Tina Ashton

I started painting again some 10 years ago back in 2001 after giving up my career and returning to full-time education to study Art & Design.  It was quite an emotional discovery for me falling in love with all things art and finding a new all consuming passion!  Now, I am fortunate enough to be working from my studio overlooking a beautiful lake on the edge of the Buckinghamshire countryside and painting has become a full-time committment.

My paintings have featured in exhibitions across the UK, and more recently in Europe & USA as part of International Exhibitions.  Private & corporate collectors worldwide are proud owners of my work and this ultimate compliment in turn drives me to create with even more passion and enthusiasm.  I will never forget the feeling of selling my first ever painting, which was luckily enough also at my first ever exhibition.  One thing I do know is that I will always feel humbled by the kind compliments and words of encouragement I get from those people who buy & follow my work.

Painting in acrylic on canvas is what I love the most.  I would describe my work as bold and colourful with a kind of simplistic elegance.  More often than not it features strong black outline, a habit I am told I picked up when I was only 4-years of age!  My hope is that, whatever the reactions to my work, at very least my paintings do not go unnoticed, and at very best they bring great pleasure to others.

I enjoy creating romantic pieces and my inspirations come from many sources particularly the Art Nouveau period, and similar swirling, curvy shapes and decorative detail often feature in my work.  In this past year heart shapes have been featuring even in my most abstract work, but they most certainly feature in every one of my Tree Paintings which I have been so enjoying over this past year or so.  However, 'hearts' are a bit of an obsession with me full-stop!  I wear socks with hearts on, have many pairs of earrings in the shape of hearts and they just seem find their way into my life in many forms.

Trees have also become a bit of an obsession with me of late, and I have albums of photography of trees in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  I hope to continue with more tree paintings well into the year ahead, some of which will come from the photographs I have taken, others are sketched straight out of my head.

More recently I have been doing a little more portraiture, going back to the original style I adopted when I first started painting back in 2001, and indeed a portrait in this style was that first ever sale.  I certainly hope there will be more of these too.

I hope you enjoy your visit to my website and if you are keen to follow my progress and see new work as it finished then don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter (the little icons appear on this page, to the right of this text).  My intention is to keep these updated as often as possible with images and facts about my work, and indeed general day to day stuff!