We were lucky to catch up with Ashlee Elease recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashlee , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was a 5 year old kid who had a very creative father figure who was a self taught bass player, piano player, artist ,singer and an amazing writer. Being around this kind of creative expression inspired the artist in me. I knew I wanted to have a career within the arts very young .I started to show my artistic talent when I joined in on my dad’s jam sessions at home.I would grab the brush and start singing as my dad played the keys. He taught me how to write my first song verse , hook and bridge .Music will always be my first love but it didn’t stop there, my bedroom became my oasis for creativity. I would sketch, draw, write short stories , poetry ,read astrology/self help books and made collages out of magazines for hours. I enjoyed the peace art gave me, I wanted to just express my personality through my creativity. I did grow up wanting to become a singer, but I was always interested in making art with my hands as well.

I loved vibrant colors and how lost I would get in the colorful world I created for myself. I took up Tap
and Hip-Hop dance classes along with singing lessons on the weekend.
I was such an expressive teenager I who loved posing and taking pics that I started freelance modeling at age 17. My first tear sheet was for feature in Hype Hair Magazine and I went on to do so many castings in New York /New Jersey? For over 10 years, I became my own manager I knew how to find my own gigs around the city .

I moved to California at 27 yrs old I wanted to be apart the creative hub that I needed to be apart of . I felt that’s where I would thrive creatively. I fell in love with the palm trees , mountains, and stunning sunsets . I began to take pictures with my iPhone of the landscapes. I made a separate instagram page just to share my photos with my peers nothing major. In my teen years I had a knack for phone photography, I just loved documenting beautiful intriguing things whether it was people, a sizzling plate or a beautiful rose I saw while passing.

On my journey I picked up a practice called Nichiren Buddhism, a friend introduced it to me, she saw that I was having some hardships, she suggested that I chant “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo” . Before we did our meditative chant for the first time together she told me think of something I wanted while I chanted. So we chanted for 5 minutes to see if I’d enjoy it. In my minds eye I asked for a creative job doing what I love. After the chant I felt rejuvenated and at peace .A week later I got a message on instagram from a woman seeking a photographer, I was confused because nowhere on my page had I mentioned that I was a photographer. This page was just for street photography and candids, I wasn’t a professional I just had a passion for taking photos . She thought I was good enough so I just went along with it ,what harm can it do ? She asked me “how much do you charge “? I had no idea I looked on google for ideas , I always did TFCD photoshoots which meant Time for CD which are free photos in exchange for photos.

It felt good to be behind the lens for once ,at this time I’m using my iPhone no professional camera. I figured out a price of $50 an hour since I’m a beginner and the shoot was booked.It was for a women’s retreat on Santa Monica Beach. From that day forward I was getting requests for photoshoots, had non stop bookings. The chant I did a week prior asking for a creative job doing what I love has manifested before my eyes .Photography has now become my profession for the past 6 years. It didn’t end there, when I asked for a creative profession , that can be a multitude of things. As I continued to grow on my spiritual journey and chanting everyday, I was shifting my life in such profound ways . I heard a voice one day in my waking hours say” MOVE, MOVE MOVE” I jumped out of the bed so fast. I’m spiritually inclined but this was new for me,and I was alone in the room at the time . I wasn’t sure what was going on so I chanted and prayed for clarity if it was true that I had to move once again . I asked for signs and synchronicities to be given to me .I had my own initial places I wanted to move to because at that time I was going through transition with a roommate situation. I had an opportunity in Las Vegas and Chicago but I needed to know if that’s where God needed me to be .

So I go on about my day after this supernatural experience ,my friend and I were on our way to a Hot Spring this will be my first experience. While I’m unwinding and relaxing in the spring a group of women come over and ask me to take their pictures and I did just that . As one of the girls sits next to me in the spring it’s quiet and peaceful she all of a sudden turns her head and says “ I feel called to move to North Carolina “, I froze I had an offer to go to North Carolina but I wasn’t really interested and just kept it in the back of my mind. It wasn’t the state I wanted to move to I loved there many yrs ago I didn’t want to go backwards. So the next day,I go to my friends studio session in Hollywood and her engineer comes in and says “hey guys , I just got back from North Carolina” where’s the mention of Vegas or Chicago ? I kept getting signs for North Carolina.

