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Artist uses paintbrush as her 'messenger'

BY DANIELLE N. HILL

Ashley Oubre's Crying Woman

For artist Ashley Oubre, the paintbrush is a messenger. She uses it to capture bird’s eye views of the old, infirm and helpless and thus provide an insight into the life of those who are ignored.

Close up portraits of the homeless, or ordinary people going about their daily lives are key components of Oubre’s art. “I wanted to draw normal people who FEEL. I want you to look at my work with conviction and understand or at least try to understand the emotion.”

Most recently, the UDC student’s work has been influenced by the impact of Hurricane Katrina last year. Turning those feelings into art, Oubre created a charcoal portrait of a crying woman. The rawness of the sketch gave Oubre’s mother the idea of turning it into a commemoration of the disaster to showcase the plight of the victims. T-shirts with the design of the “crying woman” were made and passed out for free in return for donations to the Red Cross.

Ashley Oubre

Oubre’s art dictates her life. Being black and Creole, she tends to gravitate towards ethnic and African art she said. However, it was her love for Pablo Picasso that gave Oubre a new look on life. A former journalism major turned art student, she found her love for art “out of boredom,” said Oubre, 20.

 “I painted my first Surrealist piece titled “An Ode to Picasso” and found that I loved it.” Like Picasso, Oubre is striving to be a “new age renaissance woman” who has mastered every style there is.

The past year has expanded the mind of the talented artist. “Before this year, I never took college seriously, and as a result UDC is my third school,” said Oubre.  But, thanks to an art history class, Oubre was exposed to new styles and news ways to personalize her talents.

With plans to finish school this year, studying abroad is the next future goal on Oubre’s list. She is also interested into promoting her art. Oubre’s first show took place in summer 2005 and her work, titled “Misery,” was featured on the October/November cover of Art and Review Magazine and is available in various art and framing stores. Oubre’s work can currently be viewed at www.ashleyoubre.com.

 

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