Megan Ashman is a self-taught mixed media & abstract artist from Lancaster, PA. Her unique & thought-provoking art depicts dreamlike visions of oddness & wonder. Beginning her artistic journey in High School, Megan suffered the passing of a very close family member that prompted her to immerse herself into her art. Withdrawn from the world, she relentlessly painted for 9 months straight. During this time her paintings were dark, yet uplifting; exuding emotion. She then continued to develop & grow as an artist. She has since been featured in Vanity Fair U.K. editions and has opened her own gallery; Megan Ashman Gallery on Gallery Row located in Historic Downtown Lancaster, PA. As a Veristic Surrealist, Megan’s work is invoked by the unconscious. Cycles of emotions & racing thoughts pour surges of creative madness onto her canvas. Primarily using automatism, her visions of oddness engage the viewer’s subconscious and provoke perceptual ambiguity. With hidden images, vivid color, found objects & abundant texture, her work evokes the creative mind. With almost no conscious thought while painting, a flood of energy carries her images onto canvas. In addition to being wholly original, her artwork is powerful & exudes emotions. Megan uses a myriad of materials, such as ink, paints, paper & found objects in her paintings & collages that provide an abundance of texture & depth. After hurling paint, she puddles water & spray paint, then glides the mixture across the canvas, creating swirls similar to smoke. Layering gesso & varieties of mediums & paint, she then allows stages of drying. Rigorously spraying water to break up the paint, the layers and colors shine through from within. For a luminescent effect she adds various shiny objects. Buttons, jewelry, paper, and fabric are just a few of the materials she uses for texture & depth. Collage fills in the missing spots like a puzzle finding it's missing pieces. Using masses of paper scraps, magazine cut-outs, printed images and colorful foils, she collages; filling in the composition. Coating with a high quality gloss sealer is always the finishing touch. Large elements will draw in a viewer from a distance, yet once up close, a viewer finds another world from within. Various sizes of highly detailed scenes of people, landscapes, structures & animals are placed all over the canvas. If you rotate the painting there is a different scene in almost every direction, hiding beneath the initial view.