Blowing in the Windcolour pencil on Stonehenge30” x 44”C. Ascher It’s the big buzz these days: Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature this year. Imagine that! Speculation and controversy have of course resulted – imagine, popular culture getting the nod from an exclusive organization often accused of being elitist (the divide between ‘the...Read More

 If They Can Do Itclay, underglazes, glazesapprox 14” circumferenceC. Ascher   I have returned to the clay studio after nearly seven and some months off from a shoulder break. My right arm still doesn’t work well, but I can’t wait any longer. iI’s almost the end of August, I have an exhibition planned for January and...Read More

 Proudcolour pencil on paper44”x30”C. Ascher I had this faith, see. As a kid, I believed that artists were people with exceptional courage, creativity, passion, compassion and the kind of focus nature has, a focus fuelled by purpose. This is because they had vision that sees behind, beneath and beyond even the things other people dismiss as...Read More

 The Professorlow-fire clay8″x12″x4″C. Ascher   Here we go again. Every year it’s the same story.  It’s certainly a proud moment when a student completes an assigned work or an amateur puts the finishing touches on a copy or borrowed composition. A teacher or, in my case, a curator, can be open to showcasing this pride to...Read More

Bambi’s Dream acrylic on pannel 12″x16″x1.5″ I lost my darling Bambi today. The sweetheart was at the end of her energy – she’d not eaten much the last couple of weeks and nothing since yesterday. She lost a good six pounds in four months, which for a 19 pound, 11 year-old miniature schnauzer… I’m afraid...Read More

Looking colour pencil on paper 30”x22” C.Ascher What keeps many artists motivated? A strong connection to feeling and emotion that drives their creative process. I teach adults to make objects with art-making media. That’s the simple description of what goes on in the class. The complexity is teaching them how to make those objects be...Read More

 Starring Rolecolour pencil on paper relief C. Ascher For a number of years, I agreed as a special favour to an artist friend and fellow teacher to be a guest speaker in her class. Besides teaching at the art centre where I am also a curator and an administrator, she teaches at a local university in the...Read More

 Empty Promisesphoto collage c.ascherHow many parents have reacted with restrained horror upon hearing their child announce “I want to be an artist”? You, reader, might well be one of them. Perhaps you stood there, or maybe you will soon stand there, momentarily regretting having asked your son or daughter, “What do you want to  be...Read More

We’re trying but… photo collage Ah, artists. Wonderful and strange folks.  I have been one of them for much of my life, but I’ve also dealt with them in my roles as educator and gallery curator. Artists are wonderful because they (most of the good ones anyway) express truths as they experience and know them,...Read More

Five Stories photo collage C. Ascher Art making isn’t just about sudden ideas, immediate visual stimulation or pop-up images. It’s a process: it’s a sequence of thoughts and a series of actions that explore the ways feelings, ideas or inspiration can be married to medium through gesture to go extract the deepest personal meaning they...Read More