Ashley Dull’s basement studio in Minnetonka. PHOTO: MARK TROCKMAN
‘Giving Thanks’
An art show and reception featuring Minnetonka artist Ashley Dull
Where: Wilcock Gallery, 218 Water St., Excelsior
When: Reception on Nov. 29, show runs through Dec. 6
Hours: 10 a.m.-noon for reception
Selection: Eight original oil paintings and eight giclées - digital reproductions - that are embellished by Dull
Benefits: Kinship of Greater Minneapolis. Mrs. Minnesota America Wendi Russo will be making a special appearance during the reception to support Dull, and answer any questions about becoming an adult mentor with Kinship. Guests will be treated to pastries by a soon-to-open pâtisserie (specialty French bakery) on Water Street. For more information on the artist reception and show contact Wilcock Gallery at 952-470-8118
Those not acquainted with the northeast Iowa where Minnetonka artist Ashley Dull grew up might wonder how her roots there could have influenced her art. Nearly all her oil paintings contain trees, drenched with brilliant light or color.
No, she grew up surrounded by woods and hills, on a farm with a dirt road leading away from it, more Winona than I-35 Iowa. She's felt awe at the sight of woods lit by low sunlight or a creek rushing over rocks, of nature as God's creation, she said.
"I paint nature because I really want to bring joy and peace to the viewer. I want to give back with my art," Dull said.
Through an art show called "Giving Thanks" held at the Wilcock Gallery in Excelsior Nov. 29-Dec. 6, Dull hopes to express her gratitude for the mentors in her life. And she'll be donating some of the money from art sales at the post-Thanksgiving show to an organization that connects kids ages 5-15 with adult mentors, Kinship of Greater Minneapolis.
"I really have had some amazing mentors in my life," said Dull, crediting instructors in high school and college, her encouraging parents and connections she's made in the Twin Cities art community with helping her progress as an artist.
At 25, Dull is already seeing success as an emerging artist, after graduating from college in Iowa and moving to the area three years ago.
She'd been working full time as a fitness trainer but didn't have enough time to paint. Cutting her other work to part time let her dedicate more time to making and selling art. Last summer she had a spot in the Edina art fair, and through that she scored her first gallery show, in Roseville.
Over the last year she's lined up shows like dominoes.
"In one year I'm in five different galleries and I'm selling my work," Dull said.
She even found another mentor in Pamela Sukhum, a Minneapolis-based artist who has used art as a healing and transformational force for child refugees along the border of Chad and the Central African Republic.
Sukhum said that Dull visits twice a week and through a shadowing process has been learning about what artists do to represent themselves.
Sukhum said Dull is a relatively young artist with a lot of talent and passion, who's finding her voice in her art - work that Sukhum said is exciting because of its congruency with what Dull wants to do as an artist.
"She's definitely a young and exciting artist to watch develop and grow. I believe that she's very true to her art and it comes through in her pieces, and that there is a spirit to her pieces that is undeniable," Sukhum said.
While Sukhum and Dull depict nature quite differently, in their art the natural and the spiritual run together. Sukhum said at the heart of it they use nature "as a reminder of who we really are."
Dull also includes a Bible verse painted discreetly in most of her paintings. She said she wants to send a message with each piece.
"Sometimes people ask, 'Are you sure you want to put a Bible verse [in], because it could turn someone away,'" Dull said.
For her, it's part of expressing herself, her God-given artistic talent and the gift of joy she hopes to give to others through her work, she said.
One verse is from the second book of Corinthians: "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift."
Dull said she wants people to feel like they're in the scenes she paints, and wants what she feels in nature to come through to the viewer. It's her effort to share a gift of joy.
"For me, when I'm out walking through the woods I feel peace and I feel joy," Dull said.
