The Artist Behind the Curtains
A little bit about me and what brought me to where I am
Let me introduce myself! My name is Ashley Doucette and I've been a fan of drawing since I was a tiny kid running around in the backyards of Ottawa, Canada. What’s not to love! So many colours to use, so many lines and shapes and patterns! The chance to create things that weren’t there before!
I was always the kid walking around with a sketchbook in my bag, drawing everything I could see (and conjuring up “hot elves” and dragons which I couldn’t see). I used to sit around drawing with my friends, in art class at school or in the hallways. I tried out (and got in!) to an art high school called Canterbury, which put extra focus on the fine arts. In the Visual Art program I got to learn many different techniques and mediums. It was an inspiring and a humbling experience. Mostly, it was training in making things despite the fear of judgement.
I did my bachelor’s in Fine Art at York University in Toronto, then moved overseas to the Netherlands to do my Master’s at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen. At university, we got very theoretical, and I got very in my head. When I finished my degree, I panicked. I kept measuring my art up to everything I saw, kept thinking about making money to pay back my student debts, and considered making things others might want to buy. At the same time, I tried to make my work more cognitive, more philosophical, to fit in with what I thought the art world wanted. All that measuring up, judging, and monetizing was toxic. My motivation was shaken. I couldn’t really finish anything for some years after.
It turns out, what makes me love art has nothing to do with approval. It has nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with “the art world”. What I love about art is the act of making art. Play, not performance. And when I stopped judging myself and started playing again… my art started healing. I started making things that really delighted me. I started drawing more… and because I was drawing more, I was also improving.
Two years ago, I decided to start a drawing event to get other people out of the “performance” mindset, to get them playing. So many people tell me that they “can’t draw.” But what they are really saying is “I can’t draw nearly as well as the artists I look up to”. Drawing is playing, and everybody can play. The more you have fun with it, the better you get at it.
Draw-la-la has been a fantastic place for me to meet people from all walks of life and all ages, and to sit around playing together.