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Ashley McCoy came to the world via a snowstorm in the late 1970’s, and was born and raised amidst the beautiful farmlands of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, along the east coast of the United States. Ashley was infatuated by the arts as a child, and was nurtured by a community of creative-minded family and friends. Her mother introduced her to pencils, paints and brushes and her father to guitars, pianos and the turntable. Life as an artist seemed a natural choice. Ashley continued her artistic pursuits through grammar and high school, and met with excitement the opportunities that art brought her way, including attending Virginia’s Governors School for the Arts one unforgettable summer. It was there, while exchanging ideas and working closely with fellow artists that Ashley was inspired to commit to an artists life. Ashley earned a degree in Studio Art from James Madison University, and welcomed many nontraditional educational ventures along the way. Her experiences include training with a fine-arts glass blower in Charleston, SC, teaching art to children from the United States and abroad, gallery work, and owning a small business painting murals in residential and commercial settings. By donating her work and services to charitable organizations Ashley strives to promote the arts in every community with which she has been involved, and very much enjoys the interchange of ideas and inspiration drawn by working closely with other artists. Recently, along with a group of talented Harrisonburg artists and musicians, she has been active in organizing and producing a biannual arts and music festival in order to create a culturally rich community. In her spare time Ashley writes and plays music, is honing her sewing skills, and loves to travel and explore this wide world with her beloved son, Leif, who recently enjoyed his fourth birthday. |
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As an artist, I have always delved into my personal experiences and philosophies for inspiration, and most of my work is fueled by my observations and emotions. My work over the years has ranged in style and content, but consistently explores social issues and strives to engage the viewer on an intimate level. My art attempts to be fluid, honest and unconfined. I try to convey emotional nuances and incorporate the sentiment through basic elements of design, an aggressive stylistic approach, and the use of patterns, fabrics, text and human form and/or their fragments. Additionally, I find things in this life beautiful that are in contradiction to what most of the world considers ‘pretty’. In fact, I would venture to say that pretty and beautiful are two different specimen all together; beautiful incorporates so much more than a pleasing aesthetic to me. Furthermore, I have come to believe that story or narrative is important as a part of every day life, and that most things are not what they seem. I am trying to play on this in my fine art works. Recently, I have employed the use of everyday objects, playthings and materials in my recent works, because I feel these are bits and pieces of our lives surrounding us that carry emotional weight, though many times we are unable to slow our busy-selves down and acknowledge their aesthetic and how they contribute to our environment, which ultimately affects our relationship and response to the world around us. I enjoy scouring the world and my environment for tangible fragments of real life that may be overlooked, and bringing them to the forefront in my artwork. I thrive on experimenting with these relics to embellish my surfaces, adding a three-dimensional, and often times reflective, tactile quality. I also feel like art is, and has been, a wonderful historian. As one of life’s greatest commentators art does double duty offering not only a glimpse of world perspectives, but also chronicles growth on an intimate, personal level. We have learned much about the events and the passage of time through the art and artifacts left by those before us. I feel that in art lies great responsibility. There are many ways to interpret what one feels, sees, hears, experiences and there are many ways to comment and represent artistically the manifestations of our senses. Because we are human, and partly because of our social freedoms, artists have the ability to choose how to approach their subjects, or adamant lack thereof. Art is a thumbprint of sorts, of the artist and the artist’s time (though this is not to say that art does not break both of the aforementioned boundaries). Additionally, art has allowed me an avenue to bounce my ideas and social commentary off large and diverse audiences and in exchange, the feedback I get is endlessly intriguing and interesting, which encourages more thought, more conversation, more conception and more art. Lastly, I feel that art should be attainable to all. This has prompted me to change my approach a bit, to make my art in many forms, in all kinds of places, and with a variety of patrons and price points. The custom work I do is as much (if not more) about the patron/client and our energy exchange, than it is about me. As an artist I do not feel that there is a right or wrong way of interpreting my work — it has become more about bridging the gap between the world of reason and the world of not. I view my work as a testament to the thought processes that are evoked and relationships that are forged by way of art itself. I invite you to share your thoughts, ideas, questions, comments, philosophies – whatever moves you- with me at any time…this is what it’s all about. |
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| Bounce
the Ball Working
Her Way Into Art The
Art of The Walk Brutally
Honest Art and The Life It Imitates ‘Relics’
Of Pain Displayed On Artist's Canvas
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