The last sign was me and my friend passing through Hollywood at night and we come across a building that read “ RALEIGH STUDIOS” in neon lights . Raleigh is the city I lived in North Carolina just wow . That was THEE sign of all signs, I now was given the city and state of where God was calling me to . A ticket was made for me and I relocated back to Raleigh,North Carolina. I was curious to why I was sent back here ,but It didn’t take me long to realize . My friend that I was staying with has a mom who’s into art and crafts plus we have the same birthday . She’s like a second mom to me always looked out for me on my journey and I’m truly thankful for her in my life . As I settled back into North Carolina me and my friends mom would go to Michael’s art store every other day . Art was my whole life growing up but I suppressed it for 25 years and here it is making a come back.

I started painting for hours and weeks went by, I was stuck in my room creating multiple pieces. I was healing my inner child, I was surrounded by so much nature , lakes and beautiful bunnies it was so ethereal. I was healing the artist in me I began to share my artwork on my Facebook and Instagram and people started to inquire about the price. It was such a euphoric feeling that someone wanted to purchase one of my paintings.I took a year off from working to be a full time artist and it just took off . It’s been almost 4 yrs of tapping back into my artistry I never painted as a kid it would intimidate me so I stuck to sketching and collage work . I didn’t even know I was doing Collage Art as a kid I was just putting magazine images together that I liked . God conspired my spiritual awakening the whole time ,to lead me back to ME the ARTIST . I didn’t need to seek outside myself but the nomadic adventures for 18 years had to lead me home to my inner child. I needed to heal and to build a powerful relationship with God in isolation, that lead me to finding my purpose and building a career within my gifts .

Ashlee , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My natural magnetism has planted me in rooms I’ve never been before my curiosity and friendly personality granted me friendships in many different realms of artistry.I had the privilege to show people how creative and passionate I am when it comes to my gifts , whether it’s my photography or mixed media art. I specialize in Nature light photography, I love how the sun illuminates on skin I prefer to shoot anytime from the early morning up to the golden hour . I’m still new to photography since it was manifested as my profession overnight . I have a background in modeling so it helps me with my new models and clients who need help with their pose and posture. I’m the type of creative to get the magic shot.I will make you laugh to get your Colgate smile , I will roll around on the ground just to capture your best angle . I’m fun to work with and I know how to break the ice with my clients who come in nervous . My photography brand is named AshleeSnapz , being new to photography but not new to the industry hence my modeling background that gives me experience and a new perspective and lense. Even though I love taking picture of people I deeply love landscape photography there’s so much peace in nature , the color pallets of the sunsets makes me want to cry tears of joy . I’m proud of finally being in alignment with my craft after 25 yrs and creating art with my clients it’s something that’s so life changing for me . That people have a piece of my work in their homes in frames. I’m deeply honored to be a conduit , a vessel of creativity that gets to team up with other creative beings and manifest their concepts into fruition, I’m truly honored .

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

How I built my social media presence started with MySpace that was my outlet to share my modeling pics and my inspirational quotes I’ve always had a passion to help people wether it’s through motivational quotes , expressive photos I just wanted to share who I am and my magic of joy and perseverance. That no matter what traumas have framed your life you can’t let it defeat you . I’ve reinvented myself so many times in this social media age .Those friends and followers from MySpace moved to Facebook and instagram and they have been with me from the beginning . I now share my spiritual journey and how creativity is within us all and that anything is possible.I use my testimony and life experience to show that we all can follow our heart’s desire. Being vulnerable and open about my journey has brought forth strangers who are now my soul tribe family for life . I just share my personality and expressions of my soul to reach people where they are, and to let them know they are not alone . Life is evolving ,timelines are shifting and I know my platform is made for me to use correctly to inspire others to live their free spirited lives with all their authenticity .

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The vulnerability that art gives me , the expression of my soul on a canvas , my creative eye that sees magic in the mundane . I’m just happy I unlocked a chapter within myself that gives me the permission to create and the intuitive nudges I get from the universe and my ancestors to create my pieces. It doesn’t belong to only me these ideas are fragments of my lineage, my ancestors who came before me who live within me. I love the gift of story telling ,using life experiences to inspire people through song, dance, vivid colors and images it’s a blessing to express God in everything I create .

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram .com/ashleebtheartist
• Soundcloud: SoundCloud.com/ AshleeElease
• Other: https://Instagram.com/Ashleesnapz

Image Credits

All photos taken by AshleeSnapz