world."
A full time artist, Ashley had been selling her acrylic paintings for 10 years before deciding to pursue a degree in Graphic Design. She also teaches at a local art studio and furthers her own education through classes and online tutorials from other artists and designers.
Ashley loves exploring color and texture through the use of mixed mediums. She creates her paintings using a variety of materials including acrylic, oil, ink, collage, watercolor, gouache, and digital illustration, before enhancing the final result with a coat of resin to make the color pop: "I emphasize the use of color to communicate a particular feeling or mood in my art.
"I try to make work that I would hang in my own home and express what I find beautiful, with the goal of sharing that with those that have similar tastes."
Ashley first discovered resin after taking part in a group art show: "The show consisted of every artist creating a skateboard deck in their own style. I painted an octopus in waves and had the idea to add a resin layer to make it look like an authentic skateboard and enhance the vibrancy of the colors in my artwork. It was a success! And I've been hooked ever since."
Ashley uses resin in different ways to take advantage of its versatility: she uses it as a final topcoat on her work or will paint over individual resin layers so they become a component of her painting: "Resin always adds intrigue to my art work. Viewers consistently are curious to know what process I used to create my resin pieces. It connects me to my viewers/collectors when I am able to explain my process and pieces to them. And did I mention, it makes my artwork POP?! The vibrancy in color is unbeatable. A resin piece always looks super unique, elevated, vivid, and professional."
Ashley is always searching for the spark of inspiration that will blossom into the next piece of art: "I find inspiration in nature. I love to go on a hike or a walk and view my surroundings and take it in. Or sometimes inspiration can strike with something as simple as something my daughter says, or sees and finds neat!"
Once she has a subject and design in mind, Ashley creates a pencil sketch or a digital sketch on her iPad. She says: "Recently, I've been enjoying using my iPad and Procreate to organize my sketches and get my composition finalized. The undo and free transform features are awesome!" Finally, she creates a color study on her iPad to determine which color palette will work best for a particular piece.
At other times, inspiration strikes without a concrete plan: "There have been times where an idea pops in my head so fast, I feel compelled to grab a blank canvas and go for it immediately! Sometimes this method pays off, other times it's a flop... It's all part of the process though and any time I make art, I learn something."
While creating art is something personal, calming and meditative, Ashley loves that her art also enables her to "connect with people in a different way that I find rewarding and fulfilling. I am hoping to evoke an emotion when someone views my work: usually that emotion is joy, but sometimes it's something different like calmness. And sometimes, I just want to create something super cute that people can relate to and feel excited, seen, or connected."
"I hope they can see the fun that I have creating artwork and want to join in on that. I hope to inspire others to create art for fun too!"
"I hope they can see the fun that I have creating artwork and want to join in on that. I hope to inspire others to create art for fun too!"
To see more of Ashley's art:
Visit her website: www.artbyashleylane.com
See her Etsy Shop: artbyashleylane
Follow her on Instagram: @artbyashleylane
Congratulations on your win, Ashley!
To celebrate our amazing resin artists, every month we send out a 32 oz kit to a couple of folks who have tagged us on Instagram—and then we share their work with the world!
Don't forget, tag YOUR ArtResin work with @art_resin on Instagram, and YOU could be our next winner!!
ArtResin: Made For Artists, By Artists.
