It all started with one small painting of a family member’s dog.“I have five sisters, so we draw names every year for Christmas,” said Ashley Corbello, Independence. “I was too broke to buy a present so I drew of picture of her dog. My dad is the one who said the portrait was good enough that I should start selling my paintings.”
That is how her small business started of painting portraits of animals.
Corbello, a 1998 graduate of Lee’s Summit High School, always loved to create things. She said she can remember sitting at the kitchen table as young at 6 years old with a paint brush in her hand – usually next to her older sister who was taking art classes at the time.
But Corbello never thought she was creative.
“I don’t know if I have ever felt like I had a talent for art,” she said. “The only thing I knew is that I loved painting enough that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.”
Corbello paints her portraits from photographs. Although she perfected her painting skills in college by painting for live models, she said when working with animals, it is virtually impossible to have an animal sit still long enough to complete a painting.
She does most of her work, not in a studio, but on her living room couch. She said she used to work in the basement, but it there was not much light and the space was too “dreary.”
“I really enjoy the process. It is a stress reliever for me,” she said. “The way I feel when the paint hits the canvass is freedom. That is why I don’t mind working two jobs, because the time I spend painting the portraits is not stressful to me.”
Corbello graduated in 2003 from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. with a double major in graphic design and illustration. She said she began painting in her bold, colorful style when doing a project for a art class at UCM. She was trying to mimic the style of Ron Burns, who does paintings for the ASPCA.
“I love my dogs, so I thought others would love their dogs as much as I do,” she said referring to her three dogs, Violet, Daisy and Bonnie – all rescue animals. “My dogs are my babies, they are part of my family. I thought others would share the same passion as I do.”
Corbello said she also gets inspiration from artists such as Philip Burke, Chuck Close and her favorite – Vincent Van Gogh, another artist known for his use of color.
“I love the impressionists in general because of the brush strokes and the use of color,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but even growing up, I loved art with a lot of color. I think it makes me feel better, more happy than a dark and dreary painting.”
Beginning with the background and ending with the animal itself, Corbello said completion of a pet painting depends on the size. A small, simple painting might only a few hours. The more complicated the background, however, the longer it takes.
And other animals are not excluded from her paintings. Corbello said she has done everything from cats to horses.
“When I saw Ashley’s flyer at the Lee’s Summit Animal Hospital, I knew this would be the perfect way to immortalize our Lucy,” wrote Lynsy Smithson-Stanley, Lee’s Summit, on Corbello’s Web site. “Even after seeing several examples of Ashley’s work, we were blown away by the likeness and richness of the portrait.”
A graphic designer by day for CB Richard Ellis in Kansas City, Corbello’s long-term goal is to build enough of a client base to do pet paintings as a full time career. She said right now, though, she is happy for the job security the paintings bring.
“My full-time job is in commercial real estate, which is somewhat on shaky ground right now,” she said. “It is nice to have something that I can fall back on. It makes me feel secure.”
Corbello said she would like to eventually open a small studio where not only her work could be showcased, but other local artists.
“I am surprised about how much my business has grown in just the past few months. Since July, I have completed more than 20 orders,” she said. “It just makes me feel good to know that people care for their dogs as much as I do. I like seeing those reactions when they see the completed picture.”
For more information visit www.ashleycorbello.com or call her at 816-304-5541.
