Transcript
Owen Vince: 0:01
You’re listening to the Pursuit of Feeling, a podcast by Black Tomato. In this new series, we want to explore not only the world of travel, but the world of emotion and what it ultimately means to feel our way through the world. In each episode, you’ll also get a Rolodex of recommendations from our guests on where to go, what to do and where to stay all around the world. Where to go, do and where to stay all around the world. what to?
Brendan Drewniany: 0:25
On today’s episode, we are joined by the legendary, iconic and quite singular pop artist sensation, ashley Longshore. Ashley is a southern-born self-trained artist and entrepreneurial visionary who turned the traditional art gallery business model on its head by building her own extraordinarily energetic and vibrant empire. Ashley’s world is full of joy and this creative power has moved her studio from New Orleans to New York City, where she continues to dazzle her collectors from near and far. With Ashley, we delve into the magical and otherworldly landscapes of Iceland, one such place that she keeps revisiting for inspiration, and how she finds travel transformational on each and every trip she embarks on, so excited to have the most fabulous Ashley Longshore. She’s a Southerner turned New Yorker, an international, incredible pop artist, an icon and a sensation, and she’s totally spectacular in every way. Welcome to the Pursuit of Feeling podcast, ashley.
Ashley Longshore: 1:20
Oh my God, I’m so happy to be here and also that was such a sweet intro. I love you guys. This is so wonderful. As much as I love all of those things being grounded, there’s nothing I love more than being on an airplane on my way to somewhere. Fabulous for inspiration.
Brendan Drewniany: 1:35
Absolutely. And what do you have there? Is that Bjork?
Ashley Longshore: 1:37
Well, I know I’ve wanted to talk to you about Iceland because it’s one of my favorite places for so many reasons, but this liqueur is so delicious. It’s made from a birch tree. You know, I don’t know if you’re the kind of person that likes, you know, like something with a whole lot of kick, you know, or something smooth and wonderful. I always love to have a little bit of this after I eat and have more cocktails, because then you know that’s when you really start talking about the good stuff.
Brendan Drewniany: 2:07
That’s when you get into it.
Ashley Longshore: 2:09
I wanted to show you.
Brendan Drewniany: 2:10
It’s beautiful. I love the color.
Ashley Longshore: 2:12
Well, more than that, it’s delicious and it’s 27.5% alcohol That’ll keep you warm.
Brendan Drewniany: 2:18
That’ll keep it kicking.
Ashley Longshore: 2:20
That will.
Brendan Drewniany: 2:21
Ashley, tell us a little bit about yourself and your relationship with travel. Like when did travel become like a really meaningful part of your life?
Ashley Longshore: 2:28
Not necessarily have to be childhood, but Well, no, I was really lucky that my family loved for us to travel and see things and I loved the adventure of that. I also loved that at a very young age I just felt weird, I felt different. Being in Montgomery Alabama, I’m like, God damn, is this all there is? So being able to travel really opened my eyes to all the possibilities of ways that I could live my life as an adult as I continue to adult now. It’s just so wonderful to see how other people live and their traditions, to remember that you’re not locked into anything, to know that it’s like a big, wonderful world out there and it is a wonderful world. I feel like we’re so jaded sometimes and we’re made to feel afraid of the world by the media and, of course, so much of that is clickbait. I really think that the greatest honor and the greatest thing in my life is to be able to travel. I sell art so I can get on an airplane and travel.
Brendan Drewniany: 3:28
That’s exactly right, I mean, and really about that, like you pour so much emotion into your art, it’s your whole heart and soul, baby, like it’s everything.
Owen Vince: 3:36
How did the emotions?
Brendan Drewniany: 3:37
of travel come into play with you as an artist. Do you feel things when you’re there?
