FAD Profile: Artist Sarah Ashley Longshore

Today's FAD profile is artist Sarah Ashley Longshore. She takes on the fashion world as her subject matter. Her work resembles mid century fashion illustration but as she explains below she is more fascinated by colorfully expressing the strength of bold personalities.

Your subject matter is always fashionable. What is your process for selecting your subjects? I really like to paint things that inspire me. I travel a lot so as far as fashion goes, I am inspired by the way someone wears a particular item. Who is wearing it? What kind of person are they? I love pop culture and I love watching people "peacock"!!! I love being in New York and watching people swagger. 

How do you see the intersection of fashion and art? Well they certainly inspire each other in my genre of art. I can be inspired by the color combination in a Louis Vuitton ad or the glitter in a Jimmy Choo flat. I love the shade of Hermes orange! I love color and the idea that it can elevate and move the human spirit. For example...I love wearing black everyday and letting my art in my studio be the colorful accessory. But when I travel on inspiration trips in the Caribbean or Maui I wear bold silk Caftans everyday. I surround myself in sheets of color when its time to paint. 

How do you see the intersection of fashion and power? This all goes back to my "peacock" theory. People are birds....we have sparrows, blue birds, cardinals, eagles and then there is the PEACOCK, and THE BIRDS OF PARADISE...who are the MOST outrageous and beautiful of all to look like. We gasp in awe at their dance and glory.......HELLO.....go to Cipriani downtown for dinner and you will be in a room full of peacocks. 

Do you perceive your work as a celebration of fashion's decadence or a critique? Its a celebration of the different roles we play in society and how we present ourselves to the world everyday. 

Does fashion illustration inspire you? Its beautiful....I think I am MOSTLY inspired by the BOLDNESS and Tactile energy of the actual products. I find fashion illustration to be very soft and lovely. I prefer BOLD and Daring and BIG.

What are you other inspirations? I love nature and music. I cant stop listening to LCD Soundsystem. I am addicted. I am really inspired by beauty. Beautiful people, beautiful products, a funny story, a funny joke...people laughing......clever ideas.....Karl Lagerfeld said in an interview when asked about his inspiration that he was like a giant skyscraper with an antenna on top..... I am like KARL. hahahah.