Behind the Paintbrush

 

Welcome to Ashriel.com! I am so excited to be armed with a paintbrush in a world that so beautifully displays the artwork of the consummate artist, God. My goal is to try and capture even the smallest amount of the beauty that He has created onto my canvas. However, it has been a long journey to pick a paintbrush back up. I have always loved art and from a young age I worked on creating pieces forothers to enjoy. My parents were always supportive and whenever one of us children had a dream they were always there encouraging us and doing whatever they could to help. I also had an amazing art teacher throughout my formative years that helped to shape my artwork. However, considering art as a career did not happen until I went on a family vacation cruise and met Jack and Mikki. This amazing, artistically gifted couple gave me the insights and courage necessary to discover that a person can make a living out of selling artwork if they have the passion and the drive.

These experiences inspired me for several years and I loved having the opportunity to not only paint but to give others a different, joyful perspective of the world and presenting it to them for their own interpretation.

However, somewhere along the way life changed these artistic pursuits. I dropped out of college, returned home, and worked in a different field. The painting slowed down but the excitement was still there. A couple of years later I met a man and we eventually wed. The once happy relationship quickly turned rocky and the emphasis was put on surviving and maintaining the relationship from day to day as I never knew what to expect on any given day. The painting stopped altogether.

Almost four years into the marriage devastating news was admitted to me regarding this relationship and my world seemed to collapse. At that time I picked up a brush and painted dark, stormy clouds that mirrored the pain inside of me but I could not paint anything beyond the ominous clouds. After I received this information my relationship limped feebly along and at the end of that summer it broke completely and the marriage was over. When they say that God is near to the broken-hearted, they are not wrong and I experienced this truth in ways I never thought possible. I spent days poring through God’s word, talking to Him, and just existing in His grace and love.

So here is the part of the story that makes me smile, and then cringe, but despite being slightly embarrassed to admit it, I met a man online. I went on Christian Mingle unsure of what to expect but I never thought I would meet a man so quickly, especially not such an amazing, kind man named Joey. The days of dating seemed like a whirlwind and despite my many doubts and issues with trust, this man was never daunted. He was thoughtful, strong, easy-going, God-loving and eventually the man that I realized I could not live without for the rest of my life.

Joey found out that I used to paint and encouraged me to paint again. We spent hours talking about making it a reality and he wanted to do everything possible to make it happen. He helped finish making a paint studio for me, went around taking reference photos with me, and encouraged me to paint instead of doing dishes…now there is a really good man!

So once again I picked up a paintbrush and decided it was time to complete the stormy-cloud piece. I painted a windmill amidst the chaos of the background to remind me that God, like a windmill, can harness the energy of the most difficult of times and use it for a purpose. I never imagined that my life would have taken this direction but I am so grateful that it did.

This is just a glimpse into my background but hopefully you understand a little bit more about the girl holding the paintbrush. I am excited to paint and hope that you can join in on that excitement as well.

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My husband and I are a wonderful team as I paint the                                                         pictures and he works on the framing!