Ashley Longshore: 3:49
Are there interactions with specific artisans? Like, how does that come into play? Yes, like I could walk into a garden somewhere and see a painted wall and some beautiful, like local flower blooming in front of that wall and I’m like my God, I never really thought about the fact that navy, blue and lilac are perfect together, wow. And the way that it just ignites all of your senses. I think too, because you don’t know where you are, you’re not used to where you are, you haven’t adapted to it. Yet you’re like, you’re like a little animal out in the field. You’re like what is this? What is that noise? What do I see? What does that smell? So I, yeah, it ignites all my senses in a way that if I’m in one place for too long, I get really stir crazy, maybe I get sad, maybe I just need to vacate, you know.
Brendan Drewniany: 4:29
Well, it’s kind of like this yeah, in a sense, this sort of glorious distraction, but it’s so, so meaningful. You know, you have all the, all the sensorial aspects.
Ashley Longshore: 4:37
It’s the best way to learn. It’s the best way to learn, I think.
Brendan Drewniany: 4:41
I agree, and I think you know, when you’re young too, it’s. It’s so impactful. I can even remember, you know, trips to Wales I spent with my family when I was six. You know so even small stuff. When you get older you kind of come back to it.
Ashley Longshore: 4:53
And it’s funny too, when you go somewhere as an adult that you went when you were a child, how completely different it looks, because of your life experiences. That’s a really good point because of your life experiences.
Brendan Drewniany: 5:02
That’s a really good point.
Ashley Longshore: 5:03
I do feel a little triggered right now by this question.
Owen Vince: 5:06
I feel, triggered.
Ashley Longshore: 5:11
I just had a memory of a trip that my family took to London and my mom and dad were sitting up in the front of the airplane and they put me in the back to babysit my sister and it was like nine and a half hours and it was just hell. So thank you for triggering that in me today.
Brendan Drewniany: 5:29
Oh, you know, that’s what I’m here for baby.
Ashley Longshore: 5:31
It’s nice to be an adult now and to make my own money and go. I can sit anywhere on the airplane that I want.
Brendan Drewniany: 5:36
Exactly and you can make your own memories.
Ashley Longshore: 5:38
That’s right.
Brendan Drewniany: 5:39
And in general with travel. Do you seek specific emotions when you’re traveling? How do you want to feel? Does it or does that unfold naturally or in?
Ashley Longshore: 5:48
combination Other than just drastically needing a soul douche. Now, for me, a soul douche is this when I travel I love botany I always like to meet with a naturalist, if I can in the area that I’m in I love to learn about all the little creatures and trees Like that’s usually one of the first things. Like when I land, if I can, in the area that I’m in, I love to learn about all the little creatures and trees, like that. That’s usually one of the first things. Like when I land on the airplane and I’m driving, I’m like what is that tree? What is that tree? I remember one time I just landed in Portugal and I’m like oh my God, there you go. Look, there’s trees everywhere. This is unbelievable, this is so awesome, you know. And then it just it starts with little things like that.
Ashley Longshore: 6:21
I love a beautiful hotel. I ain’t going to lie and I ain’t sorry for that. I love that service. First thing I do when I walk in. If there’s a line to check in, I’m like I’m in the wrong freaking hotel. I want that gorgeous little desk. I want them to go. I like the hotels where they memorize your face before you get there, like the housekeeper’s like welcome Ashley. I’m so happy you’re here and I’m like, damn, they’re good. They’re good, ooh, I don’t have to worry about anything. I mean, I run a company, so the idea of having to get on a trip and I know people will understand this and you. Then you got to micromanage somebody in a hotel. Oh, we’ve been up here waiting for our breakfast. My God called you 45 minutes ago. Like you know, when you get in a property where they anticipate everything that you might need, yes, that is what I mean because then I can vacate.
Ashley Longshore: 7:15
My brain is like this I’m always making lists has so and so done this. What are we doing today? Da da, da, da da. You know boss stuff. So when I get on vacation, to get to sit back and let somebody else take care of that, where I can really take in the world and the environment, yes, that is what I want, that is what I need.
