DESIGN&LIVING ARTIST
ASHLEY KUNZ
DEVELOPING HER CRAFT
F
INDING A PASSION AND MAKING IT INTO A WAY OF LIFE REQUIRES THE RIGHT MIX OF SPUNK, TALENT AND DILIGENCE. FARGO-NATIVE ASHLEY KUNZ EXEMPLIFIED A LOVE FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION AT A YOUNG AGE BUT HAD NO EXPECTATIONS THAT HER TALENT WOULD TAKE HER INTO A NEW REALM OF CREATIVE PRODUCTION. YEARS LATER, HOWEVER, HER PIECES HAVE ACCUMULATED INTO A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION OF ABSTRACT REPRESENTATION. MUSHROOMS & ART “Now you have to make a hundred of them.” A few remnants of Fargo artist Ashley Kunz’s high school ceramic mushrooms inhabit a windowsill of her cozy home studio, a little family of personal trinkets and treasures that represent her creative character and journey into her craft.
painting four years ago as a way to supplement her income but has developed her creative process, from beginner to professional, as the basis for her work’s uniqueness and substance.
“The mushrooms, that was my first introduction into art,” said Kunz. “I took a ceramic class in high school and the first day my teacher told us we could make anything we wanted, so that’s what I decided to make, mushrooms. Later, he told me if I didn’t make a hundred mushrooms, I was not going to pass this class. I keep them as a reminder that you gotta stick it out, even if you don’t like what you’re doing.” Although Kunz’s craft has manifested into elaborate, abstract paintings, the mushrooms are the allegory from which her journey has blossomed. Kunz began
By Hailey Colbrunn | Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography and Ashley Kunz 65