We recently connected with Ashley Schroepfer and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I took was packing up my car and leaving my hometown in Wisconsin in February of 2021. There were a lot of emotions as I drove out the driveway and down the road- I knew I wouldn’t be coming back other than to visit. I spent all of last year traveling around Texas doing work exchange, and in June I launched my art business. I quickly began learning the risks involved in just that alone. Investments, no matter how small or large, that you have to make in order to grow.

By fall, I knew I wanted to move to San Antonio. I just had to figure out the logistics of how to do that. With a little bit of luck and some wonderful people offering their support, I officially moved to San Antonio this past January. For me, that was a big step. Having lived in Wisconsin my whole life, it definitely felt like a bit of a risk. Getting a job was next, with lots of uncertainty surrounding that as well. I wanted to find something that could both pay the bills and allow me time to work on my art. I ended up in two part time jobs with a common interest in art.

In April of this year, I took a small risk of investing in a vendor space at an art market up in Austin. They required a vendor fee, which wasn’t crazy, but at the time felt like a lot. I had never done a popup market to sell my art before. But I went, and was able to call it a success, making enough to cover the fee and then some. Since then, I’ve done one or two markets a month, mostly in San Antonio. I have had to get used to the risk of investing in a booth, with the hope that the event will be successful enough to get that back, and then some. And every time it is a little unnerving. Every market isn’t the same, and nothing is ever perfect, but when someone purchases a piece that I love, and they love it just as much? Worth it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Since June of last year, I have been working on a small business featuring my art. I have always been a creative, but in the past was too unsure to attempt to sell any of my work. Last year, I was traveling around Texas doing work exchange, and decided to give it a go. I started out real small, featuring past pieces as prints, and a few projects I had been working on. By fall, I mainly had candles, prints, and wall decor pieces. The candles were made in recycled cans and glass, with beeswax from my dad’s hobby hives back in Wisconsin. The wall decor pieces were inspired by something I made back in high school, and included pieces of cholla I had collected while working at Chateau Wright Winery in Fort Davis, Texas.

Since I was traveling, I was limited to the storage space I had in my car. After I moved in January, I had a bit more space to unpack and work. I started working on more paintings, all of which were done on recycled wine filters I had gotten from Chateau Wright before leaving in the fall. I enjoyed painting on them, because the residue left from the wine created an interesting texture, which was different on every piece. I have since nearly run out of them, and have recently begun painting on some larger canvases as well.

I like to call myself a “no niche” artist, since I have a hard time sticking to one medium or style! I have a tendency to want to do many different projects often, anything from making candles, to painting, making clothing, home decor, and everything in between. This can make things difficult in the social media world, but I can’t bring myself to “niche down.” One of my favorite things in art is when medias overlap, and artists use multiple techniques and mediums to create a piece. I find it more interesting than the standards. This year, I have mainly worked on paintings and sewing. It’s been a slow start jumping back into sewing, as it has been a few years since I’ve consistently made clothing. I’m currently delving into pattern making and sizing. In the past, I have mostly just made clothing for myself, so I have not really tried making multiple identical pieces in different sizes. It is definitely an intimidating endeavor, but I know I can do it.

The paintings I have done have mainly been on the small filters I mentioned, which were sort of a random collection of abstract pieces and paintings of cactuses, landscapes, and other items. I also happened upon creating a piece which I have made into a series. Back in May, I was working on a monthly prompt challenge in an attempt to both create content for social media, as well as foster engagement. While trying to find inspiration for one of the prompts, I created “Fiesta” on a filter. I had a carton of leftover cascarones from Fiesta in April, and I cracked it over the wet paint, added glitter, and after it was dry I put a clear coat over the top. I was in love with the piece, so after selling the original, I created some more with different colored backgrounds. Currently, I have around 15 pieces in three different sizes, and lots of colors. They are a very fun piece to make, and I love how they turn out. Very bright and happy.