Brendan Drewniany: 7:35
Absolutely. I mean, it’s that like real hospitality and it’s all personality based. You know and I think that that’s what’s so special is getting to know people too, and returning to places as well. There’s something really amazing about that.
Ashley Longshore: 7:48
Like you just said, and let me say this, let me say this this level of hospitality and service can be at a five-star hotel in Italy. It can also be in a little hut on a beach in Bora Bora. That isn’t, you know, a million dollars a night. This level of service isn’t always determined by you having to just unload your bank account. There’s really incredible places that you can go all over the world that have that. That it’s just oh, I need it. I need it now.
Brendan Drewniany: 8:19
Here’s another one. Can you recall a time when travel sort of surprised you with unexpected emotions? Maybe you went in thinking it would be a certain way the destination. And how did?
Ashley Longshore: 8:28
you handle it.
Brendan Drewniany: 8:28
Did you embrace it? Was there a bit of pushback?
Ashley Longshore: 8:31
Yeah, I mean, I think sometimes when you’re in places where there’s a language barrier and this is just me, because I am an anxious person by nature and I am a planner with travel, I like to have a plan I also want to feel safe. There’ve been times on vacation specific to places in Europe, where I feel overwhelmed by how big the city is. What I need to be seeing. Am I seeing the right thing? Oh my God, am I missing something? I feel so overwhelmed let’s just go to a bar and start drinking at three in the afternoon, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but like I do want more in my vacation than just you know, so that that surprised me Also. I mean, look, I’ve had incredible adventures in Africa and in India where I have met people. When the wheels of the plane got off the tarmac, I cried like a baby because I met like a soul twin. You know, it hurt me to leave them.
Brendan Drewniany: 9:28
I know the feeling, and you can connect that way too with certain guides as well oh, especially with the guides.
Ashley Longshore: 9:33
They’re just a good guide makes all the difference in the world and they become your friend and your teacher and it’s just like fuck, I don’t want to leave you.
Brendan Drewniany: 9:42
I love you, I love you and they point out things that you wouldn’t necessarily you may pass by, like you were talking about the trees and endemic species, and there’s something really special about having that expert insight so that you learn in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re in a classroom.
Ashley Longshore: 9:56
Well, you come back home and you’re different. It isn’t just about I need to go fucking relax or I want to go to St Bart’s and get loaded with my friends and dance on tables. This is about what I said. It’s a soul douche. Have I learned something new? Have I changed? Do I have a different perspective? That’s the kind of vacation that I want, that my soul needs, you know.
Brendan Drewniany: 10:18
Totally. Is there a destination that stands out to you as being deeply tied to a specific emotion for you?
Ashley Longshore: 10:25
I’ve got to be honest with you. The trips that I’ve taken that are like outdoor adventures, are my favorite trips of all time. Africa, of course, it’s just such an adventure. India, my soul. But you know, for something that is very close. I mean, if you’re in New York, it’s a five hour flight. Iceland will serve everything that you could ever imagine, from picnicking on a grassy knoll to snowmobiling on a glacier, you know, having a shot of Icelandic birch liquor in an ice cave and looking for fairies while you milk a cow out on a knoll. I mean, are you kidding me? It’s literally the greatest place. At the end of all, that you get to go to, one of the best spas in the world. I’m sorry, tell me a better place. Tell me I’m waiting.
Brendan Drewniany: 11:15
It’s the best. I mean it’s just absolutely the best. What were some standout experiences that really kind of like pulled on your heartstrings or that you, yeah, just made you like take a breath?
Ashley Longshore: 11:24
I think, first of all, let’s talk about the thing that really makes a trip incredible, and that’s the people that are there. Icelandic people are the coolest people. They’re very calm but also very colorful. They’re very warm and inviting and they’re very, very proud of their country. But my favorite thing is how they love fairies and they believe in ghosts. They really believe in the spirit of the land. So when they tell you about it, not only do you get to hear that unbelievable Icelandic accent, but it really is delightful to hear the pride that they have in their country and all the mysticism.
