In this conversation, chat with LA-based painter Ash Roberts about bridging the gap between taste and skill, trusting your intuition, and the peace of surrendering to your inner child.
Images by Maddy Rotman
Episode Edited & Mixed by Matthew Conzelman
Original theme music by Billy Chapman
MARIAH: Did you ever go to art school?
ASH: Yeah. I went to Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
MARIAH: Oh, so you came all the way out here for university?
ASH: Ya when I first visited, I was like oh California is different, ya know? This place is cool. I thought maybe I would want to explore art schools out here and Otis had a bunch of interesting things on the wall that I didn’t know how to make, and that was enticing.
MARIAH: While you were in art school, did you ever explore different mediums, or did you always sort of feel called to painting?
ASH: Well, most art schools have a foundation year that's really art history focused, and then you've got the figure drawing, sculpture, etc. At most art schools, you have that foundation year to really discover yourself.
MARIAH: Wait, Ash are you from LA?
ASH: I’m from upstate New York originally.
MARIAH: Oh, really?
ASH: A little town called Saratoga Springs. This bottle right here is the water.
MARIAH: Wow. So the water must come right out of the springs, right? It does.
ASH: Yeah, that's why Saratoga Springs. When you enter the little city center it says ‘health, history and horses.’
MARIAH: What was it like to grow up there? Were you always sort of a creative kid?
ASH: Um, yeah, super creative. I was painting all the time when I was little. Most of my journey has been trying to get back to that little child.
ASH: Although, I think I got kind of pushed into graphic design because it's a little scary when you're doing it on your own and want to make a living as an artist. Graphic design felt more comfortable than trying to make it as a painter. In retrospect, I would just probably paint it.
ASH: But, those skills help me everyday.
MARIAH: So what me through your creative journey once you graduated art school. Did ou work in graphic design?
ASH: I did some graphic design jobs, and knew pretty quickly that also wasn't for me. I hate sitting at a desk. I'm a very kinetic person, right? I tried anything creative to pay the bills, but then I always had this tactile part of me that was like screaming inside. I just couldn't can't avoid it anymore.
MARIAH: While you were working in fashion, graphic design, or interiors did you continue to paint or did you take space from it?
ASH: Oh, I took space. I remember how bizarre it was to get going again. It definitely did not feel like walking into an art supply store the way it does now. Now, it's like second nature. I'm going in there with a direction and intuition. Similar feeling to when I’m going to the grocery store to get the ingredients for this thing that's in my mind, right? I remember the first couple times going feeling a little awkward and insecure.
MARIAH: Did it feel like a risk or leap of faith to give yourself the permission to paint again?
ASH: I really think that the art chooses you at some point. You don't have a choice, or I felt like I didn’t have any more time to waste. I just simply needed to express myself.
