Memories of childhood, and witnessing her family’s history as part of Dayton’s Rust Belt, continue to inform Speelman’s art practice. She lives in South Park with two roommates and Coconut Kitty, a black and white tabby cat.
SOMETHING FROM NOTHING
“My whole life I’ve wanted to try to be an environmental activist in my own way and figure out how to do it in art. My great-grandmother was born and raised in Dayton, off Valley Street, where my great-grandfather built a house. She was an artist and would teach classes in the Great Depression called ‘Something From Nothing’. She would show people how to make art out of things around the house. She saw value in every last thing. I base my whole art practice around that dogma. I want to carry on her legacy.”
Credit: Hannah Kasper
Credit: Hannah Kasper
“My grandfather would fix things like MacGyver with whatever he had lying around. I definitely picked up that attribute. That stems from us being part of the Rust Belt. After all those factories and jobs died away, people were all of a sudden left with what they had. Out of necessity they had to become more innovative. That’s part of our lineage and upbringing, installed in our brains. These things flow out of me.”
“My grandma was my biggest supporter and took care of me a lot. She saw this drive for creativity in me. She would buy junk jars and we’d just glue stuff to stuff. She took me to watercolor classes, every Wednesday for three years, to this 96-year-old woman in the Hotel Gallery in Tipp City. She was $5 and her name was Olive Boyd.” Speelman’s art monikor, A.Rose, is named for her grandmother.
KITTY ALARM
“I live in South Park with two roommates and my Coconut Kitty. He always has the most distraught expression on his face like he just saw fifty ghosts. He is very prolific in the neighborhood, a local celebrity. People leave treats on my doorstep for him. He knows where the snacks are and where the bed is, but he runs amuck.”
“I’m a night owl, I’ll be up until 2 in the morning. Usually Coconut and I wake up at the same time, around 10. He’s my alarm. I make my bed immediately. I make coffee and then look at all my plants. I have a lot of plants in my house. I spend time with them. I feed Coconut and look at my list. I’m a huge list person. Get that phone out of my face if you want to put a list on it. I wear a Casio watch because I want to have very few reasons to look at my phone.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
TAKING STOCK
“Whether I’m painting a mural or doing manual labor, I need to be wearing my ‘groutfit’ — my grungy outfit. I’ll tidy up a little around my house and pack a cooler full of snacks.”
“I have my breakfast in the studio. I come in around noon. The first thing I do is organize something. (Gestures to papers and books on her drafting table.) That gets my gears churning. By doing that I’m taking stock and processing my life.”
“Then I put on some music or an audiobook. I listen to a lot of artist interviews on YouTube. I start painting. I’ll listen to the same song on repeat for hours. A song can put me in a trance. The longest I’ve ever sat and worked on a painting without getting up is five hours.”
NESTING
“I went to Sinclair for a few years which was great. I really liked my professors Mark Echtner and Kevin Harris. But I’m so stubborn and resistant to authority, that it took me a minute to warm up to the fact that I needed to do the assignments. Kevin Harris was tough on me and I gained a lot of discipline, one of the good things that you can get out of schooling. I also learned discipline from swimming. I swam for USA Swimming for 12 years and coached for five.”
She works surrounded by pillows and snacks. “I make a nest whenever I paint. That was always the joke at Sinclair. It would take me 20 minutes to set up my nest. It creates a barrier so I don’t get distracted.”
GIG ECONOMY
“I’m a gig worker. I love learning new tasks, whether it be using a drum sander, or walking dogs.” Speelman has painted murals around town, including at Joui Wine, and at Shag and Crush salons. She does house renovations. She fills in at Coco’s Bistro. “Sometimes I’m a dishwasher. Sometimes I’m a host. I designed the menus, all the little drawings, the matchbooks, the flowers. I really like doing all kinds of stuff all the time. It keeps me engaged.”
DINNER & A MOVIE
Speelman puts in at least 8 hours on studio days. “When I feel wrapped up here I’ll go home and put on a movie while I cook something. I love horror movies. I just want to be on the edge of my seat. I love cooking, making kitchen sink soup. Most of the time at home, I’ll eat vegetarian. But I’m a Freegan. If somebody hands me a sandwich and it has meat on it, I’ll probably eat it. Every aspect of my life is so hodge podge.”
MEND IN BED
“I’ll finish the movie in bed while eating dinner. Usually Coconut Kitty will be there because he wants my dinner. I always have to keep my hands busy so I have this quilt on my bed and I keep a needle and thread at my bedside, and I will inch away at sewing the ripped parts of my quilt as I’m laying under it. It’s like my fidget spinner, mending a quilt.”
“I’m very good about putting the needle back. Then I fall asleep.”
MORE DETAILS
Find Ashley Speelman, professionally known as A.Rose on Instagram and on her website at ashleyroses.com.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Hannah Kasper writes the weekly “A Day In The Life” feature in the Dayton Daily News. Want to share your story with her? Email hannah.kasper@gmail.com.
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