Brendan Drewniany: 12:06
The mysticism yeah, I think that’s a really like key part of Iceland and the creative energy too. Right, I mean beyond just York as well.
Ashley Longshore: 12:14
You could have a really, really hot Nordic dude cook you lamb in a cave that’s been there for like forever. I’m sorry, that’s awesome. Then you go out on little buggies and you drive around and get off and you walk through this mossy areas while the sun hits your face but it’s like cool wind in your hair, and then you walk behind a waterfall and then the guy gets you back out in the grass and says just lay down for a minute, and you let the moss just envelop your body. It feels like. It feels like the softest mattress you’ve ever been in and the sun is in your face and you’re like fuck, I’m never leaving here. How can I move my company here?
Ashley Longshore: 12:53
And then, like I was there one time, um, right before Easter, and the lambs were the little sheep they were starting to have their lambs. It was a little bit early, but our guide, his family, had a farm and they had a little lamb it was the first lamb of the year. And they were oh, I want you to meet my family. And we went there and I had a little lamb, it was the first lamb of the year. And they were oh, I want you to meet my family. And we went there and I held a little baby lamb. It was just like they’re just, it’s just the greatest, the greatest.
Brendan Drewniany: 13:17
It is the greatest. Yeah, there’s, that’s a feeling, and that’s a kind of feeling of contentment, almost right when you’re there. Yeah, and the food there is amazing.
Ashley Longshore: 13:24
The food there is incredible. I feel like there’s been like some sort of like a media BS that’s made you think that you know all they eat are penguins and puffins. That is so wrong. There’s actually so much like Thai food incredible Thai food and the lamb that they eat the salads. Everything is so fresh and delicious.
Brendan Drewniany: 13:45
So, fresh.
Ashley Longshore: 13:46
It’s a wonderful culinary experience too, quite frankly.
Brendan Drewniany: 13:49
You are absolutely right, and sushi is killer.
Ashley Longshore: 13:51
But if you get shit faced and need chicken strips at three in the morning, it might not be the right place for you.
Brendan Drewniany: 13:57
That’s a really good point, because you know in. Reykjavik, they do like to party.
Ashley Longshore: 14:01
Yeah, well, you know, you can get a really good hot dog.
Brendan Drewniany: 14:04
That’s right. We all love a dog. We all love a dog. Why do you think travel often amplifies emotions compared to just sort of the everyday life and I say everyday life obviously you have a million different emotions.
Ashley Longshore: 14:22
I think it’s because, you know, human beings, we’re very adaptable. I think we can get in our own environments and we get very used to it and we have like that rhythm. I think when we are traveling and we’re doing it in a way that we really love again, all of your senses are ignited because everything is new. I mean, I remember the first time I went to India and I’m like I’m walking into this beautiful hotel in Delhi and they had like rose scented incense burning and then it smelled like smoke in the city and these beautiful men were helping me with the bags and their gorgeous turbans and then just the botany of the hotel itself that I was like oh my God, am I dead? This is the most incredible, this is what I’ve been looking for, this is the maximalism and the greatness. It just it changes you. It changes your soul. It’s just, it’s a soul douche.
Brendan Drewniany: 15:17
It’s a soul douche it is, and it’s much needed Kind of like building on that too. I mean, you mentioned sort of Europe and some kind of like challenges being overwhelmed, but have you ever experienced sort of like bittersweet or melancholic feelings while traveling? Did that ever come into play? Or yes, if?
Ashley Longshore: 15:34
I go to a hotel that I thought was going to be awesome and it’s not. And a lot of times in Italy you know we would stay out and party really, really late. And I think we’re at the Ciranus and honey, you cannot get room service there at four o’clock in the morning. They will literally bring you some sliced cheese and a baguette which, by the way, ain’t cute to eat naked and drunk, hanging a half off the bed at four o’clock in the morning in Italy, or maybe it is, I don’t know Melancholy. It depends on what you’re going to see. There’s some very heavy things to witness that have happened in the world and to hear the history of those things.
