Interview with illustrator an model maker Sarah Ashton

What path has your creative career taken so far?
Art has been a major part of my life since primary school but I've continued to hone in on my visual language since doing my art foundation at college. You sort of have to 'unlearn' a lot of stuff when it comes to doing art through schools etc; mainly because you're lead to believe that it's just drawing or painting things in front of you or 'designing' something. I had an amazing tutor at art college who just completely twisted my concept of art and what art was, so I've been down lots of paths… I think I've landed up doing illustration because it's a career and it feels right for me. It's making art for a purpose, it's doing what art has done since the dark ages, communicating ideas, but in an accessible, non-pretentious way, and I like that about it. I completed my BA Hons Illustration degree last year, graduating from Loughborough University, where I first experimented with three dimensional forms, humour, character etc. and started to really establish my own way of communicating and illustrating. I feel like I've finally found a way of working that encompasses me… my humour, my perspective, my interests.

Since graduating I've been working to put together a creative business
identity from which to launch my work and have been building up my
portfolio. I like to believe that although I have much to learn, I'm
stubborn enough to keep working towards my aim to make a living out of what I do best- creating images.

Who, what, when inspires you?
I can pinpoint many major influences along the way... right back to being at school and first seeing Jacob Epstein's sculpture the Rock Drill in a London Gallery... I just loved it. It was different. This is such a wide topic for me, inspiration... I can be inspired by so many things. People, Creatures definately... character is an important part of my work. One major influence would be Tim Burton, whose work I have long admired and aspired to. His natural ability to create quirky, completely unique characters with darker, gothic undertones has always appealed to me. Coupled with the humour and friendliness Aardman provide with their three dimensional animated characters, I think you could say my work has been born out of a strange mix of the two. I can think of many Illustrators, such as the talent of Dave Mckeen, Jonathon Burton and the Red Nose studios, that have also encouraged me to push my work to new levels and experiment with materials, compositions and ideas.

We happened upon your creatures by chance they actually had some part to play in the naming of this issue, please tell us a bit about them, creative process, inspiration etc...
I think the insects came about from a desire to do something different. They were done for a project in university as a challenge. I guess I like to turn things on their heads, I like to imagine how things would be "if.." ,merely because it's so endless, there are so many possibilities, and of course, it displays some of my humour too.

The insect office work was really a take on office stereotypes, so in a roundabout sort of a way it's expressing human characteristics; The ladybird being the flirty, tarty,secretary, the daddy long legs being the scatty, stressed out colleage, and I believe I had a Praying Mantis as the boss. I think this work was quite a progression, and whilst I can see a change in the quality of my models since, this work remains important in that it encouraged me to continue down the 3d path; it was exploration for me and an important part of the journey.

The sea life work was for self promotion purposes… I wanted to spend some time just making stuff, you know, just really spending some time making some quality images. I love watching animals, I love zoo's and sea life centres, so I started a series of images based around what I'd seen there. Places like that have lots of scope for illustrations, many aimed at educational purposes or capturing the interest of children. I made these images purely for my own self indulgence really, just to keep pushing and to take on the challenge of capturing life under water. They were a joy to make and I think the results reflect that.

Why did you choose to make creatures?
I have no idea why I lean more to making animals and creatures… but I do. I guess it comes down to imagination. Since being tiny I've loved animals and been fascinated with their worlds; made-up/ fantasy creatures etc. were all far more interesting to me than drawing still life. Drawing from life has its merits, but I think my imagination requires more than that provides.

I've made monsters before to illustrate thoughts, feelings and fears, because that's how they feel to me. One life drawing session at university started out drawing from the human form, but winded up with me making the characterof a Frog Prince… it was translating that posture, that one form into a character, giving it a whole new story and meaning.

I think creatures lend themselves to the humour I put into my work too… more so than people, though this is an area I also want to develop. Working in 3D also… can make things so much more real, there's a quality there that changes how people view the work… people look at it differently knowing that someone has satthere and created, made this 'thing' by their own hand… it's suddenly there and almost brought to life but not quite… it's more "real", and allows you to make really wacky things a lot more plausible. It's hard to explain, very hard, but it's true.

You have a varied and extensive collection of creatures so far, what will you be embarking on next?
Following on nicely from the last question, I've just completed some work for a competition which focused on one central human character. It's an area that needs developing and I'm looking forward to doing so. I'm also looking at working on some mini projects that will anthropomorphize inanimate object… maybe teabags, I don't know yet.

Finally - where does your creativity come from, to which point in your life can you trace its origins?
This might sound like a cop out, but it's just always been there… the things I saw and watched when I was little, my interests etc… have all had an impact. I'm sure it's no surprise or coincidence that I watched films like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, even shows like The Wombles and now here I am making three dimensional art work as illustrations, making animals and creatures, making little worlds and environments etc. . I just always enjoyed art… sitting there drawing things, imagining things and bringing them out of my head putting them down on paper or making them into something, just felt "right" and I've always been pretty confident in my ability to do it too. It just appeals on a deep level… it really taps in to something. I'm not always that articulate, as you may have noticed, but communicating with art comes a lot more naturally to me.