WELCOME
ABOUT KAY
ABOUT KAY ASHTON
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
In the box room - that’s where!
As I am pretty much self-taught and there is no formal fine art qualification to speak of, we’ll skip the ‘I was good at drawing in school’ bit and fast forward to when it really starting happening in around 2011 when, at the ripe old age of 44, I enrolled in some oil painting classes. Well, would you believe it - I took to it like a duck to water. Very chuffed with my middle-aged self, I decided to show off my latest efforts on my social media and to my surprise people were asking to buy them.
I mostly painted in a realism style back then and just about anything was fair game if I felt I could paint it. By 2014, I had a steady flow of commission work along with creating my own pieces which usually sold before the paint was dry. Happy days.
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
As I began to create more art and my social media following expanded it wasn’t long before I outgrew the tiny box room and claimed a corner of our conservatory for my ever-growing hoard of supplies, my easel and myself. In 2017, my conservastudio was born.
By this stage, work was being published in various art magazines and in 2015 my painting, Ena Harkness, won Artist of the Year for Flowers and Gardens at the Society For All Artists and exhibited in London.
As I continued to paint and take over more and more of the conservatory, my style was of course evolving and I wanted to experiment more with other techniques; palette knife painting being a favourite.
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
I began to do my take on abstract florals and began to evolve my own style.
Again, they sold pretty much straight away.
WHERE IT'S AT
The conservatory, that’s where!
It does look rather tidy, doesn't it?
Rest assured it's usually a tip, with paint everywhere.
 |
|---|
 |
 |
The textured florals are a mainstay and my recognisable style is evolving nicely. These creations have proved hugely popular and I still undertake commissioned work but only if I can see that a picture is going to translate into a great painting – so your bog-standard traditional-style portraits are out, I’m afraid. I will, however, consider most subjects for painting but only if it feels ‘right’.
The more I have learned over the years, the more particular I have become when it comes to taking on commissions as I do not want to just copy the image onto canvas with paint and brushes; I want to create a great painting and for that, I have to take lots of other factors into consideration before agreeing to it.
WHERE IT'S GOING
Just call me Mrs International
Well, I am supposed say that I’m headed for the stars and all that…
But, in all honesty I am happy to continue to learn and hone my craft to produce the best paintings for my customers that I can, and to let my creative business evolve organically the way it has to date.
As a self-taught, versatile creative with acrylic pouring, palette knife painting and fine art already under my belt, I am happy to continue on the same artistic path I have travelled on since that first little easel held it’s initial canvas in the box room.