Reimagining Meemaw’s Favorite Hobby

Ozark artist works to combine childhood memories with art

Almost all of us remember grandma’s tireless hands working diligently on one craft project or another. When she wasn’t cooking, cleaning or tending to scraped knees she was sewing, stitching or knitting. If we close our eyes,  we can probably hear the gospel music playing and the soft clinking of the knitting needles as she works. It’s this memory — among others — that Little Rock based artist Ashley Garrison wants to evoke with her artwork. 

Born in Mountain Home, a town nestled snuggly in the Ozark mountains, Ash holds a bachelors in fine arts for illustration and traditionally does digital illustrations, though she has recently begun to branch  out. She credits her creativity and love for art in all forms to both of her grandmothers. At 10 years old, she began to take notice of the ways that the people around her chose to express themselves. From cross stitch to the pencil portraits her father created, it was this creativity that inspired her to begin drawing. For her family members, these art forms were a way to re-center themselves, it was a private affair and not something they shared with  others. 

Today, Ash finds that the private nature of her loved ones also has an influence on the central themes of her work. Through a mix of stunning digital, physical and fiber mediums, Ash focuses on finding sanctuary within oneself. She also focuses on LGTBQ themes, something that is close to her heart. Her art depicts a variety of subjects from  girls curling into themselves to landscapes from her dreams and childhood memories. 

"Recent cross-stitching on pre-loved postcards. These feel a bit like memorials for the memories of these people i will never meet. Some from the early 1900s, some up to 2010s... I get to see inside these worlds for just a moment, mourn the reasons why they these cards ended up where they did, and how I can cherish their existence. cross-stitching has been a very relaxing thing for me lately, but for some reason, working on these postcards has tugged at my heartstrings a little.

Lately, she has started to lean into fiber arts as a whole and in particular cross stitching. She shares about a series of thrifted postcards with bygone words from long gone people written on them over, which she has cross-stitched on top of. She describes brilliant canvas paintings that she has incorporated cross-stitching into. For her, cross-stitching – and other fiber arts – is not just a hobby: it is the education of young girls being taught to read by learning to cross-stitch the alphabet,  it is a way to hide secret messages,  it is the self expression of woman, whose art might otherwise be oppressed in their community. Ash says the idea of being  a fiber artist always makes her emotional; “If you look at the history of different types of fiber arts, they are all extremely extensive and they’re always intertwined with women. It goes beyond a craft or a hobby or just something a housewife does to keep herself busy.”

For the future, Ash wants to begin building a portfolio that will hopefully help her make a transition into being a tattoo artist. For her part in  the upcoming Loom event, Art Shuffle, she will be bringing a variety of pieces that utilize several different forms of art, including a painting she has been working on for a little over a year. She looks forward to meeting other creatives who might provide her with more inspiration and a bigger community. She encourages other artists to trust themselves and try new things, even if they don’t succeed at them. “It’s okay to try things and realize they don’t fit you.” 

If you’d like to see more of her work you can check her out @cedarsprite on Instagram and TikTok.