Ashley Cecil is an artist and illustrator whose clients include Oxfam America, Early Times Whiskey, and Pittsburgh Quarterly. She earned her M.A. in art business at the Sotheby's Institute of Art London in 2011 and studied under James Horton, President of the Royal Society of British Artists. Cecil describes Eagle Owl on Purple as an "orchestrated dream" featuring a haunting owl perched before an art nouveau inspired pattern embellished with gold leaf.
Courtesy of Ashley Cecil
1. Could you give us a brief introduction to who you are and how you became an artist?
I'm a Louisville, Kentucky native who moved to Pittsburgh after living abroad, most recently in London. Louisville influenced me a great deal and was the cause of my fixation on drawing horses as a child. That paid off many years later when I was commissioned to paint equine scenes and artwork for a Kentucky Derby related libation.
Living in London also had a massive impact on my painting. Troves of textiles at institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum and artists such as William Morris were the inspiration for my current style of painting, which mixes painted flat pattern with realistically rendered flora and fauna. Pittsburgh is a great resource since I have Phipps, the National Aviary and Carnegie Museum of Natural History at my finger tips for visual reference material.
2. Can you talk about the concepts behind your pieces in Bedtime Stories?
"Eagle Owl on Purple" was my first painting in my current series that included a large bird of prey. Since I try to always paint the birds and insects in my paintings at the scale of the actual creature, this piece gave me a break from painting much smaller hummingbirds and warblers (although there are a couple warblers in this piece as well). Studying the Eurasian Eagle Owl was awe-inspiring. The bird has a 5-6 foot wingspan and talons and orange eyes that would give anyone chills. Features like these are why I particularly like to paint birds of prey. Most people view birds as sweet and endearing when in fact their beautiful markings and colors are really tools to aid them hunting, scavenging, taking turf and procreating. Beauty is gruesome. I'm fascinated by that juxtaposition and find it terrific subject matter for painting.
3. What is your creative process?
See the about page on my website for my creative process.
4. Do you admire any other artists?
Yes! I love artist who value technical proficiency in their work, which is partly why I was drawn to artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement. I'm also a huge fan of Kehinde Wiley, who I got to meet in New York last year.
5. Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?
I'm always working on commissions and commercial illustration projects. I'm about to install one of my patterned paintings as wallpaper at Marty's Market in the Strip District. I'm also about to start a self-directed residency this summer where I'll be painting and drawing on location at various venues throughout Pittsburgh, such as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. You can follow where I'll be from day to day on Instagram, Facebook or on my blog.
6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still painting in Pittsburgh. It doesn't get much better.
Bedtime Stories is at Future Tenant until June 28.