J. Ashley Kirby

Title: Summer Time
Medium: Watercolor
Size: 14” x 11”

Studio:
25 Zelma Drive
Greenville, SC 29617
(864) 294-1046

www.jashleykirby.com

Directions:
From Downtown Greenville take 25-276 (Rutherford Road/Poinsett Highway) toward Furman/Asheville. Take the Timmons Arena exit. Turn left onto Old Buncombe Road. Turn right on Duncan Chapel Road past the entrance to Timmons Arena. Turn left on Zelma Drive: #25.

Artist Statement: Several years ago I watched a vice-presidential debate where one candidate asked: “Who am I?" Why am I here?” I think that these questions are a constant thread in the artist’s mind. We are searching for an artistic identity amid all the confusion and noise and to find our place in this maze and mass of creative energy. The best answer for me, I suppose, is in the simplicity of my approach -- paint what I want you to see that I felt important enough to put on paper. Color that finds its own way, co-mingling -- the magical lure of watercolor. Learning to use it and control it is a lifetime pursuit.

I make no political statement, seek no deep inner meaning, and hide nothing in the layers of color in my work. I paint people, places, and things that are pleasing to my eye. Many of my paintings are from places visited in the past with a strong influence from several years living, traveling and studying in Europe and Asia.
I have been teaching watercolors in my studio and at Furman University for three years now and if the answer as to why am I here needed saying, is would probably be for my students. My work is traditional transparent watercolor on cotton rag paper. I use a limited palette, mix my colors on the paper and use no black or white paint-they are opaque and lack the luminescence I seek. Many of my paintings are available as limited edition giclee prints on watercolor paper. After decades of painting part-time, it is now a full-time dream come true. Welcome to my world where I have the luxury of doing exactly what I have always wanted to do. That’s the best part of who I am.