Meet Ashley De Vor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley De Vor.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Ever since I was a kid I kept myself fairly isolated. I was shy, insecure, and awkward (much like my adult self) in a rough neighborhood. I would pass the time by making things. I made my own toys, drew on my walls, made paper dolls and had a rampant imagination. There was something magical about being able to escape from reality and become enraptured by your fantasies through art. My older sister is also a very talented artist and getting into our competitive squabbles as kids made me want to try harder at making my art better. I drew every day when I was 11 after a brief stint in Bakersfield, CA where I had nothing to do for a solid month but draw out of one magazine. Mostly celebrity portraits. I had a knack for it and was soon able to sell my work at 15. I studied EVERYTHING I could get my hands on. I fan girled over amazing female artists like Natalia Fabia, Camille Rose Garcia, Nomi Chi, Sas Christian, and Lori Earley by the time I attended community college at 18 I realized that I was the one helping the teacher teach my classmates! I eventually dropped out since I truly believed that you didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that you can draw on one. Ever since then I have been doing my own freelance work.

Please tell us about your art.
Whew that’s a big question with a big answer! I primarily work with ink and watercolor but am a bit of a jack of all trades due to the fun random commissions I get. I have worked on murals, mask painting, chalk art, sign restoration, tattoo apprenticing, doll making, sewing, textile painting, embroidery, ad illustration, dog portraits on coffee mugs and upholstery. I have a mild form of bi polar disorder and feel that it rears its head in some of my work. It’s why I have so many hobbies, it’s a symptom of the disorder. You tend to pick up hobbies for a short period of time then move on to the next thing that interests you.

A lot of my personal work has to do with two things- My love of myths/all things spooky and my respect for strong female characters. I’ve struggled with insecurity, anxiety, and depression so I tend to gravitate towards creating pieces of the women whom I wish I could be. The brave, strong, sexy, fearless woman who is both revered and respected. That’s who I want to be, so that’s what I paint.

I also like my work to have a “real-life” background story. Certain pieces are in reference to myths like the Moth Man, La Llorona, Cthulhu, La Lechuza, and The Wendigo. Some are just for my love of forensics and psychiatry. In others I like to combine and contrast the macabre with the beautiful. Half of my pieces are bursting with color and the others are muted to a black, white, and tan color scheme. I guess you could say that’s reflective of my personality and the dramatic ups and downs that I have with the disorder.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
Now I’m going to be really honest about this one. The market is so flooded with talent that it’s nearly impossible for someone to become successful unless they aggressively put themselves out there, are good with social media and know the right people.

People want functionality. They want knick-knacks and shirts. They want phone covers and shower curtains. Album covers drawn for like, $50 man. They want their kid’s portrait painted on a hundred-foot canvas for $100. Some people tend to forget that artists spend a lot of time and money on the work that they do. Would you pay your hair dresser $20 for 3 hours of work? Your mechanic $60 for replacing your transmission and expect it to run? Hand your landscaper who spent 5 hours cleaning up your backyard a Jackson and call it even? No. Because you see the hard work that they did for you. Sometimes artwork takes longer than expected and prices need to be adjusted for fair compensation. You can’t always know how long something will take you until you start doing it and artists get screwed over on their profits all of the time because of this.

As for what our city can do, I think it would be great to have a solid AZ official website where all artists and venues can apply instead of the multitude of individual sites. Want to be a part of a Dia de Los Muertos show in Tempe? Click here! Want to enter a portrait show in Flagstaff? Click here! Have a rad brewery and want to host a show? Like naked ladies? Click here! (Ok maybe not that one).

Enough with the “safe” art making all of the big bucks like paintings of horses, Pollock knock offs, pastel nudes or my personal favorite, Native Americans painted by rich people being sold to uber rich people (Old Town I’m looking at you.) Let’s get rid of (con)artist organizations who take advantage of young inexperienced artists by having them sell $200 worth of tickets to their shows in order to pay their bored photographers and DJs playing house music to an empty club.

We need murals on every building. Art fairs that are affordable to enter. More varieties of artists coming together and working together instead of individually competing. Above all, we need to make First Fridays great again instead of a giant bar crawl and hangout for teenagers who stay out past curfew.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I currently have a website www.DeVorArt.com that has my full portfolio. I also have an active IG account @ashleydevorart and an etsy store under BarefootedBaroness. I have a handful of prints on there but mostly just place orders per request via personal messaging. People can also contact me via email at devorart@gmail.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.devorart.com
• Email: devorart@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ashleydevorart
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/barefootedbaroness

Image Credit:
All taken by myself

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.