Brendan Drewniany: 16:12
There’s certain art, too, that I want to go to, certain museums or galleries.
Ashley Longshore: 16:15
I mean I got really pissed. I got really pissed at the Vatican.
Owen Vince: 16:19
You want to know why why.
Ashley Longshore: 16:21
Well, they have the largest private art collection in the world and they don’t have any art created by women.
Ashley Longshore: 16:27
Fair point I have a problem with that. Also, I’m very respectful to other cultures. When I’m traveling, of course I have my shoulders covered. I have my knees covered. I mean this is a sacred place. But I had on this necklace. I had on this necklace my guide, who is wonderful and a wonderful woman. She’s talking to one of the men in the main cathedral, you know, and he was very upset that I had this necklace on and she said you have to cover it. And I’m thinking she said he said it was too gaudy. And I’m like there’s a waxed human five feet from me. Damn Boy, they’re a tough, tough crowd, tough crowd man.
Ashley Longshore: 17:11
That is too good, no, but you know what it was. It was a piece of turquoise and it had like a little snake on it and he was not having it. He was doing his job. Of course, I covered it immediately out of respect, but I also thought, dang, this is the most elaborate room I’ve ever been in in my life. You know, I mean, but look, I think I think when you’re traveling, those cultural differences are really important and you know, learning what you need to do to be respectful of people and where they’re from is that’s really important. Also, it can be so embarrassing to be an American right now. I mean, it’s like god. I feel like I find myself apologizing, like I’m sorry, oh, like I promise you, we’re amazing. We’re a country full of wonderful people, you know, just like you and every country has its own.
Brendan Drewniany: 17:58
You know even places that aren’t as far along with places like Iceland. You know they have their, and every country has its own. You know even places that aren’t as far along with places like iceland. You know they have their own customs and ways of being and, of course, when I was in the maldives.
Ashley Longshore: 18:06
I mean, look, I mean you know, when you’re making that transport from the airport to the islands, I mean you know you have to be very respectful and, um, I think that’s really, really important. I love that. I love learning about these cultural differences. It’s you know what you’re smarter when you travel. You just are. You learn a lot.
Brendan Drewniany: 18:23
It’s true. Has the feeling you experienced while traveling ever influenced your life choices or personal growth?
Ashley Longshore: 18:29
Like was there this moment where you were traveling and it might have, like, inspired you to do something within your oh yeah, even like after the first time I went to France and I came back here and I was like your caviar is mushy and your champagne is burned, hell yeah, you go somewhere and, like you know, you go to Italy and you have the pasta that somebody’s Nona and their Nona and their Nona and their Nona taught him how to make it. And then you come back here and you’re like this ain’t real pasta. Pasta, those kind of little things. You know, yes, you learn what the real deal is and you witness things that have not been Americanized, and you meet people that have great pride in what they do.
Ashley Longshore: 19:11
I mean, I remember the difference in me being in Shanghai and then being in Tokyo. When I was in Shanghai, you know like I order a glass of champagne and I would take a, two sips and then they fill it back up immediately. Like this woman is not going to not have this glass of champagne in Tokyo. I order a glass of champagne. It took 20 minutes to get it. You want to know why. They wanted to make sure it had the perfect amount of bubbles in it. They wanted to make sure there was no fingerprints on the glass. There was no fingerprints on the glass. They wanted it to be absolutely perfect.
Ashley Longshore: 19:41
For me, the amount of pride that that particular culture has in what they do and taking their time the exact opposite of Americans, where we’re like hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. More, more, more, more, da, da, da, da, da da. It’s interesting to travel and have that brain switch that goes from how we operate, where we work, work, work, grind, to being like whoa, like there’s again another way to live. And then you come back home and you go. You know what I’m gonna make? Pasta tonight. I’m gonna make pasta that’s gonna take me eight fucking hours and I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do it the way that so-and-so’s nona taught me to do it, and I’m gonna do it the best I can, and it’s gonna going to be delicious and you do that.
