Ashley McCoy looks out at the world and sees masses of people and knowledge and experiences she just hasn't known yet.

When she does meet a new person, learn something or have 'a new experience, you can bet it will eventually make its way into her art.

McCoy's most recent work will be on exhibit at the Barnes & Noble Cafe through July. The opening reception will be held 7-9 p.m. Friday.

Of her new work, McCoy said, "This body of work takes a leap. In the last year and a half my life has changed so much. I look at my work and it's so different, yet it feels familiar, so right.
It's an expression of my examination of society and whatever is teaching me at the time. I'm meeting different people, experiencing different things and this is what manifests."

Much of McCoy's multi-media art is centered around a female figure.

"I paint a lot of women," she said. "Their bodies are more fluid, beautiful."

One piece in the exhibit features an attractive woman. Across the top third of the black and white piece fly four or five black birds. On the left, small typewritten text says, "In sickness and in health," and larger, italic text proclaims, "It all starts when you say 'Yes.'"

"She takes facets of herself and translates them onto a different female, one character," said Greg Ballou, a Harrisonburg artist. "From there she amps up that feeling by adding materials to it."

McCoy uses colors and materials - brocade, rick-rack, decals, flowers, birds, butterflies, anything - to create a certain mood and message. Sometimes she works on canvas, sometimes wood, sometimes even cardboard. She uses everyday materials in her pieces, things people can recognize and relate to.

Ashley McCoy has seen her art and music grow during the past year, inspired by "society and whatever is teaching me..."

McCoy stores the materials she collects in a small room of her house. There's the adhesives drawer, the papers drawer, then drawers for fabrics, jewelry and metals, another containing miscellaneous items like wine corks, foam, wire.

Her house is an eclectic mix of an artist and a 3-year-old.

McCoy's son, Leif, has been a strong influence on her as a person and an artist.

"He's been an education in itself," said McCoy, 27.

McCoy divides her time between Leif, her marketing and merchandising job in Waynesboro and "working on my art like a madwoman."

"I see undertones now of motherhood and nurturing," said Ballou. "Things that she projects about women are things people should be thinking about on a moral level."

McCoy said a lot of her work is "subconscious." She held up a small piece that said "Home, Sweet Home" written on black paper and secured with roofing-type nails and trimmed with twine.

"Sometimes 'home, sweet home' is a challenge," she said.

She also writes, plays and performs music. Ballou said she just recorded her first CD. "During times in my life when I need to draw strength, I turn to music," said McCoy. "I like songs that say something, real instruments, played by someone.

"Nothing touches me like a really good guitar rip," she said.

Born and raised in Broadway, McCoy studied at Mary Washington College, worked with artisans in Charleston, S.C., where she learned stained glass, glass blowing and jewelry, then "finally" graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor's degree in studio art in December 2003.

McCoy does commission work. She also paints murals and does interior design.

Most of her work in the past has been large, but the space at Barnes & Noble Cafe has challenged her to do smaller pieces.

"I had to be more deliberate about what was going where," she said.

Ballou calls McCoy a "lighthouse to other women to express themselves, whether it's in art, music or poetry, to come on and try something."

McCoy has a show coming up in Richmond and possibly another in New York.

At the Barnes & Noble reception, local musician Trent Wagler will play music, said Annie Holloob, community relations manager at Barnes & Noble.

She said the cafe has been exhibiting local artists for about a year. As an artist herself, she enjoys showcasing the work of local artists and musicians.

"It's my pet program," she said. "It's a nice way of bringing the community into the store."

Barnes & Noble is located in the Harrisonburg Crossing shopping center on Burgess Road. The cafe opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m.

LEFT: "Escape Route" by Ashley McCoy features a common theme - women. TOP: "Love Birds" also features a common theme in McCoy's work - birds.