We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ash – ThePrussianBlue – Kleczka. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ash – ThePrussianBlue – below.
Alright, Ash – ThePrussianBlue – thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
In my experience as an artist – the most meaningful projects that I’ve worked on have been deeply personal and unexpected in their creation.
Most recently I completed a roughly 4′ x 5′ oil painting depicting an Eve figure sitting amongst bruised and crushed fruit in the garden of Eden. While I started the painting with a simple idea and a desire to fulfill an artists’ call for a local gallery – through painting I realized that there was a deep set passion and well of hurt in me that begged to be expressed.
There is a book (authored by Bessel van der Kolk) titled “The Body Keeps the Score” that discusses the relationships between trauma, the mind, and the body. This painting became a manifestation of those concepts for me. My history of abuse, my experience as a trans-masc person, and religious upbringing left scars that, while I didn’t necessarily recognize their existence, left a significant impact on me as a person. All of that to say that I subconsciously tapped into a raw nerve while painting. It was a huge relief to sit with the completed piece – like pulling out a particularly nasty splinter.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi all!
My name is Ash Kleczka – though I commonly go by Umber, The Prussian Blue, or some combination of the sort. I’m a queer, trans-masc artist based in Tucson, AZ with big (capital L) Love for fantasy and horror, and an indulgent habit of creating the odd cute or tongue-in-cheek work.
I’ve really found my footing as a professional by immersing myself in what you might consider ‘nerd culture’. I’m a huge fan of D&D, a lifelong PC gamer, and a sometimes writer – focusing on world building and character design. These interests have led me to groups that look for interpretations of their original characters, or for game design concept illustrations. Many of these people I’ve met through online communities, or at comic conventions and have continued to work with over the years. It’s always rewarding to be able to translate how they imagine something into something visual and tangible!
That being said – I’m a rather multi-disciplinary entity. I also maintain a professional presence at a local gallery, appearing in regular shows, providing merchandise, and speaking on the occasional panel. There’s a significant overlap in the work I produce for both, but each has its own space for me to explore creatively with different methodologies.
To pick just one thing I’m proud of is difficult…but despite it being several years out now – I still get a smile on my face remembering that I interviewed for a position with Wizards of the Coast. I didn’t get the job, but I got noticed and that’s pretty cool!
I can also say that I’m really proud of myself for tackling artistry as a career along with (despite) all of its obstacles. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I am relentlessly determined to do the best I can.
If you ever encounter me in person, please say hi! I’m pretty shy; but it always makes my day to know that I reached someone.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
This is such a broad question, and there’s so many moving parts large and small that go into it.
Despite “more funding” being a reductive statement, when there are so, so many socioeconomic/systemic factors at play – having access to reading programs, music theory, and art from the ground up really influenced my life and how I engage with the world around me. I wish more people had access to that. Exposing people to the arts is exposing people to different perspectives – and that, in my opinion, leads to a healthier society.
On a smaller scale – just interacting with creatives goes a long way! Support doesn’t have to mean dollars – sharing someone’s work by reblogging/retweeting (what have you) gets that person’s work in front of a larger audience. I’m a small creator with a very small following online, so where one person might not be able to do much other than share – the next three people they share to might! Breaking out of my immediate follower bubble has been incredibly difficult!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I truly wish I had known that cheap or even free online art classes could be a viable means of learning an artistic skill. Instead, I ended up becoming a victim of a predatory art school which has had a lasting impact on my success as, not just an artist, but as a human. It’s awful.
I think if I had been shown how to swing any of those resources to my advantage I’d have sought out a business degree instead. Not to forego the arts, but to supplement my ability to run myself as a business.
That being said, I’d recommend seeking out established artists online. Many artists do ‘paint with me’ style videos that I find really useful. They’re not directly instructional – but I find them really inspiring. How does this person arrange their sketchbook? Or how does this person render grass? I’d also recommend searching in your hometown for life drawing studios. Here where I live there’s a couple groups that meet several times a week for around $10. It’s a great way to stay loose and to stay in the habit of drawing.
Contact Info:
- Website: umbertheprussianblue.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprussianblue
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-kleczka/
- Other: https://ko-fi.com/umber https://mastodon.art/@ThePrussianBlue https://bsky.app/profile/theprussianblue.bsky.social https://linktr.ee/ThePrussianBlue
Image Credits
Travis Kleczka