Ashley Longshore: 20:21
You get back and then you you talk about it with your friends and then you go back there with your friends.
Brendan Drewniany: 20:25
It’s so fun and I think that’s like you know, cooking classes in general Sometimes I think that’s what’s so special too is like especially if you like to cook. I suppose, if you don’t like to cook, then what is?
Ashley Longshore: 20:35
honey, I love to cook.
Brendan Drewniany: 20:36
I got chicken in the oven right now we’re cooking right now we’re cooking right on to like when you look specifically like how you want to travel and the emotions, like how the emotions that you’re seeking in travel evolved over time. What do you seek, is it?
Ashley Longshore: 20:50
well, I mean iceland and adventure, and I’ve been in a relationship for 20 years, back in the day when I was travel. I’m looking for dick in a good time, honey. You know what I what I’m saying. I want to get drunk, I want to get laid, I want to be exhausted when I get home. Now it’s, you know, the exact opposite. I want to rest, but I also want to see the world. I want to learn something, you know. I want to be fulfilled in a different way, if you know what I mean. Uh.
Ashley Longshore: 21:30
Are there places or experiences that you’d recommend for people to feel something extraordinary, just feel absolutely extraordinary. Not to keep tooting the horn, but Iceland is just a really the history there. It’s so young. It’s so young, but also the volcanic activity and the growth of it, learning about all those Vikings seeing water that you’ve probably never seen before and birds, and it’s like you know.
Ashley Longshore: 21:49
You go in Reykjavik and you meet these incredibly colorful, music-loving, art-loving, healthy people, by the way, that love their city, but then they just have such a great admiration for the outdoors and a respect for it. For me, I feel like I have a lot to learn from them. But also, it’s so much fun. It is just so much fun to be adventuring outside, especially if you have a job where you’re, you know, in an office every day or talk about breaking your normal routine. I mean, you know four wheeling past a whale carcass on a beach covered in sea lions, and then you know the day after that you’re, you know, watching a massive geyser and then at a tomato farm eating fresh bread, and then you’re snowmobiling on a glacier at 70 miles an hour, by the way, screaming at the top of your lungs, with wind in your hair and icicles come out of the snot of your nose and you’ve never been happier about it. It’s just, it’s a pretty great trip.
Brendan Drewniany: 22:47
Yeah, I think to that and to when you travel and when you’re thinking about, like, what it looks like. You know, do you want kind of a, you want a bit of? I mean, you live in New York City, live in the epicenter of everything. You want to get a little of this culture in the city. But you also want you’re kind of seeking some serenity too, right? I mean, it’s a noisy existence.
Ashley Longshore: 23:05
I think that too, though, like, for example, when I was in India. I mean, that is a very you know, delhi is a very chaotic city in the most wonderful way, in a way that I’d never witnessed before. So, yeah, going from the chaos of New York City into that felt very relaxing to me, in a strange way Interesting Also. Just to be somewhere completely different and to be surrounded by this in a place where nobody knows who the hell I am. I just I get high on it.
Ashley Longshore: 23:39
It’s strange, but I get high on it. It’s strange but I get high on it. It doesn’t have to be and, to be honest, with you just laying on a beach chair frying in the sun is not something I live for, right, I want to go walk through a garden. I want to hear a hummingbird laying on a flower I’ve never seen before. I want somebody to make me a cocktail and serve me like an amazing ceviche that I’ve never tasted. I want to go on a boat and find a conch and I want to bust that conch open and then go back and sit with the chef and make a conch fritter with that motherfucker. You know what I mean. Absolutely. That’s what I like to do, Can you tell? I like to travel.
