Ash Fields Artist
Our Tiny Windows Artist collaboration
Ash Fields – Our Tiny Windows
Our Tiny Windows
Ash Fields ‘Our Tiny Windows’ is an artist and illustrator Based in Bristol. Ash is well known for his window artwork, especially locally to Super Ultra Cool in Leigh-on-Sea. Ash is also a very talented painter and musician. He has spent the last five years building his career with his ultimate goal of transitioning to a full time artist, with selling his own paintings being the dream. His style takes inspiration from the works of Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha. Ash describes his artwork as showing obscure characters in beautiful frames.
Our Tiny Windows
Ash had an unusual and interesting start to his career. Having failed art as an A level Ash still pursued art as a foundation degree, a time he recalls really enjoying. Ash progressed to a degree in ‘Digital Art and Moving Image’. When reflecting on his time whilst at University, Ash says it wasn’t the the most positive experience for him as he wasn’t fully committed at that point in his life, it wasn’t the right course for him, and he wished he had the maturity at the time to switch onto a different course such as illustration or fine art. We talked about how it can be so difficult when you are so young to make the right choice and the pressure of not wanting to let anyone down; the feeling of being trapped within a choice you have made and needing the courage to quit if it isn’t right. He hopes his experience can help the younger generations make the right choices and not feel bad about moving on if they need to.
After University Ash describes feeling completely uninspired, but needed to work. Ash is very personable and hospitality has always come naturally to him. It was an easy to choose to work in a job that allowed him to communicate with a lot of people. Ash set up a coffee shop with friends Sarah and Simon, called ‘Barlow and Fields’, based in Leigh-on-Sea. Whilst working at the shop, he would illustrate on the windows for the different seasons. It was from here that he found his career accidentally started. Other stores within Leigh-on-Sea saw his illustrations and liked his work, wanting the same kind of thing for their own spaces. It was an illustration for Corner Club, a coffee shop in the heart of the broadway with an huge window, that sparked the explosion of work that came in for Ash all around the Christmas period. It was from this that Ash decided to leave the coffee shop and start full time as an illustrator.
Our Tiny Windows
Ash’s illustration gained lots of attention within Leigh-on-Sea, and this then started to spread to other towns and cities within Essex, as well as London and further around the UK. The illustration work had grabbed the attention of an author called Dan Jones, who commissioned Ash to create ten character artworks for his book ‘Essex Dogs’. These illustrations used to promote the book are being painted all around the country at Waterstones stores. The illustrations of the characters become canon within the series. With a second book written, Ash designed a further 3 characters and these artworks have been made into posters available with the book.
Our Tiny Windows
There are multiple aspects to the window illustration work Ash designs. When working with clients he has to incorporate the ideas and desires of the client whilst retaining his own artistic integrity. We discussed Ash’s ‘no Santas’ rule he has for his window artwork. This is a rule he had from the beginning and one he will never compromise on. There are so many films, ideas and traditions around Christmas that can be explored and it is an easy way to maintain some creativity to his windows. When illustrating, Ash doesn’t use any black outlines as he finds the nature of the glass naturally makes the required dark areas of the illustrations, and all he needs to do is reveal the light areas of the image. This allows for an interactive element for the viewer, as from different angles the illustration changes. Ash really likes to work with characters in his work, placing them within a artistic illustrated frame, similar to the work of Alphonse Mucha. This also plays into the window aesthetic, having different shapes and sizes to work within. Ash also sites Gustav Klimt as an inspiration for the tiled, patterned designs within his work.
Our Tiny Windows
Ash moved to Bristol in early 2024 to pursue his art style further, saying that he just wants to be in his studio painting as much as possible. Ash is working on defining his style and experimenting with different techniques and designs. The ambitions of which is to have his painting featured in the National Portrait Gallery. One of Ashes recent paintings has been scanned at a very high resolution and enlarged to be printed an the windows of a school in Southend. The painting will be five meters high. Ash describes how it has been nice to work on something that has a much slower process, as working on an oil painting naturally takes longer to create. However the result is a much more powerful image that will be longer lasting. Ash paints from his communal studio in Bristol. It has a cafe downstairs and is an open shared space filled with music, plants and stuff all over the walls, making it a really fun, conducive space.
Our Tiny Windows
Andy, of Super Ultra Cool, has been good friends with Ash for many years. Ash used to share an office with Andy in Leigh-on-Sea before moving to Bristol. Andy asked Ash if he would design some T-shirts for Super Ultra Cool and was delighted when Ash said ‘yes’. The initial idea for Ash’s designs came from a sketch he drew with his finger in his notes app on his phone. He really likes the simple text with image motif, that gets across an idea people can relate to. He wanted to touch on something related to mental health and the imperfection of being human. The character clearly isn’t fine – we know it, he knows it. We know that being open and honest about our feelings is the best way, however sometimes we are unable to be our best and all we can muster is sulky and sarcastic. Ash feels the design is relatable and funny, and we need to stop pretending that everything is always awesome. Feeling shit can be normal and is sometimes part of someone’s every day. It great to have a T-shirt that embraces that.
Ash can be found on instagram.
