Once Upon A Dream…
In the Land of Ardithian there lived this crazy chick that licked Play-Doh as a child. She spent hours and days under her bed dreaming up the wildest ideas and stories until one day she woke up and realized that those wild ideas and stories were part of the magic potion that made moving through the world really incredible!
Life really has been wild….unpredictably beautiful, broken, and mind-blowingly outrageous! About 20 years ago I was at the top of my teaching career and my body decided it had had enough. 28 surgeries later, disability and grim prognosis options, and soul crushing moments were part of my reality back in the day. Creativity, my family and faith, a remarkable treatment plan from my doctors and therapists, all help me live today a miracle life that I feel I don’t deserve to be honest….but gosh am I so effing grateful!
Creativity and a wild imagination were always second nature, I am hard wired that way, but becoming a professional artist and global art educator, well that wasn’t on my radar. On one of my darkest days I went to the library and checked out some books on watercolor and the Splash volumes caught my eyes and heart. I call it a divine moment, because that book really was the trigger that sent my world in a completely new path of creativity, good medicine, and an insane devotion to self-study and love of color.
All this to say, tapping in creatively and learning to problem solve were life giving and life changing for me. Today, I run an amazingly successful corporation and professional painting practice. I have collectors world wide, a crazy wonderful following of artists seeking to discover their versions of beautifully different and interesting, and I travel internationally teaching the recipe for moving through the world creatively tapped in.
There is no greater honor for me than to impact the human heart of others in ways that inspire them to push past ordinary and reconnect with their passions and artistic gifts. I LOVE to paint, and to write wild words, and pair the two…..then teach others how to do the same.
What’s YOUR version of creative magic? If you aren’t sure….spend some time in The Land of Ardithian and I betcha you might find out!
Out of over 8 billion people in the world there is only 1 of you and one of me. Let that sink in. To the media and voices in our heads that say we don’t matter, we are not enough, there is no original idea under the sun….I call B.S!
Every single one of us has a lifetime of unique experiences and if we learn how to tap into those memories, observations, and pair them with our imaginations, we are capable of incredible uniqueness when it comes to expression.
I am passionate about doing 3 things…..
I help beautiful humans learn to move through the world creatively tapped in…..
I help painters and writers discover their versions of beautifully different and interesting….
and I create wall experiences for beautiful humans who love collecting artwork that pairs story, complexity, and color, with a side of deliciously different.
Push Past Ordinary and come work with me!
As a self-taught artist of 20 years, she found her gift of painting and visual transfer by accident. Elementary education was her path right out of college, but she unexpectedly faced multiple medical challenges and was forced to give up teaching and go on disability while her body healed. As luck would have it, a visit to the library and some time spent with her favorite watercolor books showed her that she had a gift for not only drawing, but the use of color and imagination. That experience transformed her life.
Now a full time working artist, Ardith views her scope of focus a bit differently than most. Mastery of craft to her is using her technical framework as she creates figurative, abstracts, and sports art in mixed media and acrylics connected to creative narratives. She builds paintings with fractured line, dynamic movement, transparent layers, complexity, and details from rich life experiences on canvas and paper.
As an artist who teaches, she travels the U.S and abroad conducting art workshops, hosting creative travel journeys, as well as small group academic study for professional artists in her studio in Mobile, Al. She is a passionate advocate for teaching adults that their creative points of view and visual language matter as well as finding joy in the devotion and mastery of fundamentals.
Ardith holds true to her faith and the belief that no matter what challenge life throws her way, nothing will quench her spirit to continue creating, sharing, and inspiring. With joyful determination, she shares her love of art with children and adults and actively promotes the lifestyle of moving through life as a creative.
Her full time working gallery, Ardithian Arts Studio, is located at 1100 Dauphin St., Suite A, Mobile, Al. 36604
Ardith’s Insight
“I truly believe that I am blessed with being an ordinary person living an extraordinary life. Yes, there have been huge challenges, but there has never been one that my faith and belief in my artistic spirit, along with the support of family and friends, couldn't be met with head on. Life will be hard, it will place obstacles in our lives that seem devastating and life altering. My belief, in fact my knowing, is that in every person we hold the key to look within, believe our truths, embrace our gifts, and rise above any circumstance. Being a creative is a state of mind, being optimistic is as well, and the two are a powerful combination in turning anyone’s life from ordinary to extraordinary.”
