Ashley Frost
Resume
Ashley’s teaching style is eclectic and energetic with an underlying focus of the formalities of drawing, color theory, tonal values and brush work. His recent teaching work has been on expedition cruise ships traveling to the the polar landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctica where he taught passengers drawing, watercolour and acrylic painting. He has taught art theory at the university of Wollongong while researching for his PhD study of public art. As a local government cultural officer he facilitated a wide range of community art projects across the Illawarra region resulting in creation of temporary and permanent public artworks. Early in his career following art school Ashley co developed the state funded Matthew Talbot Art Program where he taught painting, drawing and ceramics to homeless communities across Sydney.
Ashley paints landscapes and portraits with many of his works developed by painting and drawing outdoors. This method known as working plein air, involves painting and drawing on location and has a long tradition with artists from Edgar Degas to Richard Diebenkorn. His first solo show in Sydney was at 235 Gallery Annandale was in 1997, and he has had regular solo and group shows in Sydney, Melbourne and abroad ever since. Ashley won the Hills Prize in 2018 and was a finalist in the 2017 Archibald Prize. He won the people’s choice award for the 2017 Mosman Art Prize and was a finalist in the 2017 EMSLA Still Life Prize and the 2017 NSW Parliament Plein Art Prize. He is a graduate of the National Art School and has a Certificate in Studio Ceramics from Gymea TAFE. Ashley is represented in Australia by Stella Downer Fine Art.