Meet Ashley Ravidas of Marina Del Rey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Ravidas.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m one of those who came to a creative career later in life. I didn’t go to art school or even really do any creative hobbies until a couple years ago. I felt like for most of my working life to this point I did what others expected, and never felt like the work was aligned with me as a person but didn’t know what else to do. I spent about 10 years in retail and food, then once I had a degree I was able to get a job in tech. I worked in software consulting for another 10 years and worked my way up the ladder to a director position.

During the pandemic, we were increasingly asked to do more with less and I was working an insane amount of hours. I was so burnt out! I picked up painting as a way to do something with my hands and focus my attention on creating something beautiful. I’m entirely self taught, through watching others paint on social media and youtube. I really started to feel like I was making something special that I wanted to share with the world in 2024 which is when I decided to really lean into art as a profession. I quit my corporate job and went all in on making and selling art. I would say this first year has been incredibly successful by many metrics and I look forward to seeing what can happen in 3 or 5 years.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely the biggest challenge has been overcoming self-doubt. It’s so easy to look around at other artists and feel not good enough, or like I’m not doing enough. I find that celebrating my milestones and the achievement of each of my goals, no matter how small, has gone a long way in challenging the inner voice of self-doubt. I also think that having community is a really important component; when we doubt, I think partly it’s because we look at others’ highlight reels. By having community, we can lift each other up and cheer each other on, and it takes away the feeling of comparison.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is influenced by emotion, and I channel that emotion into the artwork through color and design. I often work in series or themes that I feel at a particular moment. Once I know the feeling or theme of the series, I work with color and design to create a sense of movement and emotion for the painting. I use acrylic paint, mixing the gradient colors before starting the artwork to ensure the size and design will fit. As I paint, I go row by row or gradient by gradient with matte medium and tape to create a ridge or “hard-edge” to each line. This type of painting style is typically referred to as hard-edge painting style, but my work could also be described as geometric abstraction, op art, or abstract expressionism.

I’m most proud of my participation in the art fair circuit. It’s so challenging and rewarding at the same time to do these big events and takes such a leap of faith each time. Will people like my art? Will it be worthwhile at the end of it? So far, the answers to both have been yes, and I hope that continues.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Even when you love what you do, you need to take breaks or you’ll burn out. I thought I would be an endless energizer battery since I love what I’m doing but I still need rest and space to regenerate, and maybe even more so as a creative person.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.arartstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arart_studios/