Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Purdin.

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

From a young age I showed an interest in art. I explored, related to and understood the world around me through art. Both of my parents supported my artistic endeavors. My mom still has a framed original from kindergarten that she would about swear should be in a gallery somewhere! At age 12, I was enrolled in a Waldorf School called “The Lake Farm” in Gardner KS. The school was only in existence for a few years. Our Main Lesson teacher, Lisa, dropped her life in Australia to come teach her nieces and nephew for their middle school years. Thanks to some really good timing, an opportunity arose for me to attend the school as well. In Waldorf Education art is used to explore both your inner world and the outer world around you. And it is used to explore every subject.

Each subject has its own sketchbook. Within each sketchbook, each lesson is copied down by hand with illustrations throughout. I was reminded recently, by our Anatomy teacher, Gretchen, of a time when I was very resistant to the idea of drawing out what we called the “muscle man” the full body form of the muscle systems. I vaguely remember not wanting to do it at all. After several weeks I was starting to fall behind on my work. One day I came to class and decided to draw the dang thing. Apparently it was a pretty quick process and she stood in a bit of shock that what had been so painful to convince me to do took little to no effort on my part to bring about a decent finished product.

It was thanks to all of my teachers at the Lake Farm that I was able to enroll at Johnson County Community college at fifteen. I remember being mortified when my dad dropped me off for class because I didn’t have a driver’s licence yet.
At JCCC I was able to continue to pursue art, taking a couple of drawing classes. The drawing professor pushed me to draw on a lifesize and larger scale. I really enjoyed the assignments and the larger scale artwork. This is one of the reasons I like to paint on larger canvases to this day.

From JCCC I went on to Mid-America Nazarene University where I graduated with a degree in Business Administration and met my husband, Tim, who continues to be my biggest cheerleader and best friend. Last summer we celebrated 10 years of marriage. We enjoy traveling together and while he is not an artist himself, he is a great appreciator of art. We enjoy visiting galleries together especially when we travel to Colorado.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

My greatest personal and business challenge has been my mental health. My husband, Tim, was there for all of it. All of the sudden mood swings, rage and irritability. All of the irrational thoughts hallucinations and paranoia. I spent twenty minutes every morning for YEARS checking for bombs under my car. I just thought that people were always out to get me and that something bad was going to happen. I think part of me assumed everyone dealt with the challenges I faced and yet – as I looked around me – the evidence all pointed to the contrary. I was on an island. Completely alone in my symptoms and without a clue as to how to get help or where to go.

In the winter of 2019 I read a book: The Upside of Being Down by Jen Gotch. It was about her struggle with Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depressive Disorder) and how it affected her life and entrepreneurial ventures. As I read I related more and more to her struggles. By the end of the book, I realized there was someone out there with my exact symptoms, struggles and pain. This knowledge saved my life.

The dark thoughts got so bad that I was contemplating ending it all. I decided it was now or never to tell someone how I had been feeling. I went to my family doctor and took a typed out letter into my appointment listing all of my symptoms. He put me in touch with a psychiatrist and during the first session I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder. BP 1 is a mental health condition marked by extreme mood swings including manic episodes (elevated mood, impulsivity and risky behavior) and depressive episodes (sadness, low energy and loss of interest). These mood shifts, when untreated, can really mess up your life. If you are really lucky you experience mixed episodes where you feel high and low at the same time. It’s hard to explain but it makes you want to claw your own eyeballs out of your head.

Through the wonders of pharmacological medicine and lots of therapy I was able to get better. It took a while. One of my first assignments was to take three months away from my demanding horse training career and do something else. This is where my art career was born.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

During my three months of leave from work I began to paint. I had a very limited experience painting with Acrylics but I decided to give it a go. I was a bit manic at the time while we were waiting on the meds to get sorted out and nothing seemed out of reach or impossible. So, off to the art supply store I went and I came back with the biggest canvas I could buy and a boat load of paint. I had no color pallete or plan. I just had vision and a tiny reference photo on my phone that I had shot a few weeks prior of a training horse in the arena.

It went shockingly well. I was pleased with it, but more importantly, when Tim got home, he thought it was amazing. I didn’t know it at the time, but when you are in a manic state, it’s a bit like looking at the world through prescription polarized sunglasses. Everything is sharper and colors are deeper. Every idea you have feels like the next big thing and everything you create is worth its weight in gold. Anyways, this time, the painting was actually good and by the time it hit Facebook it sold in about 30 minutes for hundreds of dollars. I should have been shocked at my quick success as several orders for custom paintings came in immediately. But when your manic – success is a given. So I kept painting and over time generated a body of work I am really proud of.

I now split my time between the horse training and my art business. The art business is comprised of Original Art, Commissioned Works and a few painting and drawing classes for youth in my area. My mission (and my lived reality) is to spread the news about mental health and wellness, inspire the next generation of artists and provide works to collectors all over the country. If you are interested in any of my offerings the best place to contact me is through Facebook or email [email protected].

Be well.

– Ashley

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleypurdinart.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1194designs
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Personal Photo taken by Hannah Gurske of Good Day Photography