We recently connected with Ashley Wong and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I think the timing of everything happens for a reason. 2021 was the year I really started to take my art more seriously. During this time, I had just graduated college and was trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do. I experimented with so many different mediums and styles! I sold prints of my artwork at shows and had done a few commission pieces, but I was also still trying to figure out my artistic style that I felt was truly me. Even though things were going well, I felt that something was off and I needed more time to find my true style. I started a new job in 2022, which allowed me to be more hands-on, and it opened my eyes to finding my craft and the style that felt most comfortable and true to me. Since then, I’ve been the happiest I’ve ever been with my art, and now I’m back to selling prints and commissioned work in my own style. If I had started sooner or later, I wouldn’t be where I am at today.
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.
I’ve always loved any excuse to be creative whether I show it in my drawings or in my clothing choices! I remember the moment I realized I was actually good and passionate about drawing when I was a sophomore in high school. I took my first art class and my teacher would pick a few standout pieces for the projects he would assign us and display them around the room. He had chosen my landscape drawing I had drawn of a lake near my house to be displayed in the art showing in the town where other schools were also participating. I had never felt so proud of myself than in that moment, and I realized it was something I wanted to do long-term. I’ve explored so many different mediums trying to find my style and craft. After I graduated, I really found myself and found what truly felt the most me when it came to my art. I’ve always loved sketching and the vintage woodcut/etching illustration style really stood out to me and it’s the style I would say describes my art now. Over the years, my art style has changed and continues to change which can also be seen through the clothes I wear. My friends have even convinced me to start up a separate page dedicated to my outfits just to document for fun and to help share some inspiration whenever they can’t find what to wear!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best thing anyone can do to support artists and creatives is to simply share their work! Of course, buying their work would help tremendously but even something as simple as reposting their work on instagram or sharing the artists’ work by word of mouth helps give them more exposure for others to appreciate their art.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is seeing the final product after putting in the hours of work into it. If I spend too much time on one section, I have to take a break and come back to it in order to see it as a whole rather than bits and pieces. But finally seeing the finished product is such a rewarding feeling and nothing else truly compares! Sharing my work with others and seeing their reactions (whether it’s good or bad) is also the best! I love seeing how different people interpret my artwork.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: ohiashley / fitswithash
- Other: tiktok: fitswithash