Junior Ashleigh Wade paints her way through life

Art is something that has existed as a representation of human ideologies. Famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh told beautiful stories through their paintings that still resonate with audiences today. Ashley Wade from Herron High School is an aspiring painter who wants to do the same thing. All painters try to express themselves as much as they can through their paintings. It’s often a reflection of who they are. Wade focuses mostly on collage work, combining different media elements to create one astounding painting.

“I had always been afraid of my art skills, not knowing what I could do. People told me I was good but I didn’t know how to harness my thing. Then I got into art class and it was finding your style. Finding what you love to do and I found out that I hate painting portraits and I hate painting abstract but I love mixed media art,” Wade said.

Wade especially makes it a point to incorporate color into paintings because colors can have an immense impact on the viewer. Colors can convey thoughts, feelings, and moods. For Wade, it conveys her life story.

“It’s so revealing of life. For me, I haven’t always had the easiest life, I’ve been raised by a single mother and I mean it’s just her and I, and we go through our struggles. Art is just a cover all for all of that and it’s seen in like science and theater. Art can take you where ever you want to go from the saddest moments in your life to the happiest moments,” Wade said.

While Wade works with different types of media, one of the art styles she dislikes is minimalism. Minimalism plays with the idea of meaning a lot through a small visual. She explains that it downplays the talent needed to become an artist. Painting takes a lot of patience and creativity. Wade spends hours working on one painting.

Sketching a possible painting, junior Ashleigh Wade thinks about the messages she wants to convey through her artwork. “Art always has a meaning that each individual person can find,” said Wade. Wade in one of her paintings expressed anti-war sentiment through a painting with a woman holding a wounded soldier. She recently received an opportunity through her art teacher to display her artwork at a gallery. Photo by Sandiya Sajan

“I feel like the lack of effort [in minimalism]. It touches that in tune feelings, and it’s so broad like everybody can look at red line and be like ‘oh, wow! I connect to that’. I mean I guess that’s good and it’s more about feeling but it’s not skill based. I would prefer art to have more meaning and show the talent,” Wade said.