Brendan Drewniany: 24:14
I think you like to travel a little bit.
Ashley Longshore: 24:16
Can you tell, I need a vacation right now, brendan, you need a vacation.
Brendan Drewniany: 24:18
I think we’re going to have to help you with that.
Ashley Longshore: 24:20
I think so.
Brendan Drewniany: 24:21
So here’s a very heavier question. But what does the pursuit of feeling mean to you?
Ashley Longshore: 24:26
Sometimes anticipation can make you very anxious. If we’re talking specifically about traveling, of course, you know you have to do it the right way, with the right people, where you have no expectations other than just sponging something. I mean, I’ve just seen a lot of things that I never would have thought I would see with my own eyes.
Brendan Drewniany: 24:49
And maybe for you, it’s really just being open.
Ashley Longshore: 24:52
It’s sponging man, it’s sponging. You can plan a lot, but you can’t always plan your emotions and your feelings when you witness what you’ve planned, and I think that’s what I love as somebody who really wants to grow from travel.
Brendan Drewniany: 25:11
What’s one place? I mean, you’ve been so many places, but where did you feel a real connection with a local artist in community or artists in general when you were traveling? Have you experienced that?
Ashley Longshore: 25:22
I mean, I generally find out a way to do that everywhere I go. I was in Jamaica, down in Bluefields, and I ended up at the school, meeting with all the students for two days. I ended up painting with them and talking to them about, you know, being an artist and working with them. The last time I was in Africa, I ended up at a school Nolo Pikidongo in Kenya and I ended up painting murals with all the kids and that was really unbelievable. Whenever I’m in Italy, I seek out artists, I buy art when I can. I mean, for me, finding the art is finding the heart of the city. Great cities are founded on artists, on music, on food, on visual art, on literature. You don’t go to a city because the lawyers are awesome there, you know. You don’t go vacate somewhere because there’s, you know, a bunch of fucking. You know, I guess, plastic surgery Hello, that might be fun. That’s my next vacation, brendan.
Brendan Drewniany: 26:20
I was going to say I seek that Also.
Ashley Longshore: 26:24
I can understand a lot more about that area when I see the creative expression, like I haven’t been to Cuba yet. But everybody that I know is like you wouldn’t believe the artists down there. Incredible the graphic designers down there, I guess because they haven’t had the opportunity to really put their stuff out there in the world, like some of other countries have Unbelievable art down there and you learn a lot about the people from that. That’s just really, really important to me.
Brendan Drewniany: 26:49
Yeah, no, Cuba is definitely up there. Incredible art scene and visual arts to mixed mediums films. I feel like it’s this sort of untapped kind of spot, so maybe we need to go there together.
Ashley Longshore: 27:01
What I was trying to say was a community completely stifled by communist politics. That’s what I was trying to say, correct?
Brendan Drewniany: 27:08
Well, there you go, you know, communism Not great. Not great so looking at that what emotions are you hoping to explore through your next travels, and where might you go to find it? Where are you headed and what do you want to feel?
Ashley Longshore: 27:24
I really want to go back to Iceland, number one. I want to go there like a hundred times before I die. I’ve been three times so far. You know I’ve never been to Panama. I really would love to go down there. Apparently, they have some incredible resorts with private islands and a botanist resorts with private islands and a botanist and you can do like vip tours of the panama canal.
Ashley Longshore: 27:44
There’s like a place where you can go. So I’d love to do that, god. I’d love to go to cuba. I want to go back to india. I’ve never been to morocco. I really want to do that. I feel like I was just born to have on a caftan and be in a souk. I just is a feeling I’ve got I could see you in tangier.
Brendan Drewniany: 27:59
I need to be there I need to be there.
