Meet Ashley Goldstein | Artist, Educator, and Nurturer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Goldstein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
I spend time on my mental health. I take moments to check in with my well being, especially when I am giving up a weekend to pursue a new skill or work a side job. I take into consideration that even though I am not able to do what I want and choosing to do what I need instead I am not sacrificing my overall mental health. Maybe that means when I work a 7 day week I am going to bed an hour early so I can wake up and take my dogs on a walk before the day starts, or the opposite – I go to bed an hour late and play online games with my son. This habit of always making sure I am making time for the things I want to do while also doing what I need to do helps me to extend my motivation and prevent burnout. Before this habit, I would go to work, come home, go to bed, repeat. It was exhausting and depressing, I thought I didn’t have the time to do what I wanted, and life meant to do what everyone expected of me. What I truly lacked was the ability to stop and check-in, take a moment to breathe. Sometimes that moment is a 5-minute coffee break in my kitchen with a podcast on or a 15 minute nap between meetings. These make a difference in my day, how I view my workload, and my mood.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I went to art school thinking I wanted to be a Fine Artist with rotating exhibitions and a constant body of work. I have spent countless hours crying in my sparsely furnished bedroom because I couldn’t find the motivation or inspiration for a new piece. I held so tightly onto the “Strive to Fail” mantra spoken by my beloved sculpture professor. It took years to let go of this dream and realize it wasn’t my path, and to be okay with my path changing. That maybe I was striving to fail at being that Fine Artist. I still consider myself an artist, I still make fine art and I make it for myself – which has lifted that challenge to feel inspired and motivated all of the time. I tell my students that being an artist is not about who thinks you are but if you call yourself one. Showing your work isn’t what makes you an artist, your own perspective of who you are is what makes you an artist, and I live by that.

I hold many titles and each one of them I am proud of. My middle school students oh and ah at my creativity and on-the-fly solutions – as well as my funny and historically based art memes. My creative manager finds my 3D modeling abilities to be a refreshing approach. My son looks up to me as hard-working and ambitious. Whether I am producing art, molding minds, or just molding digital clay, I consider it all artistic.

Getting here hasn’t been easy and it still isn’t easy. I am on the path I want to be on but this path isn’t forgiving, there are rocks and potholes to maneuver, winding stairways that sometimes feel they lead to nothing, and monstrous creatures jumping from behind corners. But with my support system, my confidence in my own abilities, and thankfully, a career that allows me a lot of free time, I can overcome these challenges.

I have learned that trusting yourself is one of the hardest things to do as a creative person. That imposter syndrome we hear so much about lately is real and it’s scary. Constantly worried someone is going to find out you’re a fake and take away everything. I have to be reminded, whether by a loved one or a therapist (I love therapy, if you don’t have a therapist you love, find one!), that I am here because of me, because of my skills and my hard work.

My story is just beginning, I know there is so much more that I can and want to do, I don’t think I can say I have achieved what I want, and partly because that changes often. Every few months I am at a new fork in my path and must decide which direction to go, I love it. I think what I would want people to know about my story is that I embrace change and I want it, I am hungry for self-development and new experiences. I don’t want an easy path, I want bigger rocks to climb and more trolls under my bridges.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever someone out of state asks where I live, I simplify it as ‘South Florida.’ But, that is a broad statement. Miami is over 2 hours away from me and can be a nightmare to get to depending on traffic. Most non-Floridians don’t understand this and when they visit they feel disappointed we probably won’t be making that treacherous journey to the fantastical city they see on TV.

I live, more specifically, in West Palm Beach, and in my opinion, it can be way better than the big city of Miami. West Palm is a little bit of everything from great cuisine to both an active day and nightlife. Our beaches are just as big and beautiful, not to mention way less crowded. Our coffee shops are that perfect amount of hipster-cozy vibe without coffee costing $8. Prefer a brewery? There is practically one on every corner. Care for some English High Tea on a Sunday afternoon? I know the perfect place in a 100-year-old Florida house. What about some contemporary and not-so contemporary art? Great, the Norton Museum of Art is 2 blocks from the tea house. Want to visit the grave of a princess? Let’s walk across the street to the oldest Palm Beach Cemetery, Woodlawn, we can even take a tour at night with the Historical Society and see some foxes playing around the headstones. Care to see a Native American Battleground? OKiedok it’s a 15-minute drive north to Riverbend park where we can visit giant Banyan trees that some Native American Soldiers were buried under.

I love South Florida, I love West Palm Beach, I love the history of this place. I could fill a year’s worth of adventures with everything that there is to do here and none of it would be the same experience. It is an incredible place to live and I am proud to be a Native of this state.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My success is attributed to the collection of my family, my professors, and my friendships. Without my family’s willingness to sacrifice their time to watch my son while I went to work and school, I would absolutely not be at the level I am today. I had my son at 16 years old and I joined a teen mother’s support group during my pregnancy. I witnessed many girls in that group struggle without the support of their families. They had to work multiple jobs, constantly battle to find childcare and how to afford it, and be a teenager at the same time. My family, even with our disagreements, were there to make sure I could work during the day and take night classes. I did not have to worry about where my son and I were going to sleep and find food on a regular basis. I recognize this privilege and I am thankful my family could provide this for me.

My professors at FAU were incredibly supportive. They bent the rules to allow me to take my son into the studio on nights and weekends when I needed to get an assignment finished. They wrote me letters of recommendation for internships and residencies. They allowed me to pick up independent studies and pick their brains long past our scheduled office hour appointments. I still maintain a relationship with these professors despite graduating 4 years ago.

My friendships have also been a significant role in my success. Whether because they think of me for a new opportunity or just to get me out of the house and have a bit of fun. I can easily become a hermit and spend weeks in my house without speaking to anyone, which no matter how much I think I want that, always leads to a feeling of loneliness and depression. Having friends that understand that and continue to invite me to things even after I declined many times before has made me feel secure in my relationships and connections with others.

Website: https://aivxx.artstation.com/

Instagram: @ashleyrebeccaa_

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyR-goldstein