We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ash ‘WOLFDOG’ Hayner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ash ‘WOLFDOG’ below.

Ash ‘WOLFDOG’, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I had always grown up creative — coming from a web design background at a very young age, I started having an eye for composition early on. Throughout high school, I continued to learn various programs, ranging from Illustrator to early 3d.

Towards the end of high school, I saw the artist Greg Mike post on (at the time) Twitter that he was looking for interns. I applied for the position and got it, though I still don’t think he knew how old I was.

I remember sitting down in the studio with Greg one night and watching the documentary ‘Beautiful Losers’. The documentary follows a group of artists (Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korinne, Mark Gonzales, Barry Mcgee, + many more legends) starting in the 1990’s, and the DIY art scene they paved the way for. The stories of their growing up resonated with me, and sparked something in me that still gives me goosebumps today.

I have never looked at art the same since, and thats when I knew this was what I wanted to do!

Ash ‘WOLFDOG’, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Ash, I am 31 years old and work as well as live in Atlanta, GA. I’m a producer for a creative agency and art gallery called ABV, as well as a fine artist + muralist.

As the agency side goes; I like to say that we specialize in connecting artists with brands. From brand activations and interactive installations to nation-wide mural campaigns, our specialty is helping to tell peoples stories and facilitate those relationships. From design, to development, to install and content capture — we really pride ourselves in walking step-by-step with the artist as well as client to achieve a product everyone is stoked on.

I have been very fortunate to take a lot of the things I have learned from the agency world into my personal art career. Creating work with intent, and asking myself “why” as well as the simple formula of constancy over time are some of those larger impact pieces. As an artist sometimes it can feel like ideas are not coming, or there is no way to solve a specific problem — I’m always pleasantly surprised when the stark contrast of my problem-solving agency brain kicks in and assists with creative solutions.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Not exactly a resource; but I would have loved for someone to tell me early on to trust the process, and execute by any means necessary. I think it’s super easy to compare ourselves to others accomplishments and get discouraged. Sometimes this can even stop people from starting!

One of the biggest life lessons for me was that there are a million ways to get to the finish line. I am pretty much all self taught via YouTube and trial and error. With patience and commitment, the mistakes that initially can feel overwhelming slowly fade, and whats left is a work-hardened practice.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Six years ago at 25 I checked myself into rehab for alcohol and drug addiction. I had reached a point in my life where I was no longer functioning and did not see a viable way out. I remember on the second day of being in a detox unit, I had a conversation with a staff member telling them how badly I wanted to get better and that I would do whatever they told me I needed to.

3 months of inpatient treatment.and a few more months of sober-living later, this was by far the best decision to this day I ever made. Obviously the sobriety and ability to begin to earn trust back was one thing, but the lesson that you can literally do whatever you want, no matter how seemingly impossible, by putting one foot in front of the other was the biggest lesson.

I am a huge advocate for manifesting the life and dreams that you want, and an even bigger one for putting your head down and doing the work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wolfdoglives.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/wolfdoglives

Image Credits
Taylor Wallace, Ryan Montez, DV Photo,