Born in Blackpool, Ashley initially studied architecture at Manchester University before deciding to be a painter after seeing a Peter Lanyon retrospective. He earned a first class degree in Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art before moving to London where he was the recipient of a Boise Travel Scholarship from the Slade. Now living in Cornwall and member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, Ashley’s paintings are deeply connected to the Cornish coastal landscape. His ‘Porthleven’ series of paintings explore this connection through colour, shape, emotion and process. Oil paint is brushed, spread, poured and smeared. Finally, a painting emerges that is both about the subject and the experience of painting but also, crucially, a vibrant independent entity that intrigues and surprises.
Born in Blackpool, Ashley initially studied architecture at Manchester University before deciding to be a painter after seeing a Peter Lanyon retrospective. He earned a first class degree in Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art before moving to London where he was the recipient of a Boise Travel Scholarship from the Slade. Now living in Cornwall and member of the Newlyn Societ... Read Full Bio
