Designer Spotlight: Ashley Hanley Featured in House Beautiful

When interior designer Ashley Hanley called her friend and regular collaborator, Liza Pruitt, to enlist her help in placing art in a project she was working on, she had a vision but needed help sourcing local art that would fit the client’s budget. The house was a 1939 Colonial Revival in Richmond, Virginia, so the overall aesthetic leaned traditional. With that said, the client had a bubbly personality and a fondness for color, so Ashley wanted original art that wasn’t too dark or stuffy. The client also frequently entertained guests from out of town and was looking to create a peaceful, relaxing ambiance - “almost like a boutique hotel.”  

With a color palette in mind, Liza turned to a perennial favorite, landscape artist Carson Overstreet. Liza mentioned, “Carson’s landscapes make you want to take a deep breath and put your feet up. Her use of color so exactly replicates those you find in nature that you actually feel like you are in a sun-dappled meadow. Perfect for a master bedroom!”

The other artist that instantly came to mind was Erin Tice. Erins’s abstracts are contemporary, but her colors are fresh and calming. “They remind me of a spring day, but are abstract enough to become whatever the viewer wishes to see. The small scale of the painting was a perfect finishing touch on a bedside table. The thin gold frame made the painting stand out in the pastel tones of the room.”