Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Brazil.
Hi Ashley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, in Eugene, Oregon, surrounded by the forest, mountains, and just a short drive to the ocean. I studied Painting, Drawing, and Art History in early college, Not sure what to pursue next, after completing community college I took a break from my studies to work as a Retail Buyer at an upscale marketplace. There my love for beautiful and useful objects grew, and I started to desire a transition from 2D mediums to making objects that could be interwoven into everyday life.
I didn’t begin making pottery until years later, when I moved to Portland, Oregon. Once there, I took every ceramics class that my local college offered and completely fell in love. It was incredible to start a new medium and be repeatedly humbled by it. It was not something that came naturally to me, but instead was something I loved enough to work very hard at. When I had exhausted all of the classes I took there, I decided it was something I really wanted to dedicate myself to in a more serious manner. I moved to Minneapolis, and shortly after I applied to the BFA program to study Studio Art at the University of Minnesota.
After much experimenting, I began primarily hand-building vessels, preferring a more slow and sculptural approach to that of the wheel. At first vases seemed like the most ancient and natural thing to imitate, but in reality I would find that they also served to represent my resonance for art as an object to be used and enjoyed. I also found that my years of painting brought a special affinity for the glazing process, and I absorbed all that I could while I had unfettered access to materials. Slowly, my style began to emerge, which felt like a culmination of all of my interests. While in school, I began working as a Studio Intern for my good friend, potter, and mentor, Brett Monahan. It was a crash course in everything I wasn’t learning in school, studio maintenance, chores, shipping, photography, and running a business. Shortly after graduation, and opportunity to take over his studio arose when he moved to Grand Marais. I took the plunge and took over his lease at the Casket Arts Building, began selling my work, and the rest is history!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It took me many years to connect all of the things I was interested in and had studied, to land where I am today. Though, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a struggle and prefer to think of it as a winding road. I am grateful I had the space and freedom to explore, even if I didn’t always know where it would lead. Learning art practice in an academic environment certainly wasn’t always easy, and being assigned art as homework sometimes robbed the joy of making it. However, the access to instructors who were established artists themselves, the access to materials, opportunities, and structure – made it all worth it.
Otherwise, the biggest struggle is definitely the admin side of running an artistic business. As much as I would love to hide in my studio and make sculptures all day, there is photographing, marketing, social media, and accounting all to contend with. All of which feel like a completely separate job, and does not come as easily as making the art itself!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work with ceramics is informed by the transformative nature of the vessel. I make all manner of things, but am most known for sculptural vases, candlesticks, and pedestals. I aim to create objects that are not too precious to be used and enjoyed, that show evidence of the hand that makes them, and to further bridge the gap between fine art and craft. I am motivated by an insatiable desire to create beauty in all parts of my life and to share it with others.
My practice is deeply rooted in finding art in the world around me, studying historical artifacts, and always maintaining ties to the natural world. I formulate glazes that evoke something dug up from the ocean and eroded by time, that have surfaces that reflect my favorite rocks in their stoney matte texture, and that have a hand-feel that is familiar to the touch. I use colors that evoke the blue sky, the dark ocean, the pink of a sunset, and of forests and algae. I desire to explore the depth of feeling that certain colors bring from their interaction with each other, and my work is greatly informed by color theory. It is where my love of painting and ceramics truly merge.
While my sculptures carry the accumulation of my interests and historical references, I leave a significant amount of their creation to the act of intuition. I generally start with a concept, a sketch, and a general idea of what the glaze may be. However, the piece often transforms as it is made, and takes on a life of its own. No two pieces are ever the same, and that is the ultimate beauty of my practice. It is also what drew me to the act of hand-building vessels and using a primarily coil-building method. My pieces are not recreations of their original source material, but instead an act of reverence and appreciation – as well as becoming their own thing along the way. This freedom in my practice allows me to stay connected to the joy of making art, and for it to have become something akin to a meditative practice.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My family has always been hugely supportive of my art-making, and are proud owners of some of my first (and sometimes worst) ceramic work and paintings. I am very close with my sister, Amber, but she lives in Washington State, and we only see each other a few times a year. However, she hand dips the beeswax tapers that I use for my ceramic candlesticks, and I love being able to say that my sister makes them when I sell them alongside my work.
Additionally, I have two tight-knit groups of friends in both Oregon and Minnesota, and both are full of creatives in all mediums. Having a community that shows up to support you, share your work, bounce ideas off of, or who also work to stay inspired in their own practice – is monumental.
Last but not least, my partner Otto works in architecture, and we share of love of design in general. We work in different creative fields, but are always bouncing ideas off of each other. I trust his opinion, and he is who I turn to first when I am newly inspired by something, You’ll usually catch him by my side working my open studio events!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ashley-brazil.com
- Instagram: @ashleybrazilceramics
