ABOUT
Giraffes and Robots
POP ART that makes you SMILE… in Spanish and English
The media is constantly bombarding us with sad, violent and depressing images. I want to counter those images with big, bright, happy, peaceful images that make you smile. Everyone seems to be in search of happiness nowadays and I think a big piece of that puzzle is choosing to be exposed to images that are positive, images that make you smile. I create art as an antidote to negativity. You want to be happy? Turn off the news and look at the Giraffes and Robots art on your wall instead!
Since I was little I wanted to be an astronaut. This plan lasted
throughout university and beyond . While at university, (I have a Biology degree from Brown University) I had a lot of friends from RISD, an art school nearby. I would study my neuroscience textbooks while they painted, sculpted, printed, etc. I loved the science I was learning but I was also in awe of their completely different university experience. I was spending all my time in labs, they were spending all their time in studios. That artistic lifestyle was so foreign to me and also extremely interesting. Like a studio, a lab can be a very creative and fun place to be, but there is something about the spontaneous creativity of a studio that stayed with me.
My plan to become an astronaut was still first priority throughout my studies. I enjoyed being a tourist at my friends’ art studios, but my place was in the lab. I found neuroscience fascinating and as interesting as space, so many things to discover. So, my passion for science continued to be my main focus. I love the feeling of discovering the unknown. Space, the brain, how organisms work. Science is one unchartered territory after another and I really enjoy the process of discovery.
Then one summer during my studies, I took a trip to Japan. It was during that trip to Japan that I realized what exciting and wonderful worlds I had to discover outside of labs. As soon as I graduated, instead of applying to NASA, or spending my time in a neuroscience lab, I decided I wanted to travel the world instead. My home has been in many countries across the globe ever since.
While living in Barcelona, I fell in love with the way the city lives and breathes art. I was reminded of my artist friends and their lifestyles and had a chance to revisit that world. But this time I wasn’t content with just being a tourist in that world. So, one day I spontaneously went into a little corner art store and bought a blank canvas, some paintbrushes and an acrylic starter set. I went back to my apartment to see what being an artist felt like. I loved it. I painted constantly and became fast friends with the woman at the corner art store. I was addicted and she supplied me with all the necessary tools and advise that a novice like me needed to express my newfound creative drive in this new world. Sometimes, I would be so into a painting that the sun would come up and I would realize I forgot to sleep. I was able to finally explore that studio/art world that I had been captivated by years earlier but had thought was unattainable.
After two years spent painting daily in Barcelona, I became an artist. And I have been painting giraffes and robots ever since. I still consider myself a scientist too. Art and Science are both parts of who I am and I think that my science background positively influences my artwork. Many express surprise at the switch from science to art, but I believe that art and science complement each other beautifully. My studio is full of tins, jars, souvenirs, boxes, toys, papers, postcards, illustrations, books, photos and many other items I’ve collected during my travels. All are sources of inspiration for my work. I am an astronaut after all because I discover, create and explore new worlds everyday.
I draw on paper or canvas and sometimes use my computer to combine my paintings, drawings and photography. I have also created logos and freelance illustrations for various companies and publications in Europe and the US.
Four years ago, I decided that I wanted to create a pop art studio of my own where people could not only buy my work, but also feel that they were entering one of my bright and happy illustrations. I feel that the media nowadays focuses too much on sadness and misery and my art is my small contribution towards promoting a positive outlook instead. When people come into my studio they automatically smile and a smile can go a long way to making a difference. I realize how powerful art can be in eliciting emotions and therefore my artistic philosophy is to make art that makes you smile. I make art as an antidote to unhappiness.
For wholesale inquiries and commissions: ash@giraffesandrobots.com
ASH’s work has been exhi
bited, featured and is in collections around the world:
- Illustrations- Por La Ventana Art Publication, San Juan, Puerto Rico 2006.
- Featured Artist – WeddingsIreland.ie, Ireland June 2007
- Movable Mural – Ladyfest Art Exhibition, Cork, Ireland 2008.
- Illustrations – My Very Own Picture, Dublin, Ireland 2008
- Featured illustrator – Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators UK website March-May 2008.
- Collage – Temple Bar Chocolate Festival, Dublin, Ireland 2009.
- Illustration – Prudence Magazine, Dublin Ireland Sept/October 2009.
- Paintings- Smithfield Gallery, Dublin 2007-2009
- Featured artist – Kidoinfo.com, USA – May 2011
- Holiday Gift Guide- Brown Alumni Magazine– November/December 2013
- Interview-Rhode Island Monthly Magazine– December 2013
- Featured Artist- I Heart Rhody– September 2014
- Small Business Saturday – ABC6 News – December 2014
- PVD Lady Project Gift Guide- The Rhode Show – December 2014
- El Nuevo Día Sábado 20 de diciembre 2014 sección Flash y Cultura, Libros para lectores de 8 a 11 años
- El Nuevo Día Domingo 28 de diciembre 2014 sección Flash y Cultura, Los libros del año Libros infantiles y juveniles
- Featured Artist – Providence Monthly Summer Guide June 2015
Giraffes and Robots products are sold at the following retail stores:
- Framed prints at Providence Picture Frame Gallery.
- Prints, postcards and T-Shirts, along with pieces from her collaborative collage project with Ada H, a collage artist, are for sale at Homestyle Interiors.
- Pop Art Portraits, Paper Prints, Postcards, T-Shirts and Illustrations on Canvas are for sale at Hope Returns.
- Prints, postcards, canvas bags and Copper Rockets jewelry are for sale at White Buffalo
- Chicken and Rooster prints at CLUCK!
- Kitchen ART / Dublin Brunch prints at Stock Culinary Goods.
- Dinosaur, Science and many more at Pie in the Sky.
- Dog ART prints at The Cheeky Hound.
- Mini Prints and Tulipan books at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico.
- Mini prints and Tulipan books at Museo de las Americas.
- Mini ART prints at La Tertulia, Viejo San Juan Calle Cruz #251
Tulipan books available at:
Poet’s Passage, Old San Juan
La Tertulia, Old San Juan
Aparicio Distributors, Bayamon
Museo Las Americas, Old San Juan
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Santurce
Arlequin Gift Shop, Caribbean Towers, Miramar
El Candil, Plaza Vilariño, Ponce
Also available at:
The Giraffes and Robots Studio at Hope Artiste Village
BUY ONLINE at:
