West Tisbury artist Ashley Medowski is glowing. On a recent afternoon she is perched upon a sturdy wooden chair in her Lambert’s Cove gallery, the sun radiating through an open window, casting a warm light across both her face and her newest mixed media exhibition, Summer Nights + Sea Life.
“I’m obsessed with light,” Ms. Medowski said with a smile. “Whether it’s my sea glass windows that shine the light through them or the sparkle mosaics. I’m a jeweler at heart so anything shiny resonates with me.”
Both the light and the vibrancy of Martha’s Vineyard shine through the collection, running now through Labor Day at the Ashley Medowski Gallery. Ms. Medowski said that her initial creative niche was sea glass jewelry, which later propelled her to explore other, vineyard-themed art forms, from driftwood assemblages to acrylic paintings.
“Coming from a rooted family I treasure our community and often want to express the beauty of our Island and our people,” she said. “Whether it’s a building that I love that I need to paint, or an Island character like Nancy Luce where I want to tell her story so it’s not forgotten, each piece is unique in that I have something to express.”
Among Ms. Medowski’s favorites in the collection is Grey Barn Farm, an acrylic painting on wood assembled with a sterling silver weather vane and a handmade salvaged wood frame. “Often I work small because I am so detailed, but Grey Barn Farm, that piece took quite a bit longer. I want things extremely well connected and it takes time to peg and pin and assemble and build.”
Nestled atop James Pond in West Tisbury, Ms. Medowski’s gallery not only boasts beauty in the form of sophisticated artwork, it also draws upon its natural surroundings. Originally an old fishing barn belonging to her great-grandfather, Captain Norman Benson, Ms. Medowski restored the space in 2001 to create the perfect home for her work.
“The elements spoke to me that were already here,” Ms. Medowski said, her gaze drifting around the expanse of the gallery, a space that once housed nets, lines, and reels. “I’ve kept pretty much all of the things my family has used to work the land, and I think they become examples of great interest to people.”
Upon arriving at the space, visitors stroll down a walkway lined with antique mowers and farming equipment, previously belonging to Ms. Medowski’s great-grandfather and a great uncle. A vintage truck resides adjacent to the pond, while her grandfather’s typewriter sits in the entryway of the gallery. Each piece of family history is evocative of an individual sculpture.
“I think this is a gallery for all ages because there’s such a variety it inspires people in many different ways,” Ms. Medowski said. “In the land, in the barn, in how I restored it, and also my family’s history resonates with people, and that we’ve been able to hold onto it is a wonderful example.”
In addition to welcoming audiences to view her artwork, Ms. Medowski has begun to offer mixed media art classes.
“I think once people get here for a first time they want to visit again and again,” Ms. Medowski said. “If you’re here long enough this is an airstrip for the birds, so people witness the osprey, the king fishers, the geese flying and landing, the deer and the natural beauty at the head of the pond.”
The Ashley Medowski Gallery is located at 367 Lambert’s Cove Road, West Tisbury. Visit ashleymedowskigallery.com.
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