Portfolio of works by Ashley Handlin

I've been drawing and painting my whole life, up until a few years ago when the brutal combo of burnout, worsening mental health and an eventual breakdown made me walk away from my art/design career. While I am permanently traumatized and will never design for anyone again... since I've moved to VT I've been quietly painting here and there, mostly small pieces in ink painted en plein air while hiking the surrounding mountains. Few if any of them have been shared online, some friends have seen them in person or via snapchat (@asher2789 ) but for the most part I've kept them pretty private as part of my attempt at recovering from the breakdown. One of the biggest triggers for it was the insane pressure I felt to be creative and turn a profit everyday to make a living off of my artwork, to the point that my creativity was totally zapped and my work dwindled to non existent. Fast forward a few years and here I am, wondering if this is the right direction to take, trying to profit off art again... This piece is one of my latest works, I made it for a contest that I found out about like a day before the deadline and ended up missing it somehow? those who have known me a long time might know that I got my career started in contests... Which I swore off a long time ago when the winnings structure changed. This however was for a trip to ride some epic pow in Alaska 😄 maybe one day! Anyways, this long rant of a post is actually to inform my friends/followers that not only do I still make art but that I'm considering getting back in the game for $ again (#sellout) and am thinking of not only sharing my works on IG but even making my profile PUBLIC. Should I? I've struggled with this question of how I should use my IG and if I should make it public for years. Should I make a new profile? Hashtag the shit out of everything? Beg for followers? I hate the popularity contest atmosphere of the Internet, if you don't get enough eyeballs you might as well not even bother because no one will see it, it will be lost to the algorithm forever. I'll be adding this and other work to my @society6 store that I never promote but get sales from... Help me live off royalties -the dream! Lol (at Chittenden, Vermont)

2013-2014 Finals Catalog Catalog I did for the Finals.

2014 TYR POP Catalog Point-of-purchase catalog I did for TYR that they send out to their retailers.

ads I did for TYR.. first two were on the backs of sports magazines, last one was a concept that was not chosen. 

eblasts done for TYR, where I currently work

some designs for the TYR Facebook.

VOTE FOR THIS DESIGN ON @threadless http://beta.threadless.com/nextbigtee/copy-2/

also, please don't remove credit if reblogging, cause this is mine. k thx bai.

dirty disassembled bearings

How I feel today.

I submitted this to the bright futures contest over at DBH, but unfortunately I misunderstood the contest and apparently the submission deadline is the same time the voting period ended, so I got no votes and this probably won't be printed. I would of submitted it sooner, but my dog ate my wacom tablet pen. I can't even make that up - it's as if my dog ate my homework in school! (Actually, my dog did eat my homework once - he has an affinity for paper products.)

Walt Whitman park w/ flash during the blizzard

Bamboo

Hey guys, my shirt for DBH comes out tomorrow. You should buy it!

That texture is real, btw. No photoshopping here!

Gift for a friend for christmas.

(Please don't remove this credit - the work is my own and requires votes - you and your follower's votes - to get printed)