WELCOME
Kay Ashton Fine Art
ABOUT
KAY
In her own words
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
"In the spare bedroom - that’s where! As I am pretty much self-taught with 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 around 2011 when, at the ripe old age of 44, I enrolled oil painting classes where, to my astonishment, I took to it like a duck to water. As I continued to paint and learn, I decided to show off my latest efforts on social media; people were enquiring about buying my pieces.
I mostly painted in a realism style 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."
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"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.
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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.
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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 which sold pretty much straight away before the textured petals were dry on the canvas.
I also experimented with paint pouring onto canvas and ceramics such as vases and coasters which was great fun. These proved very popular. All this alongside the fine art oil painting.
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Towards the end of 2022 and early 2023, I took a break to concentrate on home and family, and to reassess where my artistic journey was heading. I also wanted to focus more on advancing my oil painting techniques and creativity. This period of learning has greatly influenced my own painting style where fine art is concerned."
WHERE IT'S AT
The conservatory, that’s where!
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It does look rather tidy, doesn't it?
Rest assured it's usually a tip, with paint everywhere.
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" am currently creating my own fine art alla prima (from life) still life food paintings which were a past favourite, alongside more indepth pieces which have been inspired from recent travels where people, places and situations capture my imagination.
I still undertake commissioned work but only if I can see that it is going to translate into a great painting. Each submission will be assessed on an individual basis as to whether what the client is asking for will stand as a great piece of art on it's own. I have become more particular as I do not want to just copy the source image onto canvas; I prefer to create a great painting which will include my own creativity and for that, I have to take lots of other factors into consideration before agreeing to take it on."
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For more information on commissions click here.
WHERE IT'S GOING
Mrs International!
I think Kay is supposed say that she's headed for the stars and all that, but she says "In all honesty I am happy to continue to learn and hone my craft to produce the best paintings for my collectors 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 that spare bedroom and I still have to pinch myself that people want to buy my art".