Creating light in the world
Photos by Ruthe Ritterbeck
Faith, light and shadow. These three words inspire artist Ashley Hahn.
“I have lived in the Lowcountry for over 40 years,” she said. “Obviously we live in a beautiful place. The tropical colors are astounding. God’s beauty is all around us. There is so much to capture here and to do that I feel drawn to my faith and the use of light and shadow.”
Hahn says that life is made up of light and dark moments, and sometimes “we have to see the dark to appreciate the light.”
“With art we can create light in this world. Ultimately, this is what I hope to accomplish with my work,” said Hahn, who lives in Bluffton.
Many people follow Hahn on social media for this very reason. Whether it is a charcoal portrait of a smiling child, or a watercolor of an indigenous bird, or an oil painting of an oyster, Hahn’s work expresses emotions like joy.
To do this, Hahn says she focuses on the true essence of the subject.
“In portraiture, for example, I always begin with the subject’s eyes. The eyes are my favorite to draw or paint. They create the mood of the piece, and then I work around it,” she said.
When Hahn chooses elements in nature like birds and crabs, the essence of the subject matter is often the blending, mixture and depth of colors.
“I am always walking around and noticing things in nature and thinking, ‘How could I recreate that color? How could I also go beyond what the surface looks like and dive deeper and make the colors more pronounced to more celebrate the subject?’”
Continuing in a spiritual direction Hahn added, “I am so grateful to live in the Lowcountry. Light illuminates the beauty God has created. I want my work to reflect His light as well as the light of emotion.”
Although Hahn will say her main purpose is her family, her ability to share her faith with others through her art is a major driving force in her life and has been extremely cathartic for her.
“Some people journal to help them with their feelings or emotions. I draw or paint. I am able to infuse feelings and emotions in my work,” she said. “And, in my non-commissioned pieces, I can put something special to me in the piece that the viewer may not know is there. For instance, I will put a cross in a painting. It is a little added gift or gesture of blessing for the viewer.”
Trained as an architect, Hahn’s evolution as an artist has been about challenging herself and her comfort zones.
She said she started out drawing construction documents by hand with a pencil and then discovered she could make a business out of watercolor renderings of residential and commercial houses and buildings.
“Then I did a portrait of my children and started drawing other family members,” Hahn said. Then I did a booth for MayFest, which led to the honor of being artist of the year soon after (2016).”
As for Hahn’s future, she once again leans on faith, light and shadow.
“My son is in college, and my daughter will be a senior next year. Being an empty nester is going to be hard. But I believe there is also some light,” she said. “I always want to grow as an artist, and I will grow even more so then, hopefully experimenting more with different techniques, doing even more original work and continuing to give joy to people’s lives.”
Hahn’s work can be found at ahahnartist.com
