We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Gierke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I don’t always feel like I’m a resilient person, but reflecting on my past does suggest that. Like most people, my life has had its challenges, and I suppose my resiliency has been honed by moving through them. After a long, unhealthy relationship in my twenties, breast cancer at age thirty, and my father’s unexpected passing a couple of years ago, I’ve learned the importance of caring well for myself. Sometimes that looks like talk therapy (I’ve worked with four professionals over the years and highly recommend it as a tool for coping and growth), other times that means napping, good food, and leaning on my support system. Most recently it’s meant taking time off from work. I’m big into the Law of Attraction and focus pretty diligently at being conscious of my dialog (internal and external). It’s teaching me the power I have in creating the life I want.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Creating is in my DNA so after a long run of art school (BFA & MFA) and working for a few artistic firms (a museum exhibit fabrication studio, sign making, and eight years of interior design), I’ve decided to pursue my own art business! It’s something I’ve always fantasized about, but never had the courage to try until recently. It’s certainly an intimidating endeavor, but I don’t want to look back later in life and wonder if it would have worked out.
My practice is fed by curiosity and experimentation, which often means I’m working with multiple mediums at any given time. From dissecting and collaging emoji’s or making papercut insects, to expressive figure drawings or abstract dimensional paper pieces, all of my artwork maintains a thread of precision and quality. It’s super important to me that the work is well-made and unique. I want my collectors to enjoy the work for a lifetime. I love color and I’m super excited right now about working with metallic and holographic papers. There is something so captivating and beautiful about the way the colors change in the light that I can’t get enough of. The work almost feels alive when you move around it!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that have been most impactful in my journey are curiosity, practice, and valuing quality. I’m a believer that there is no stupid question and so I ask a lot of them. In a professional opportunity or when getting to know someone, I dig for information. The more I can know about a person, task, etc., the better I can connect and perform.
Practice because most of my strengths (cutting paper, administrative work, cleaning (ha!)), are because I’ve done them over and over again. Repetition is my jam. Lastly, valuing quality usually equates to great craftsmanship or a happy client—things that are important in all types of work. I believe being able to create or identify things of quality (luxurious bedding, well-made food, or a friendly neighbor, for example), add up over time to a more beautiful, good-feeling life. Grandiose, perhaps, but true!
My advice would be to learn through doing. Shadow people who already embody the skills or characteristics you want to learn and take action. If there is something you want, you must do small things every day to move the needle.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My biggest challenge currently is growing my art business. I’ve sold a lot of my artwork over the years, but never in a focused or consistent way. I’ve always had the security blanket of my job to keep me feeling safe and cozy. My main goal is to make a living from selling my art and I’m doing a lot to make this happen. I’m networking heavily, connecting with galleries, applying for shows, working with a printer, updating my website, creating an online shop, and making new pieces I’m really excited about. Please have me back in a year or two so I can tell you how it’s going!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ashleygierke.com
- Instagram: @ashley_gierke
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/akgierke
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-gierke-a49a8839
