Gray Rabbit Art

MY STORY:

My name is Ashley Potter. I am an artist, illustrator, and art educator.

It has always been a childhood dream of mine to make comics, but I did not pursue this artistic endeavor for a long time. In college, I pursued a Bachelor’s in Painting, because I was convinced and told that traditional art and fine art was a better world to be in. Later, I went back to school to get a Master’s in Art Education. In my pursuit of my license to teach art, I started to actively consider what I wanted to do as a child, and think about how I always wanted to draw and illustrate books and comics.

One day in January 2021, after I had been teaching art for a while, I decided to stop thinking about making illustrations and comics, and to just jump in and try to start. Armed with a pencil and some fine line pens, I made a small comic about a bird trying to learn to fly, and posted it on social media, just in hopes of getting a few smiles out of my close friends. I enjoyed the process so much that I started to make more comics. Eventually I realized that my work was helping many people, even people I didn’t know at all who found my work on social media. Many people expressed that my work was helping them with mental health struggles and encouraging them in their daily lives. It was at this point that I knew that something I was doing with my work was important. I am passionate about helping people, so this realization was the additional fuel I needed to keep making work. 

I make comics constantly now. I am inspired by the people around me, especially in regards to friendships, love, and mental health. I like taking big ideas about life and turning them into illustrations that are approachable to all people, and I also love reminding them about little things in life and in the world that make it wonderful, silly, and beautiful. I make my work for myself, but I also make it for people who may need an encouraging nudge, or a happy reminder.