ARTS & EDUCATION
Capturing a Moment in Time
T
written by SHERIL BENNETT TURNER & art photography by ELI WARREN
wenty-nine-year-old Ashley Albright Brickner leads a double life. During the week, she’s the Branch Manager for Independence National Bank in downtown Greenville. On weekends, though, Ashley lets her right brain take over and the artist in her emerges. Pencil portraits are Ashley’s passion—capturing a moment in time her gift to others. Ashley grew up in New Orleans, LA—Mandeville to be exact. “I have wonderful memories of Louisiana,” Ashley says, “from the food, the culture, the atmosphere, the feeling of life in the city and friends. Instead of spending a Saturday afternoon at the mall shopping, we would go to the French Market in the Quarter or eat snowballs (here they call them snow cones) and walk along the lakefront of Lake
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Pontchartrain.” When her father lost his job in a company layoff, her family moved to New York for a year, then to Virginia for two before settling in Greenville, SC in 1992. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in 2001 with a Bachelors Degree in Media Arts, Ashley worked full time at Outback Steakhouse where she met her husband. A year later, she found work as a sales representative in radio for WROQ FM (Rock 101). “It was a great learning experience,” she says. “I moved onto a professional career in banking two years later.” Ashley’s creative side, she says, runs in her family. “My mother is very creative. She used to tell us the craziest stories growing up and we were never quite sure if they were true or not. She always made us believe in things
ARTS & EDUCATION
that no one else could. Her creativity channels through sculpting, watercolors, mixed media, and copper jewelry making. My sister has always had an extensive imagination and an eye for color. She has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from the University of South Carolina and specializes in fine oil paintings, however, she is currently working on illustrating a very colorful children’s book.” When she was eight years old and home sick, Ashley discovered her love for portraiture. Since then her favorite medium has been a #2 pencil and drawing paper. “I love the simplicity of taking something so plain and turning it into something emotional,” she admits. “I want to move people and create art that makes people smile and feel good every time they see it.” Ashley’s artistic gift of capturing the likeness and spirit of the subject so completely makes her portraits popular as gifts. “They tug on people’s heartstrings,” Ashley says, “since I am usually commissioned to draw a family member for someone, whether it’s their beloved child, an animal that has passed away, or a couple in their younger years for them to have as a keepsake for their 50th wedding anniversary.” Her pencil portraits have also supported the efforts of the Make a Wish Foundation, Pet Tender Angels, the Greenville Humane Society, the American Heart Association, the Carolina Ballet, Friends of the Reedy River, Dining for Women, and Camperdown Academy. Currently Ashley lives in Greer, where she adores spending time with her husband, Keith, her sons, Dakota (11) and Collin (6 months), and her Bassett Hounds, Bitsy and Mason. For more information or to commission a portrait contact: Ashley Brickner at Studio Crimson, 300 River Street, Suite 111, Greenville, SC 29601, (864) 787-9365, or ashley@pencilportraitsbyashley.com, www. pencilportraitsbyashley.com, or www. studiocrimson111.com.
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