Meet Miss Larroudé, Ash Roberts

Contemporary artist Ash Roberts brilliantly captures strong nature motifs in her paintings. Based in Los Angeles, her singular art inspires her enviable style and the way she navigates the creative outlets that inform her every day. 

Name: Ash Roberts

IG Handle: @_ash_roberts

Where are you based? 

Los Angeles

What do you do?

Painter

Favorite Larroudé shoe for Fall?

The Ines in Black. It’s the perfect height to dress up something you might typically wear more casually.

What excites you about Fall?

Staying in and cooking at home.

Favorite restaurant/dish in the city you live in?

 Found Oyster, every dish there is great!

IG Account you follow for Inspo:

@samyoukilis—gives me a little travel fix while I’m in the studio.

What inspires you?

A feeling or nuance you can’t necessarily communicate with words, whether that be in nature or human nature.

How did you get your start?

I painted all of the time as a child and have always been happiest when I am creating, which led me to art school. From school, I had various creative jobs in fashion and interior design until I was able to just focus on painting.

Piece of advice for your younger self / One thing you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

There is a perfect Ira Glass quote about closing the gap between your taste and your skill. Closing that gap takes a lot of work. You have to do the work there are no shortcuts—keep making!

What does a typical day at work look like?

Alone in the studio with music and my dog Darcy staring at me. She’s a tough critic.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you face in your line of work? How do you navigate them?

One challenge is that the subject of beauty in the art world is sort of taboo, so I feel like I’m having to defend making something that is considered “beautiful.” I love the painter Etel Adnan and she says it perfectly: “Beauty, it's an inner sense, and it makes us happy. It's not complicated, we need it.” I also feel beauty allows something to stand the test of time.

What is one of your biggest successes so far?

I just recently did a 300 square foot mural in the new Reformation flagship designed by Paris-based Festen Architecture, who I have admired for a long time.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I would like to be doing more of what I’m doing now, and doing it better.