After a long travel break for COVID, we continue our series on The Fascinating Street Art of the World with an interview of muralist Erin Ashcraft, Rogers, Arkansas.
Erin's prominent mural in downtown Monticello, Arkansas, reveals her artist's eye snapshot of the history of Monticello and the surrounding area of Drew County, bringing much sunshine to her work. We caught up with her at the grand opening of Main Street Art in downtown Monticello, Arkansas, in mid-October 2022.
RoverTreks interview of Muralist Erin Ashcraft of Arkansas
Getting started as an Artist
RoverTreks:
Tell us about your mural work and what got you started painting murals.
Erin:
I was an art major in college at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. One of my professors saw an opportunity to work on a mural project and encouraged me to get involved, and it just stuck.
RoverTreks:
So, what did you go to college for?
Erin:
Originally, I was a business major, but I changed to art after my freshman year. I took one drawing class, and I was hooked; I couldn't stop; I was like, this is it.
The Mural in Monticello, Arkansas
RoverTreks:
So, tell us about the Monticello mural. Did you decide on the content, or did you interview people and have them tell you what they wanted, or was there some collaboration?
Erin:
A little bit of both. Miss Glenda Nichols from Monticello contacted me — they have a committee here. I grew up here, and I knew some of the things that are important to Monticello as a community. I wanted to highlight all of those big topics because I knew there was much they wanted to like combine in the mural. The committee wanted to hit everything and include the views of everyone.
RoverTreks:
Who commissioned you for this work.
Erin:
The Chamber of Commerce.
Mural Art Design Methods — Erin Ashcraft
RoverTreks:
Tell us about your methodology.
Erin:
Every project is different. It depends on how big the wall is. Sometimes, I just wing it for small projects. But, for a large mural that spans the entire side of a building like this one here in Monticello, I'll approach a project using a grid-by-grid system.
RoverTreks:
Did you sketch something out for the Monticello mural?
Erin:
Yes, I did a digital drawing on an iPad using a program called Procreate for the iPad. Essentially, it's like Photoshopping an image over the wall to see where on the wall everything lands. I can make a layer of the artwork over a picture of the wall and turn down the opacity. This allows me to see the artwork on the wall.
RoverTreks:
People are starting to find out about you. Are you getting calls for a lot more work?
Erin:
Yes, especially here. Actually, I live in Rogers, Arkansas. So I travel here the most to do my work which is really counter to what I thought was going to happen because in small towns, one might assume there won't be as many opportunities to do this type of work. But when people know you, word spreads really quickly. So, mostly here.
RoverTreks:
Do you have workers who help you or do you do the work all by yourself?
Erin:
Just me.
Work History — Erin Ashcraft
RoverTreks:
How long have you been doing this work?
Erin:
I've been doing this full-time for about a year. At first, I did a project for class credit while I was in college. Then, after that, I would tell people, “oh, I can do this in my spare time if you want to throw a little extra money my way.” For example, at a summer job I worked at a camp, and I would tell people, “I can do a mural for you.” So I just kept doing that to gain experience and recognition. Then I applied to an artist call for Northwest Arkansas in Springdale, and got a really big mural project up there. That one took me about a month, and I'm like, I can't keep my full-time job and keep doing this because my employer is not going to let me take off for four weeks. I had been thinking about going full-time for a while as mural work is really time-consuming. So I just went for it. Springdale kinda kick-started my career but, people down here knew me, and that's how word spread.
RoverTreks:
So, how long did it take you to do the mural here in Monticello?
Erin:
That one was five weeks.
RoverTreks:
What was your full-time work before muraling?
Erin:
I was a photographer for an online clothing boutique.
RoverTreks:
So you worked in a related field.
Erin:
Yes, it was product photography, an art adjacent field, and kind of creative but not the same.
Street Art – Mural Production Materials by Erin Ashcraft
RoverTreks:
What type of materials do you use to produce your works?
Erin:
I use a brand of paint called Novacolors. It's a 100% resin-based paint brand. It's available only online — they ship it out of California.
RoverTreks:
Do you have aspirations for doing murals and other creative content that you're not doing now?
Erin:
Yeah, I definitely have the desire to do more work that is more geared toward my own personal style because right now, I'm doing a lot of murals on commission. I would love for people to just hire me and say I want you to do what you want to do, no questions asked. I love doing commission work but, whenever you're working with a client, you really do have to collaborate — it's not all like all I do is on my own.
RoverTreks:
So, if you were left to your own devices, what would you like to do?
Erin:
We can look at my stuff over here (across the room on the wall of the Main Street Art gallery in Monticello) while I explain. I really love insane color kind of and more naturalistic like landscapes, cityscapes, animals, and I love putting humor into my work. I'm still a really young artist. I didn't know I could paint until I went to college, so I really haven't come into my own style yet. But I love crazy colors and beautiful subjects.
Mural for the Fire Department at McGehee, Arkansas by Erin Ashcraft
RoverTreks:
We see this beautiful mural about Monticello and understand you have another mural in the works at McGehee, Arkansas. Can you tell us a little about your project in McGehee?
Erin:
In 1975, three firefighters died fighting a fire. The mural in McGehee is a memorial for the Fire Department, and it's a work in progress.
The remainder of our time with Erin was chit-chat about other muralists and locations of public art around the world. You'll find some of Erin's works in Fayetteville, Springdale, McGehee, Monticello, Arkansas, Joplin, Missouri, and of course, her college town of Bolivar, Missouri.
Update April 2023: A Complete Mural in McGehee, Arkansas
Erin's work on the mural in McGehee is now complete. You can see it below.
See our original post about street and public art here.
Editors Note:
Erin's comments have been edited for clarity in print.
References
The Artist
Erin Ashcraft
Visual Artist
Email: erinashcraft.art2gmail.com
Web: erinashcraft.com
Instagram: urnchase
Links:
Main Street Art, Monticello, Arkansas
Nova Color
Procreate for the iPad
Southwest Baptist University
Discover Arkansas
