Local Trail, Distant Shores: Water Colour Perspectives

Artist Statement:

If I am asked how long it took to paint a picture, I would reply, “Thirty-five years to learn how, and a few hours to put paint on paper”. It is a long process to master the media of watercolour and even after all this time, something can still go wrong. I’m still learning and developing my style.

About Dan Ashman:

Dan Ashman was born in British Columbia in 1956 and started his foray into art in High School by painting in oils. He moved to Trail to work as a Metallurgical Engineer at Teck and took up watercolours in 1987 during a night school course led by fellow engineer and local watercolour artist, Brian O’Hara. Subsequently, he attended workshops with Les Weisbrich, a watercolour artist from the Slocan valley, and Kiff Holland, a watercolour artist from the lower mainland. Otherwise, he is self taught.

Dan joined the Trail Art Club in 1988 and helped to establish the VISAC gallery. He was a member of the “Thursday Night Painters” when it was led by Bob Ross. His work has been shown in Art Club exhibitions, the VISAC invitational show, showings of the Thursday Night Painters both in Trail and Spokane as well as juried art shows. He has sold a number of paintings including one to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

As an avid outdoorsman, Dan was inspired by the captivating scenery of the West Kootenays and began to capture local scenes in watercolour either painting “en plein air” or in his studio. He is also an amateur photographer and uses photos from his travels as subject matter. Now retired, his recent works include landscapes from the West Kootenays, the Canadian Rockies, Hawaii, and Atlantic Canada.