Ashley Mary

about the artist

Ashley Mary is a freelance, multidisciplinary artist, designer, and muralist with an MA in Graphic Design from MCAD and a studio practice she has evolved over the past 18 years.

Ashley’s creative work exists in two spaces. The first is her studio practice in mixed media, with a primary focus on painting, collage, and stained glass. Creating is Ashley’s reminder to play—working intuitively and approaching her process with childlike expression: spontaneous, vibrant, textured, and imperfect. She feels most connected to her work when surprises happen, when the best parts are unplanned—an outcome of holding loosely and controlling less. In turn, her art becomes a visual mantra for living with more delight and curiosity, while paying attention to life’s glorious inconsistencies.

Her second play space lives in the graphic design sandbox. Using the same shape language found in her studio work, Ashley has expanded her imagination into commercial projects including product design, brand collaborations, illustration, and mural installations nationwide. Past clients include Lancôme, Apple, Starbucks, Google, Target, Figma, Paramount/Nickelodeon, Warby Parker, NBC Sports, and more.

Ashley splits her time between Des Moines, Iowa—her primary residence, where she lives with her partner and baby—and her hometown of Minneapolis, where she shares a studio in the Northeast Art District. In Des Moines, her work can be found at Mainframe (Studio 228).

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