Hi
Guys,
Hope
the week has gone well for you.
I
wanted to introduce you to Shelley, I first saw her art on Deviant
Art when I did the feature on Peony art. This is the Peony that
Shelley had drawn in red biro. I love how Shelley's art is so
realistic.
One
of the main points that attracted me to a lot of Shelley's work is
that it's done with biro, sometimes simple is best (although, we all
love art supplies!)
Shelley
has a few different styles of art in her galleries (i'll include all
her links within the article as well as at the bottom of the post.
I
love flowers, peonies are one of my favourites, if not the favourite
hence having used them in an article previous based on where to find
artists work (you can find that article HERE), Shelley has drawn a
few different flowers, here are a couple more. The first is
titled 'Dad' and is dedicated to her Father (drawn with black biro)
and the second is 'Garden Party' again all drawn with various colour
biro pens.
Shelley
also does some very intricate artwork in her Cities range, this
artwork is incredible. I love art created with abandon but
straight lines and precise art is also a passion of mine. I
love architecture and the following artwork just screams at me. The
first is Big Ben and the other is Paddington station both in London.
How intricate are these two pieces of art! They look like
photographs, amazing!
The
next couple of pictures come from Shelley's 'Still Life' album, the
first again with biro and is a still life composition of some vintage
sweets from England, when Snickers were better known as Marathon
(some of these brought back memories for me from when I was younger,
particularly the Cabana bar!)
The
second still life is a piece of work that Shelley did for a gift for
a colleague, I love the reflections in the silver platters and the
transparency of the wine glasses. Shelley created this one with
coloured pencils, so pretty, exactly as afternoon tea should be.
There
is nothing I love more on a quiet afternoon than looking through a
talented artist's gallery. Shelley also has some animals that
she has drawn on her Facebook page, you can find that HERE.
I
love her depiction of a Lion and Tiger, it's just beautiful.
Shelley
also likes to do art inspired by Aboriginal styles, here are a couple
of examples. This piece was created for and donated to breast
cancer awareness, it's an acrylic painting on canvas.
This
'Aboriginal Fish' was the first picture that Shelley did in this
style.
Aboriginal
art is one of the oldest types of art in the world and consists of
lots of little symbols that had a meaning. Shelley has captured
that style beautifully I think.
So
let's meet Shelley, as with all the featured artists that I have on
my blog she has been kind enough to answer some questions.
Please
tell us a little about you Shelley...
My
name is Shelley Ashkowski from Wiltshire. I am 30 something (I’m so
old I forget exactly how old!)
Tell
us about your art – what you do now and have done in the past?
I
have always loved art from a young age. I went on to study it at
college and university and decided to become an art teacher so I
could share my knowledge and passion for the subject. I have been a
full time art teacher (and head of faculty in recent years) for over
15 years.
Most
of my art has been specifically aimed at developing my knowledge and
skills for my teaching role.
However,
when I took maternity leave a few years ago I decided to use my
‘spare’ time to developing my art skills purely for my own
enjoyment.
This
is the point where I discovered my passion for photorealist drawing
and ever since then I have continued to improve my skills in this
field.
I
started with portraiture but I have since explored themes including
nature, cityscapes and still life.
Although
I began my photorealist exploration using pencil I quickly ventured
into biro as this is a medium I have always loved. I continue to
explore other drawing media but the biro will always be my favourite.
What
is your earliest creative memory?
I
was inspired by my father as a young child. He was a talented artist
and was particularly good at cartoons and caricatures (something I am
rubbish at). He used to draw caricatures of family members and I
remember seeing them around the house.
Do
you ever suffer from a creative block and if so how do you get
yourself out of it?
I
do sometimes but not very often. I usually have the opposite problem
of too many ideas but not enough hours in the day to act upon them.
If
I do have creative block I simply don’t draw for a while (possibly
a week or two) and come back to my visual resources with fresh eyes.
I
quite often start pieces that I lose enthusiasm for though and my
portfolio is full of half-finished work. One day I vow to go back and
complete them all!
Who
inspires you?
As
a young child my father inspired me. In fact both of my parents were
very creative and very much encouraged me to pursue my artistic
career. In recent years I take my inspiration from the many great
(and often underrated) biro artists including: Samuel Silva, Allan
Barbeau, Mark Powell, Juan Francisco Casas and many more.
What
is your favourite piece of work that you've created?
A
tough question! I think my mind changes month upon month but I would
say that I am particularly proud of my biro piece called
‘Paddington’. It’s an A2 drawing and took me several months to
finish. It’s a study of a photo I took which I am also really
pleased with so it ticks all of the boxes.
The
image has just the right level of architectural structures and the
contrast of dark and light was (in my opinion) perfect. Perhaps a
less technical piece that I hold dear to my heart is my biro flower
study ‘For Dad’. I had started drawing it when my dad was very
ill and sadly he passed away. I completed the drawing for him so it
is very special to me.
I
love that you work a lot with just a biro – what made you choose
that medium?
I
have always loved biro. I’m not sure exactly what it is that I love
so much but I think it is probably a combination of things including:
the cross-hatching method is very repetitive but also somewhat
therapeutic; the richness of the tone and colour far surpasses
pencils (and I really like high contrast images); and the medium
requires a high level of precision and the control freak in me enjoys
this challenge.
What
are your creative ambitions for the future?
I
am passionate about drawing so I would like one day to become as good
as the best in the field.
I
would also love to become a good painter but I really need a studio
space to be able to work on my skills..I have shown my work in some
local establishments but it would be a dream come true to have my
work shown in a larger gallery.
I
do have grand ideas of one day returning to university to complete a
masters degree; although I’m not sure how realistic that is with my
parenting and teaching responsibilities!
How
do you silence your inner critic?
I
don’t feel I need to. I am an absolute realist so I don’t have
grand ideas that I am better than everyone else but equally if I have
done something good then I will be honest about how proud I am. My
husband is also a very analytical person so he is good at helping me
keep things in perspective.
What
do you do when you're not being creative?
My
life consists of being: a parent, a wife, a teacher and an artist.
When
I’m not doing all of these things I love food so cooking and eating
out make up a lot of my social time. I also love reading, photography
and going on holiday to sunny destinations (although not as often as
I would like).
Tell
us where we can find your work and your social media sites.
I've
been inspired by Shelley's work, I love that something so realistic
can be created with a biro .. I'm not very good at drawing, I can
doodle and draw little cartoon figures but that's about it.....
seeing your work has inspired me to give it a go (whatever the outcome!).
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions especially with how busy you are and for being completely open regarding some personal stories linked to your work.
Thank you for reading, please
go and visit Shelley's sites and see some more of her beautiful work.
