Artist, Author, Advocate, & Activist: Ashley Anne Strobridge
Art, Science, Magic, Nature, Truth, Justice, Music, Love, & Creativity:
Through Astrobridge Artistry, I aim to Communicate the Magic & Wonder of Nature, hoping to make the natural world accessible & inviting to all. As someone w/ multiple disabilities & limited mobility, I pride myself on interpreting the inherent beauty of easily accessible Natural places, illustrating that you don’t need to be able to climb a rocky mountain trail to experience the benefits of Nature. Whether it is on a dirt road two steps from my car door, on an accessible nature path, or on my own balcony in my “Magic Garden in the Sky!” illustrating that Nature can be surprisingly accessible is one of main missions. I also aim to hold up Nature as an inspiration for creativity, because all of us need a place to escape to sometimes, esp in these times, whether in a journey through words, images, a walk in the woods, or all three! The links between Nature, Magic, Science, & Creativity are infinite, & through Astrobridge Artistry I illustrate that you can educate about Ecology & Justice Issues, while at the same time tapping into Childhood Wonder & Fantasy to create a more Just and Verdant World.
A social justice- & eco-activist w/ an academic & career background in the Arts, Humanities, Earth Sciences, & Environmental Policy; I’m an Artist, Poet, Photographer, Writer, & Performer who is Maverick in Gender, & a vegetarian, disabled, FATabulous Woman on a mission to illuminate how the wonders of Nature are interwoven in all we do, and to use my art to create a more Just and Verdant World.
I create whimsical, vibrant, & justice-focused Nature photography, poetry, & paintings, in themes of Ecology, Magic, and Social Justice, with literature & history tie-ins: available in prints, posters, greetings cards, books, audiobooks, stickers, & more.
Let’s keep our eyes open to the world around us. Science is magic, let the universe astound us!
As a Progressive Artist, I know that #BlackLivesMatter #IndigenousLivesMatter #TransRightsMatter #NoHumanIsIllegal #WomensRightsAreHumanRights #FatPhobiaKills #FatBiasKills #LoveIsLove #ClimateChangeIsReal & #ClimateChangeIsHERE , that #DisabilityRightsMatter #RepresentationMatters to #StopAsianHate and that we should all be fighting for #MedicareForAll and a #LivingMinimumWage and to do #RiotsNotDiets ! If you buy from me, your money is going toward supporting a disabled led, woman led, Progressive led business, and you are helping to support a disabled, Progressive, Fat Positive, and FATabulous Lady who is trying to put food on the table, take care of her whip smart Orange Boi Cat with ALL the Orange Boy Brain Cells (!), and give back to the greater community with her art!
A Central Vermont native, I have traveled the country, (44 states and counting!), and have lived in Virginia, Utah, and Vermont. I have deep Vermont roots, my family history in this state going back beyond the Revolutionary War, and I possess a love for Nature that is not only featured in my photography and poetry, but runs deep in my blood. I am the proud daughter of a decorated Wildlife Biologist and NEPA expert for U.S. Fish and Wildlife; a Park Ranger and Administrator for Vermont Forest, Parks, and Recreation; Granddaughter of the Founder and Chief of the VT Fish and Wildlife Dept Game Warden Program; and sister to an Environmental Lawyer and Public Servant. My appreciation for Nature and understanding of its innate value is also reflected in my graduating cum laude from George Mason University with a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, with a concentration in Policy, and Minors in Women & Gender Studies and Geography, after having completed all photography courses (including Environmental Photography) for an AAS in Photography at one of the most ethnically and nationally diverse colleges in the country, from which I graduated summa cum laude with a Liberal Arts AA.
Further illustrating my passion for, and background in, environmental advocacy, are my previous positions working in Washington, D.C. with the Center for Climate Change Communication directly under the advisor President Barack Obama on Climate Change Communication, and a position assisting to administer the Current Use program with VT State Forest, Parks, and Recreation, conserving Vermont’s forests, as well as working with both US and Vermont Fish and Wildlife to help protect wildlife. I have also held positions as a newspaper column writer, a staff reporter, a copy editor, and a photographer, as well as having been a writing consultant, and having held early positions in customer service and sales, for which I am very thankful, as it has helped me develop patience and skill working with the public, assisting me extensively in my dream role today of working artist and writer who vends my creations direct to the public, as well as wholesaling my art and literature to shops, locally and around the country.
Woven into all the above, is a consistent love of the arts and expression, and as someone with several neurodivergencies, I eventually found that I simply did not fit neatly into the button down world of policy and politics, and though covid is horrific in so many ways, one thing it allowed me was an opportunity to pivot my life towards its truest representation.
From my earliest memories up until present I have created art, in whatever form I could. As a child I decorated my clothing with colorful murals of art, filled up composition notebooks with creative short stories, won writing contests, wrote songs and sung solos in school choir and theater and played guitar and sang for hours on end. Hell, I even ran my own creative sewing business at 16, and I was nearly voted Most Creative for Senior Superlative as a Junior because the Seniors all thought I was a Senior, too, until a friend ratted me out! (Mandy I’ll never forgive you! Lol! J/k). I also earned 5’s on English AP tests and attended an Arts focused high school for senior year where over half the classes I took were year-four arts courses, a portfolio from which in combination with my previous art work got me accepted to the #4th ranked Studio Arts program in the country, which I couldn’t attend at the time due to not having the right medication for my neurodivergencies. That took me ten years to find. Thank goodness for my mum, who provided me a safe home while we worked out what supports I needed to thrive. But it is disability yet again that has changed the course of my life, for getting covid in early 2020, and dealing with my long covid symptoms, has meant that I cannot return to the office jobs that I had relegated myself to to try and battle the most urgent threats to the human race. And so covid, and the briefly boosted unemployment benefits that the pandemic provided, allowed me to return to my creative roots, and found Astrobridge Artistry to pursue what were always my dreams: Creativity to Create Change.
So here we are with my mission to create a more Just and Verdant world through my art and writing, and to create access and an invitation to experience Nature and its most uplifting and healing properties through my work.