The Ashman Collective

11/07/2023

Thank you Midland Daily News for letting us share some of our heart and story around BRAVE. 💚🌿

BRAVE: Building Relationships Artfully Vocationally Everyday is a group of female...

12/01/2022

Happy National Women Support Women Day! 🌿

06/09/2022

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” - Lady Bird Johnson

This famous quote is often used to refer to the ability of many flowers to grow in the worst conditions. It’s about hope. We don’t have to wait until all the conditions are right to bloom. We can do that as we are, where we are.

05/31/2022

Meet the Collective. 🌿

Annie Stout is a multi-passionate creative entrepreneur. She has lived in Midland since 2009 with her husband and two children.

Annie studied art at Central Michigan University, where she graduated with cm laude honors in 2007. She earned both her Bachelor of Applied Arts, as a double major in Graphic Design and Sculpture, with a minor in Art History, and her Bachelor of Science in Art Education, with a minor in Industrial Education. As her arts education progressed she wanted to take every class, obsessed with knowing as much as possible about creating. A jack of all trades, Annie is constantly learning new skills and expanding her base of knowledge.

Paper Heart Design was founded by Annie in 2008. It is full service graphic design studio specializing in small business branding. She also offers creativity coaching, sells her own art, and runs a creative lifestyle blog with an online community. She is passionate about helping small business owners craft a polished and professional look through modern design, encouraging artists of all kinds to get out of their own way to live a more creative life, and creating opportunities for connection. Annie prides herself on taking big picture ideas and breaking them down into manageable smaller steps. She does not shy away from challenges and loves that her varied work gets to be a small part of others achieving their own big dreams.

05/24/2022

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but rising every time we fail.” - Nelson Mandela

Failing is a normal part of the learning process. If you truly want to succeed, you have to be prepared to fail again and again, but more importantly you have to be prepared to pick yourself up again and again.

05/17/2022

Reserve your session today!

Join the Team at The Ashman Collective for a quick and beautiful professional business portrait in our studio!

We are offering lifestyle portraits done in our natural light studio at a discounted rate for this special workshop day.

Session and one digital image with rights to reproduce for just $75. Additional images will be available for purchase if desired. Schedule your time slot with the link for tickets to get registered and prepay.

https://captured-photography-studio.square.site/

05/16/2022

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

Being a business owner is not for the faint of heart, but if you have the heart of an entrepreneur it’s harder not to follow those dreams. You have the choice to write your own future.

05/11/2022

Meet the Collective. 🌿

Midland, MI based artpreneur, Dacia Livingston Parker received her first oil paint set at age seven which sparked a myriad of artistic ventures. She has loved expressing her creativity through various media ever since. After graduating from The University of Michigan School of Art and Design with a BFA, Dacia and her husband, Jeff moved to the Seattle area for 13 years. Deeply inspired by the ocean, mountains, and natural beauty in that part of the country, her work evolved to include those elements. It was in Seattle that Dacia built her professional portrait photography business while honing her craft in art galleries and engaging with the possibilities offered by digital media.

Since coming home to Michigan in 2006 with their three children, Dacia has become very involved in Midland’s local arts community. She has been doing photography with Captured Studios (Captured Photography) in The Ashman Plaza and is the Rentals & Arts Coordinator there. In 2018 she launched Parker Lane Art & Design Studios http://parkerlane.art to offer a space for creative instruction and development. She’s also been active in founding and promoting Art Seen Festival, is co-chair of Public Arts Midland, and loves to mentor young artists.

05/10/2022

There are heroes in this world.
They're called dreamers.
They don't need to have people who smile at them at the end of the day who look them in the eye and say thank you.
Nobody has to be there to appreciate their daring leadership
because they work for a mission beyond likes.
And their gratitude comes only from knowing there's a tide out there.
A tide the size of a tsunami coming out of a bottomless cesspool,
a tide called shame which if left unchecked, will rob every dreamer of her freedom.
A tide which strips individuals of the privilege of being able to walk in vulnerability without fear of being bullied or cancelled.
All trolls do are talk but it's the dreamer and doer who grabs her sword who digs into the trenches
and fights the fight who shows up day after day after day without thanks, but not so much as a simple pat on the back.
But we do it. We do it.
We do it because we are the dreamers, the hope-givers,
knowing that if a person cannot feel hope they can never, never feel free.

- Adapted from “The Practice”

05/04/2022

Join the Team at The Ashman Collective for a quick and beautiful professional business portrait in our studio!

We are offering lifestyle portraits done in our natural light studio at a discounted rate for this special workshop day.

Session and one digital image with rights to reproduce for just $75. Additional images will be available for purchase if desired. Schedule your time slot with the link for tickets to get registered and prepay.

https://captured-photography-studio.square.site/

05/02/2022

“I dwell in possibility.” - Emily Dickinson

We love to let ourselves get swept up in the limitless possibilities of this world. Dream deep and wide. Stretch the possibilities until you’ve crafted something that you’re passionate about. Then firmly plant your feet back on the ground and work diligently to make that dream a reality.

We love to help dreamers in this process. 🌿

04/28/2022

Meet the Collective 🌿
Reneé Deckrow is wife to Aaron (Chemical Engineer at Dow) for 26 years and mom to 2 young adult (Ethan & Jordan) men and two teenage daughters (Lindsey & Lauren).
Reneé has lived in Midland since 1997 and permanently in 1999. Founder & Owner of Live Oak Coffeehouse, Real Estate Developer and photographer for Captured Photography, Reneé wears many diverse hats, but she most loves being called mom, wife, daughter, friend, sister and neighbor. She is passionate about creating space for others to pause, connect, create and grow. Her lens is one of her favorite tools to capture the Imago Dei in people and encourage them to keep living their beautiful and redemptive stories.
“When you have more than you need, build a longer table and not a higher fence” has been a quote that inspires her to live life loving and sharing her gifts in community with others.

Renee' Deckrow Live Oak Coffeehouse Captured Photography