Click here for Ashley Dull’s Web site with more photos of her work: http://www.artbyashleydull.com/

When one of her oil paintings is completed, Ashley Dull takes a step back and tries to get a feel for the painting.

“I really do get a feeling of what I want this painting to say,” she said.

And then she lets the painting say it, usually by adding a hidden Bible verse.

One of her favorites, she said, is Psalms 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go: I will guide you with my eye.”

A lot of her favorite verses to include have to do with paths and guidance, she said, “kind of just trusting that things are going to work out.

“There are just certain passages that really touch me and if I can inspire others that’s sort of what I want to do,” she said.

“I do landscapes in oil,” she says of her works, which she calls a mixture of realism and impressionism, “and they most of them are definitely full of texture and color and light.”

She said at first glance her paintings of landscapes look like a photograph, then as you look more closely they become more impressionistic.

In addition to hidden messages, Dull’s works of art have a hidden benefit to the community.

“I want to use my art to give back,” she said.

So she donates a percentage of sales from each art show to an organization, like Kinship. At an upcoming show at Pax Christi Catholic Community, the church’s Justice Committee will benefit.
The 26-year-old Excelsior resident is set to present a show and sale of her original oil paintings and limited edition reproductions at Pax Christi Catholic Community this month.

The title of the show is “From Darkness to Light.” She also has a painting on display at the Arboretum and an upcoming show in Woodbury on Nov. 20.

“My art’s very faith based,” she said. A member of Pax Christi’s art committee read about Dull and was inspired by her work, she said.
The show will include local scenes and Up North Minnesota scenes, as well as some landscapes of northeast Iowa, where Dull is from originally.

“I travel around the area. I go to all the parks and the lakes,” Dull said. “Many of my paintings are coming right from those scenes, because it’s beautiful around here.

“I feel ultimately my passion is to help others and my gift I feel is my painting,” she said. “If I can combine the two and really make a career of it and get that out into the world, that’s what I really want to do.”

If you go
What: Ashley Dull Art Show and Reception, with a percentage of sales donated to the church
Where: Pax Christi Catholic Community, 12100 Pioneer Trail, Eden Prairie (www.paxchristi.com)
When: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11. The show is open to the public from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sundays in October and Sunday, Nov. 1.
Information: www.artbyashleydull.com or call Pax Christi at 952-941-3150.