Ashley Longshore: 28:02
There’s a lot of europe I haven’t seen yet, and I also haven’t been to like sweden or norway. I need to do that. God damn, I’ve really got a lot to do. I’ve got a lot to see. Before I’m shitting down one leg and pissing down the other, I guess I’d better get busy. But I mean, that’s the other thing with travel, man, you’re going to be old one day. You’re going to be old. It’s hard to do it. You have to do it now. Seize the day. Why do you work hard so you can go see the world? You have to make the time. I feel like for me, after COVID, I haven’t been making the time. I mean, I moved my company to New York. I’ve got all this shit going on and I’m like what am I doing? I’ve got to get back out there and see the world. I’m missing it. I’m missing it terribly and the clock is ticking.
Brendan Drewniany: 28:46
It is. You know, you travel specific places for like installs and shows and you’re, you’re like a force and a presence in so many places. I mean even like, look, let’s look at New York fashion week and we can bring it back to our, you know, home turf. But do you ever find inspiration, even when you’re on a work trip and it’s really busy and you’re talking to collectors. Do you find that inspiration?
Ashley Longshore: 29:05
I’m like an antenna on top of a building. I’m just like looking for it. Of course, and again, even when I’m traveling in different places and having shows in different countries, yes, I’m looking at all of that. It’s actually very overwhelming to be working and sponging an entirely new environment, but also wonderful, like when I did this partnership with Clos de Peau in Shanghai. I got there and I never, ever, have you been there.
Brendan Drewniany: 29:34
Personally, I have not no.
Ashley Longshore: 29:35
You would never believe that all of those beautiful hotels, all of that, it is Art Deco, heaven, every Art Deco. And I’m thinking what in the hell? This is unbelievable. I just you know things like it’s just.
Brendan Drewniany: 29:51
Yes, I don’t you know the world will surprise you, Is that your favorite architectural style Art Deco.
Ashley Longshore: 29:56
I love Art, deco jewelry a whole lot. You know, I really love that Moroccan vibe. But you know, for me, I mean I’ve, I’ve got art everywhere. You wouldn’t believe it. I’m a big collector. So I, I, uh, I like to be surrounded by as much art as possible.
Brendan Drewniany: 30:11
I think that’s that should be something that we all aspire to do. I mean, it makes it’ll make you feel richer?
Ashley Longshore: 30:21
Yeah, it’ll definitely make you feel good.
Owen Vince: 30:22
The only way it would be better is if somebody else bought the art for me.
Brendan Drewniany: 30:23
There’s a service for that, Ashley.
Ashley Longshore: 30:30
Yeah.
Brendan Drewniany: 30:37
Well, you know, you’re just like a complete inspiration to so many people and I think being able to talk with you is such a an enlightening and energizing experience and I can just sort of feel how you draft when you travel, like how you draft energy when you travel and kind of like are an energy maker too. But I think, yeah, there’s so much that you’ve discussed that it just resonates really with me in terms of when I assess and and yeah, and the sort of feelings that you’re after, and sometimes you may not what you’re after, but when you think thoughtfully and just with intention, I think that you sound like a quite intentional traveler and that’s what we hope most people are.
Ashley Longshore: 31:06
Well, yeah, because you could fall in love. You could fall in love with a new place, you could fall in love with a new flower, you could fall in love with a new cuisine. Hell, you might like really fall in love, you know. But if you’re, if you’re open to that, that’s I think that’s the most important thing about travel. You’re going to learn something and have fun.
Brendan Drewniany: 31:24
All right. Well, Ashley, this was an absolute pleasure. Thanks so much for joining and can’t wait to hear about your next adventure.
Ashley Longshore: 31:31
Me too. Thank you so much. I love you guys.
Owen Vince: 31:35
You’ve been listening to the Pursuit of Feeling, a podcast by Black Tomato. You’ve been listening to the Pursuit of Feeling, a podcast by Black Tomato. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, then please hit the subscribe button. We’ve got a lot more episodes on the way, and if you’re feeling inspired by what you’ve heard today, then visit blacktomatocom. We’ll help you to travel where your heart is. Thanks for listening.