Going forward, I have lots of ideas for paintings and apparel. I would like to do a series of paintings of ice creams and desserts, and a San Antonio- specific series, featuring local products/businesses/locations/etc. The apparel I would like to create is mostly bralettes, decorative corsets, and festival wear. Lots of fun prints, colors, and fabrics with fun details. I am very interested in using beads, sequins, and embroidery in my pieces. Which is of course very time consuming, since it will involve lots of hand stitching. We will see how it goes!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Support is very easy. You can share on social media any artists that you admire, and if you have the financial means of supporting any of those artists through purchases, that is obviously very helpful as well. But just getting people’s names out there sometimes is all it takes. And that is free 99.

In a more large scale perspective though, I would love for us to be better at allowing and encouraging creativity in kids and young adults (and everyone). In my experience, school really hurt my creativity. I took art classes, and participated in lots of creative after school activities, but even in art class there was a limit to what you could do. Up until my senior year of high school, I had never had a “freestyle” opportunity for any projects. If we were learning about pointillism, we were all creating the same still life image. There was always a limit on creative expression. And in other classes, same concept. You are given an assignment, there are only a few ways of doing it. You can try to be more creative, but there is always a limit. And I have found I am continuing to deal with that even today. I have a hard time thinking outside the box, and am having to really learn that now. My school back in Wisconsin was very good, and in a lot of ways had lots of opportunity. However, even there it had lots of creative blocks. I remember being in study hall in middle school, and having finished my homework and book I was reading, I started doodling in one of my notebooks. The teacher in charge of that class told me I was not allowed to do that, and made me pick a book off of the shelf she had in her room. And I still vividly remember that interaction to this day. Kids need free time and creative time, to make anything they please with the materials they have. If it were up to me, creative classes would be mandatory, and there would be more freedom in choice and expression. Whether it is the freedom to pick out any book you want to read, or simply the ability to create whatever you want in art class. I would have loved if when learning pointillism in high school, I could have created a different image than a still life of the random collection of objects in front of me.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It isn’t as easy as it sometimes looks! For me, the things I know how to do took time to learn. Mostly I’ve learned by doing, which means a lot of trial and error. When I look at the clothes I made in middle school, they are real rough in comparison to what I can do now. And it’s the same for everything else, too. The other thing is everything is sooo time consuming. I can only sew so fast, I can only paint so fast. Which can make pricing difficult. Because while on the one hand, I want things to be affordable, I also want to pay myself enough for my time. That is definitely something I’m still figuring out.

Doing creative work can be just as difficult as anything else. I find that I have sort of phases where I feel super creative and I have all sorts of ideas, and then the next week, I’m exhausted. I feel uninspired and unsure of what to make. This definitely can make things difficult for me when I am trying to work on a timeline, because it stretches out the time it takes to complete a piece. Organization can help, for example I keep a list of ideas for when I’m feeling uninspired, but even so I seem to move slower when I’m not in the zone. It really can feel like work sometimes.

Lastly, for me, finding a “niche” is the hardest of all. I told you how I like to call myself a “no niche” artist, and while that is true, it really makes things more difficult sometimes. Living in the modern world, social media is nearly a must. Navigating that world can be difficult just as is, but when you’re like me, and you are still trying to figure out your style, or your brand, it can be hard to grow quickly. And I know that. I know that by having not picked one specific thing I am making it harder on myself. But, I know it would be just as hard if I felt like I was stuck and unable to do other things creatively. I know that at some point I will figure it out, and have a “niche,” but I’m not there yet. It’s like picking a profession straight out of school. Maybe you are lucky enough to know exactly what you want, with no doubts. But there’s a lot of us who are still testing the waters, figuring things out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyschroepfer.com/
• Instagram: @ashley_schroepfer
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCly2inXoiQnodL1w5dVdtlw
• Other: TikTok: @ashley_schroepfer

Image Credits
All photos taken by myself.