Meet Ashvin Harrison | Professional Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashvin Harrison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashvin, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
To me, taking calculated risks is essential to achieving various forms of success. I’ve always taken risks in previous career paths. I feel it is more of a risk to stay in a secure boring, stressful, disliked or undervalued role than to take a leap and do what one loves each day; you never know when your last day will be. With this said, I believe it is important to seek a balance in risks to ensure all aspects of life are successful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have had 30+ jobs since age 14. I’m now 36 and can’t believe how I was able to fit it all in with 2 and 3 jobs at a time. I’m glad for the diverse experiences and failures in my previous jobs as they set me up to become a successful artist. In 2017, I quit my job as a high school teacher (Head of Department) to take on the challenge of becoming an artist. I made up a unique style and a unique method of applying charcoal to canvas, which set me apart from other artists in the online scene. Since 2017, I’ve sold over 900 original artworks and over 100,000 prints of my art. The value of my art has increased 800% in 4 years, which may just be a sign that I was selling my art too cheap at first. As with everything new, there were great challenges, though nothing was too hard to overcome with a positive outlook. The one thing I’ve learnt about creating and selling art is that an artist must balance the purpose for creation- to create for both self desires and the art collector’s interests or intent. Every artwork I create now focuses on positive beauty for the art collector and philisophical links for my personal desires.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The greater Brisbane region is an exciting and rapidly growing city in the subtropics of Australia. It is often humid and hot, though a beach is never too far away. There are weeks of activites to enjoy such as cute little trendy cafes, exciting restaurants, magnificent day drives, river cruises and water sports, lake adventures, mountain climbing, bush walks, wine and food tasting, arty communities and nature exploration and the greatest beaches… they are really something else!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My success as an artist comes from various angles. I don’t have family support, peer support or even other professionals I seek advice or guidance from, though my best friend has always supported my vision and drive with much encouragement and love.

Website: www.ashvinharrison.com
Instagram: @ashvinharrisonart
Facebook: ashvinharrison