Ashi & Sheri foot massage in Aqua-Flyer        Sandy Floating above water       Two of Six AF Configurations

ASHI ON ART

“I call myself a “NeoRomantic” artist, because what I express through my art expresses what I feel in my heart - and reflects the human condition - as my favorite 19th and 20th Century Romantic artists did.”

“As a NeoRomantic contemporary artist, my main artistic mentors were my grandfather, August Rodin, and John Ono Lennon.  My grandfather, who was the true un-patented inventor of the electric key making machine, for teaching me to trust that I could create anything I wish, Rodin for his Romantic style sculpting, and Lennon for the true spirit of real art:

“The only truth you have is your own experience.”

-John Ono Lennon

The music of the late ‘60s - 70s was also my soul’s inspiration, because most of it was truly NeoRomantic Art - so much of it had significant things to say about our healing.

Born Jeffrey Olshan, in Brooklyn New York, Jeffrey was the third son of the failing marriage of Sylvia and Abraham Olshan. When Ashi’s parents divorced when he was seven, and he lost all contact with his father until adulthood, he turned to using creative art as an outlet for expressing his deepest emotions - in positive, constructive ways.

“I credit art for saving my life, and music

and humor for saving my soul and spirit.”

After his own six-year-long marriage failed in 1977, Ashi began journaling his feelings and thoughts on a daily bases - for many years to follow. He called it, “A poor man’s therpist, the write therapy,” and went on to write millions of words and thousands of pages about human behavior - with over a dozen published editorials, and three self published books, that he expects to have picked up by some big publishing houses at some point, for greater distribution and influence.

        Ashi also developed several behavior modification programs:

• Resolutions – Resolving Human Conflict (Wrote and sold its Program manual)

1. •Arts for Transformation-Prevention & Recovery Through Creativity
   

2. •The Divorce Enlightenment Course
   

3. •Aqua-Cathartic Meditation - For healing PTSD, suicide prevention, consciousness
   

Over the years, he created and periodically teaches a class, Sculpt What You Feel.  Unable to afford the high costs of mold making needed to preserve his impermanent (soft clay) works, Ashi inadvertently became a master mold maker, which he has also taught at several universities and colleges to help supplement his income.  His primary income from his True Construction Company died after the crash of 2008, where upon he worked on his spec home until 2021, when it was sold and he and Sheri moved to the 55+ resort community of On Top of the World, in Ocala Florida.

When his pieces are not about his own personal experience, they are about the inspiration he gets from others.  Or they are provocative statements about our human condition - like his anti smoking piece in 1976 titled, IF We Save the Boxes, first shown at NYC’s Bicentennial Street Fair.  It won First Prize for Ideal Toys’ staff art show in 1976 - where Ashi worked full time as one of the four staff sculptors for the biggest toy company in the world at that time.

The music of the progressive members of my baby boomer generation said so much about our human condition in ways that our generation could relate to.  While the Beatles were our heroic leaders, albums like Tommy, by the Who, and songs by Dylan - who inspired John Lennon & The Beatles to speak the most profound truths in their music – spoke volumes about consciousness to all who cared to listen. 

I’m so proud of our generation’s contributions toward ending bigotry, violence, intolerance, sexism, and political naivety. I call our generation The Blessed Generation, for those of us who were blessed with the integrity of heart it takes to seek equality and justice for ALL.”  To read my three time published article, “Where Have All the Flower Children Gone?” and more, click ARTICLES BY ASHI link above.

To read “Ashi’s radically pragmatic solution(s) to all the political pollution,” you can request a copy of his book, “American Resolution 2024 - A 21st Century Blueprint for an Honestly Applied Democracy,” and may review its proposed movie, OUR’MERICA A.F.T.E.R. ALL. Both advocating the abolition of the corrupt and divisive party-before-country political system, and dangerous single person presidency, plus. * AFTER ALL is the acronym for Americana for Transformation, Equal Rights for ALL.

“While creating art has saved my life, and I truly admire great talent when I see it -expressed in any medium - I also must say that what really gets my goat, my pet peeve, is body casters who claim their body casts were actually sculpted.  Fact: a body cast is no more a sculpture than a photograph is a painting. (Read Ashi’s published article, “Which is it, Art or Craft?” ARTICLES BY ASHI page).