My paintings and writings are my way of taking that courageous spirit, mixing it in with an insane love of color, experience, and story, and creating works of art that inspire others to see the world as intrinsically beautiful no matter their place or station in life. My hope is that through my marks and my practice, my work will resonate with the viewer so that they sense a connection with the way of life in the south, its geographical influence, and the myriad of colors and marks that make being a southern artist magical.
Professional Bio
Masters in Education
National Writing Fellow
Watercolor Graphic and Art Society Member
CEO - Ardithian Arts Inc.
Gallery Representation:
CURRENT REPRESENTATION
Sophiella Gallery, Mobile, Al. 2018-Present
www.sophiellagallery.com
Previous Representation:
Arts Blanche Mobile, Al. 2003-2005
Cathedral Square Gallery, Mobile, Al - 2005-2008
Art(ology)Mobile, Al. 2009-2012
Lyons Share Gallery, Fairhope, Al. 2016-2018
Gallery 43 - Roswell, Ga. 2017-2018
Awards/Shows
VSA Art Program Professional Member 2005-2012
VSA Art Purchase Award, Birmingham, Al. 2005
VSA Arts Best of Show, Mobile, Al. 2004
Featured Artist, 2008 Cathedral Square Gallery
Solo Show - Wilkins Miller 2009 Fairhope, Al.
Postcards From the Gulf Show - 2011
World of Wearable Art Finalist, New Zealand 2011
ST JOSEPH CHAPEL: 100 YEARS AS THE LIGHT ON THE HILL Art Show Spring Hill College 2011
"Yellow" Art Show Spring Hill College Eichold Gallery 2012
"Mixed" Mixed Media Show with Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough, 2012 The Artists Place Gallery
Oyster Trail Artist, Mobile, Al. 2013
"Women of History" Show, Mobile History Museum, Mobile, Al. 2014
Solo Show - Wilkins Miller 2014 Fairhope, Al.
ArtWorks Throwdown 3 Dress Design - Mobile Arts Council 2014
Art:work BAAE Juried Show Mobile Museum of Art July-October 2015
Solo Show - Expandorendative Nov. 2015 Eastern Shore Art Center
Artys Visual Artist of the Year Award 2015
Solo Show - Red Energy, The Dynamic Movement In Competitive Sports June 2016 Mobile Arts Council, Mobile, Al.
Art Works Throwdown 5 Champion Mobile Arts Council
2017 Edmond's Fine Art Solo Show - Abstract Figurative Works Oklahoma City, Ok.
2017 Lyon's Share Gallery Solo Show - The Exploration of Mascherata Fairhope, Al.
2018 Group Show - Masquerade Sway Downtown, Mobile, Al.
2018 Group Show - Mobile Bay Educators, Mobile Arts Council
Group Show - Throwdown Showcase Artists, Mobile Arts Council September 2018
Sophiella Opening Show - October 3, 2018, Mobile, Al
2018 Group Show - Gulf Artists, Eastern Shore Art Center, October 2018
2019 Mach Solo Show - The Jollification of Carnival Sophiella Gallery, Mobile, Al.
Publications
Record Gazette 2010
Mobile Press Register January 2011
Haiku Diem The Best of Year One 2012
Sense, November 2014
Mobile Bay Monthly, December 2014
A World of Artists Journal Pages by Dawn Devries Sokol 2015
Art Galleries & Artists of the South - Emerging Artist Volume 13 Issue 1
Southern Rambler 2016 Feature Article
Mobile Bay Monthly 2016 - The Land of Ardithian Feature
Oklahoma City Newspaper - 2017
The Scout Guide Mobile Bay Volume 2 Fall 2018
Awakening Your Creative Soul: A 52-Week Journey to Artistic Discovery
Where Women Create Magazine Winter 2018
Upcoming
Showcase Artist - Mastrius Online Show “Captured Moments” July 2023
Solo Show - October 2023 Sophiella Gallery - Ardithian Energy
Solo Show - November 2023 North Gallery - Oklahoma City - The Imaginative Children of the Southwest
Solo Show - May 2024 Kentuck Folk Art Museum Tuscaloosa Alabama
October 2024 - Mobile Arts Council - The Predictably Unpredictable Characters From the Land of Ardithian
January -March Spiva Arts Center, Joplin, Mo. The Predictably Unpredictable Tales From the Land of Ardithian
November/December 2026 Objects of Delight From The Land of Ardithian Mobile Arts Council, Mobile, Al.