Merging Thoughts

Original pen and ink contemporary art by Doug Ashby

As someone who has been committed to producing art for many years now I find that themes, and visuals around them, tend to merge together over time. There is much grey space in this process. Grey space that is in many respects similar to our everyday routines in life. I have long come to understand, yet not always live, that our journey here on earth is one where we have to learn how to navigate the small nudges. The ones that lead us in this direction, and then the ones that want us to be cautious about those directions. So as that goes I feel my work reflects this very human aspect to simply being alive here on planet earth.

Not that long ago I began to consider how I could incorporate more direct human elements into my work. The kind of elements that only merely reflect the natural world. The kind that suggest this is a direct representation of how humans manipulate, change and influence the environment which provides everything. The piece above is an attempt to represent this strange dichotomy.

So how exactly am I doing this. For the piece above in many ways is a dichotomy without juxtaposition. I used to be obsessed with the idea of juxtaposition but now I realize that is something that we wish for. The actuality in the matter is that the various layers that exist merge together and drift apart in a seamless and ongoing rhythm that for some reason we humans try and control as opposed to simply flowing with. If this all sounds incredibly confusing and convoluted I completely understand as I myself barley grasp at the meaning of what I am saying. But like so many before me I struggle to make sense of the senseless and bring that to light thorough my work.

In nature we often do not see such linear and clean lines. But we desperately want to. So we construct our environments to be that way. The real beauty is when there is a harmony that emerges and the layers that make up our existence flow and merge together in a way that is difficult to describe. Simply because it is difficult to reach that point in time and space, and if we do it is ever fleeting, doesn’t mean we stop pushing for that. In many ways it is the highest of all human goals. To create a perfect balance point in which we exist within the environment that provides everything. I truly believe that place will never fully be reached as, by our nature, we are beings that require extraction to flourish. Yet I also believe that we are making meaningful incremental steps that can act as seeds for growth, and that one day we will reach a better balance.

As an artist I recognize this pattern. My work comes into existence and often flows in a multidirectional way. New imagery in the themes emerge at times and often old imagery resurfaces and is incorporated in new and different ways. Not all of the work is good. But that is merely a personal preference. Once a piece is completed though its life begins a journey of its own and often I simply move on to the next one. For that is one of the few constants in my life.

I welcome all comments on the above artwork and thoughts on it. I truly enjoy the discourse and find that it pushes me forward. So please take the time to leave your thoughts. I promise to respond to all.

Thanks,

Doug