![\"Owner](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4-KateAshtonAndSusieZolghadriwebtop.jpg\")
<\/a>One of the Uptown area\u2019s recently launched art spaces, Art on 30th, is f\u00eating the success of its first year in operation, and the public is invited to join the celebration at an exhibit opening on Saturday, March 26, from 6 \u2014 8 p.m. Art on 30th is located at 4434 30th St., on the border of University Heights and North Park.<\/p>\n
The exhibit \u201c30 on 30\u201d \u2014 showing the work of 30 predominantly abstract artists \u2014 is the culmination of owner Kate Ashton\u2019s quest to start a business that serves both the community and serious art consumers. She offers studio rentals, art classes, weekly critiques for artists she mentors, and the Ashton Gallery, 200 linear feet of exhibit space.<\/p>\n Of particular importance to artists, Ashton also teaches marketing workshops.<\/p>\n \u201cMost artists who are good artists have no idea how to get their art to market,\u201d Ashton said in an interview with San Diego Uptown News. \u201cIn other words, get it into a place where they can sell it. They have no idea how to price it. They\u2019re riddled with self-doubt. And I have a real passion, a calling, to help them. I\u2019m an artist myself. I mentor these people from beginner to professional artist.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the 30 artists in the upcoming exhibit, about half are Ashton\u2019s mentees. The rest were culled from the region, local artists who submitted their work for consideration. To help market their paintings, Ashton is publishing a full-color book that will be distributed to interior designers. It will also be on sale at the gallery.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the people in the book are abstract artists,\u201d Ashton said. \u201cYears ago, realism was the thing. But what\u2019s happened over the years is, large retailers publish images of rooms, and they almost always have abstract art in them. People look at the Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel catalogues, and they see abstract art and say that\u2019s what I want in my house \u2014 I want that. Thank God for Crate & Barrel \u2014 it\u2019s been great for abstract art!\u201d<\/p>\n Sheila Daube, one of the exhibiting artists with whom Ashton has worked, has high praise for her mentor.<\/p>\n \u201cShe just makes you believe that you can be an artist,\u201d Daube said. \u201cArtists are insecure. You\u2019re tentative. Do I have any right to put my stuff on canvas and put it out there for the public? And after a while you start to become secure, you become braver. She has a sort of artist whisperer demeanor. She\u2019s very empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashton might have the magical touch of an \u201cartist whisperer,\u201d but she also gives artists practical advice.<\/p>\n \u201cGet on social media and start talking,\u201d she recommended. \u201cGet your website up. Get your prices on there. Learn how to price your art, how to write an artist\u2019s statement, how to get into a gallery, into artists fairs. Most artists are clueless about those things. I\u2019ve read that if you make $10,000 annually as an artist, you\u2019re in the top 10 percent in the country. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s true, but of the people in our book, a few of them are significantly over $10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Ashton\u2019s goals is to help artists reach customers who can afford to spend a few thousand dollars on a single work of art.<\/p>\n \u201cI work with them to create a body of work. They\u2019re not ready to go to market until they have a body of work \u2014 20 pieces you can look at and say the same artist painted these. Then I\u2019m going to make sure people see their work. I\u2019m going to invite all the designers to come to the gallery to see their work.\u201d<\/p>\n But Ashton also caters to the casual collector. Neighborhood residents have happened by and purchased more affordable pieces that caught their eyes through the window, and the gallery hosts an annual show of paintings costing under $500. Sometimes, though, abstract art can be challenging for the uninitiated.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come in off the street and say, \u2018I haven\u2019t seen art like this in San Diego,\u2019\u201d Daube said. \u201cI\u2019m far more confident in saying I\u2019m an artist \u2014 although mother still doesn\u2019t like my art.\u201d She laughed. \u201cAbstract art, either you get it or you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happens,\u201d Ashton explained, \u201cis people from the neighborhood come in and they go \u2018I don\u2019t get it. And I say, \u2018Here\u2019s how you get it: Do you like looking at it?\u2019 That\u2019s the answer. Artists influence each other and artists influence the community.\u201d<\/p>\n If a neighborhood is lucky, that influence will be long lasting.<\/p>\n \u2014Kit-Bacon Gressitt writes commentary and essays on her blog, \u201cExcuse Me, I\u2019m Writing,\u201d and has been published by Ms. Magazine blog and Trivia: Voice of Feminism, among others. She formerly wrote for the North County Times. She also hosts Fallbrook\u2019s monthly Writers Read Authors series and open mic, and can be reached at\u00a0<\/em>kbgressitt@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Kit-Bacon Gressitt<\/p>","protected":false},"author":844,"featured_media":249967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Art alive on 30th Street","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a>