Interview With Ashley Smith (part 3)

(Links to part 1 and part 2)

M: How would you describe/define a breakthrough in your studio?

A: I think a breakthrough is a moment of sudden discovery that occurs while working or reflecting in the studio. The sudden discovery then moves you and aids in the progression and transformation of your work. It is a moment when some kind of barrier in the work, like a question, misunderstood concept or material that was once confusing suddenly becomes clearer as a result of working, researching, finding, collecting and reflecting. It is a major or significant moment of improvement that occurs after many other smaller improvements. For me a breakthrough occurs most often when I am working steadily in my studio.

M: How would you describe inspiration?

A: I believe Inspiration:

• Is the power of moving the intellect and emotions through the process of consumption.
• Is the arousal of the mind and emotion which moves one to creative activity.
• Has to do with cultivating interests. You have to be an interested and aware person in order to know when something is inspiring. I think it helps to have inspiration training which I define as training that teaches one about what they like and what it feel like when they find inspiration that arouses their intellect, emotion and aesthetic, how and where to find inspiration and learning when you need it.
• Comes from everywhere. It is from words, visuals, dreams, books, internet, nature, people, culture, color, material and the list goes on and on.
• Happens when your heart and mind are seeking an answer of some kind. Even when inspiration seems like it comes from no where, I think you are subconsciously seeking it.
• Is a sudden intuition as part of solving problems.
• Is often the beginning of something or offering potential.
• It is very exciting and fulfilling!

M: Why do you make art?

A: I make art because with every fiber of my being I LOVE IT. In life I am a maker and creator. It sounds cliché but it is true. Art making fills my spirit and simply makes me happy. My mind becomes stimulated and my hands have learned their purpose and now they know what to do. Art has made me in control. Art has made me a decision maker. Art has taught me how to listen and how to speak articulately when I need to. Art is a language I understand and communicate through and can always learn more from. Art provides obstacles which I enjoy working through. Art making and teaching gives me purpose. Art is part of everything and is everywhere and that makes me feel connected.

M: What's an example of an obstacle that you have worked through with your art?

A: Well there are many times when art seems to be the obstacle that I am working through but this question seems to be inquiring about an obstacle in life that I made it through as a result of creating art. I think for me this happens often but there is one moment that is sticking out clear in my mind. It was during my second semester of working toward my teaching certificate and our professor had us create three visual statements through out the class in response to questions about our self as a student, our worries or questions about working with students that have special needs and any other general questions or worries about teaching. They also served as a source for reflection within the program. Our professor is an art teacher and art therapist so she had us use art often to help us fully develop our ideas.

During our first visual reflection I created a drawing of a woman (me) doing a back-bend while being blindfolded on a floating rock. Essentially I was trying to convey a sense of strength and strong work ethic I felt as a student/teacher. I had a willingness and a need to be great, to ask great questions to find the answers because I really have a strong passion for art and teaching. I was willing to literally bend over backward to become the greatest. I also felt vulnerable within the program and as a teacher. The blindfold was about feeling unaware or blind to certain issues in art education and I was in the class to work to figure some of those issues out.

M: Also, backbends are often thought of in yoga as gestures of moving into the unknown!

A: This turned out to be a great healing and learning experience for all because what ended up coming out in my class crit was that it is ok for me to literally bend over backwards for my students and myself in order to achieve my goals. Having a passion for what you do is good. People (my peers) look up to me because of my drive to be knowledgeable, articulate and in general just great but they also get annoyed if I try too hard. It is a double-edged sword because I don't want to be annoying but I also don't want to kill my personality, my drive or my pursuit for more knowledge and skills just to make others feel less threatened.

So here is what I learned. By communicating through and reflecting on my art with my peers and professor I learned there is way of learning and succeeding in a group that is more balanced. I learned that I could tone it down a bit and still find success within the group by essentially sharing more and monopolizing the floor time less. My professor helped with this process. She recognized that probably there were others that had a similar need and knew how to fulfill it. Weekly she asked us to write and reflect, as she knew there was not always enough class time to answer everyone questions. She would respond to our reflections and questions so that we still had all that we needed. She did this every week and answered every question in writing and brought the really important or frequent questions up in class so that class time was really, really productive.

So, through my art I learned better about how to succeed and help others succeed within in a group. My peers understood more about me and my needs came out in the classroom to my professor so she could be a better teacher for me. The artwork served as a vehicle to get the information out there so I could productively overcome this obstacle. Perhaps this is not seen as major obstacle but it was one that really bothered me and I am glad to have figured out so that I could get what I need within the delicate balance of a group dynamic.