Ashlie Tran is a mixed media artist who creates beautiful floral arrangements that influence her drawings, paintings and embroidery designs. Each influences the other. You’ll find paintings inspired by her florals and enhanced and embellished with stitches and beads.
How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?
I’ve always had a love for art, ever since I was young. My parents always enrolled me in all the after school or weekend art classes and I would spend all my free time drawing.
I drifted away from it as I got older and other priorities took place. I found my way again in college when I was actually majoring in science and, halfway through undergrad, found out how much I hated it. I ended up switching and graduating with a BFA in Drawing and Painting. It took me a little longer to graduate but I was significantly happier and I haven’t drifted from it since.
Painting, embroidery, flowers and more. How do they all work together (or not) in your work?
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I think each one definitely influences one another, kind of in a circular way. It felt natural to work in a mixed-media fashion because of all the different mediums I love to work with.
I work with paint so frequently that it made sense to somehow incorporate that into embroidery. And same with florals, because I was a florist for 8 years, it made sense to tie that into all my paintings one way or another and have the sculptural effect play into my embroidery pieces to make it more dimensional and textural.
When you prepare for a creative session, how do you decide what you’ll be working on?
Honestly, just whatever I feel like! Or if inspiration suddenly hits me, I’ll pick up a piece that’s been sitting in the corner of my studio for a while and instantly know what I need to do next. I think that’s why I have so many “works in progress” pieces sitting around.
Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?
I used to be able to dive right in but noticed over time I’ve become more of a planner and am trying to become more intentional with placement, palette, materials, etc.
What inspires your work?
Most of the time, it’s just random palettes I’ll come across. Books, songs, and other artists inspire me, too.
How do you manage your creative time? Do you schedule start and stop times? Or work only when inspired?
I try to work on my own creative projects as much as I can after my 9-5, so essentially, 5-9 pm is my designated personal “creative time”. Even when I feel uninspired or tired from the day, I try to push myself to do at least one thing that’s for myself.
Describe your creative space.
Totally messy. My desk is an absolute horror when I work on embroidery because I love mixing beads, colors, and mediums so much.
I definitely am the type of person who needs to see all her supply options to make sure I’m not missing anything that could be essential to a piece. I guess it’d be the same with painting, I like to lay out ALL my colors.
It can get overwhelming at times but I think I get so laser focused while working that my mind just actively chooses to ignore the clutter. And once I’m done, it’s satisfying cleaning and putting all the supplies away so I can start fresh on something new.
Working across many different media, how do you organize all of your creative supplies?
I definitely have to have specific sections of my supplies. It’s a lot of carts, boxes, bins and drawers in my space.
Have you found something intended for one media that works well for something else?
I think the most success I’ve had is mixing paint and embroidery. I feel like they pair so well with one another and kind of became a “signature” style in my embroidery pieces.
Do you use a sketchbook or journal? How does that help your work develop?
Yes — definitely. Again, I’m trying to be more intentional with work and using a sketchbook helps me have a Plan A, B, C or Z.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
I start new projects pretty frequently. I’m very much a “multiple project” type of person. I feel like that gets my brain working at its best because sometimes, one work (or more) can influence another. If I try something new in one piece, I’ll circle back to an old one and have an “Ah HA! This is it! I can finally finish it” moment.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
Yes! My most recent work was inspired by Lunar New Year. I’m a proud Asian-American artist, specifically Vietnamese-American, and I realized I never show my heritage through my work. I’m trying to show more and more of myself and felt that this was a good starting point. Also, I never worked in the color red so thought this was a perfect opportunity.
Most work comes about in a similar fashion. It’ll just hit me out of the blue (but not always
Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you
Honestly, it’s different for each of the disciplines.
With embroidery, my favorite part is after the paint layout has dried, I can begin embroidering and beading. The most challenging is actually the halfway point. Sometimes I get so stuck on what to do next, the work will sit for months/years.
With painting, it’s the pre-planning, actually, when I’m mapping everything out in my sketchbook. Most challenging is knowing when the piece is completely done.
With florals, my favorite part is picking out the blooms. Most challenging is when I actually make an arrangement and realize none of what I picked out makes sense. Why did I choose these blooms?
How does your formal art education help your work develop? Does it ever get in the way?
I think my formal education only aided me in becoming the type of artist I am today. It helped me tremendously and if I could go back and take more classes like glass blowing, ceramics, animation, etc, I 100% would.
How does your environment influence your creativity?
I actually cannot do art when I’m feeling too sad or emotional. Which is funny because I know some of the best works are actually produced in that way and art really can heal if used as an outlet. But if I’m truly having a rough day, it’s really hard for me to find the motivation to work on anything and I’d rather sit in my feelings and process.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
My husband asked me one day, when I was really doubting myself — if I didn’t have a following, if no one ever saw my work, if I never made any money from art, would I still create? And my immediate answer was yes.
Before social media ever became what it is now, I was drawing and painting in my bedroom alone just for the sake of it. There was no reason behind it except I just wanted to. Because it was something that brought me joy, something I’ve always loved.
And that still holds true for me today. I try not to let social media dictate what work I’ll be creating next or influence my art in any way. And if for some reason social media no longer existed tomorrow, I would still be making art — alone in my bedroom just like when I was young. So whenever I doubt my reasoning behind any work I do, I ask myself these same questions.
How has your work changed over time?
I think my work now feels more “present”, if that makes sense.
In my earlier works, I can definitely see my experimental side, always incorporating a new medium or material, trying a different technique, etc. and just getting so excited about it that it made me feel like I was always thinking three steps ahead, about the “tomorrow”.
But now, I feel like I still retain those earlier motions, that feeling of excitement, but just elevating these techniques further by taking the time to be cleaner, intentional, “slowing down”.
Where can people see your work?
People can find my work either on my social media accounts (@happimoodstudio on Instagram and Tiktok. @happimood for Youtube) or on my website happimoodstudio.com
Interview posted February 2024
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