Blooming together

Growing up in Wausau, Ashlie Zeidler always knew that she wanted to be an artist.

“I was pretty standard,” she said. “When I was a kid and I was little, I told people, ‘I’m going to be an artist.’ It was something I always had.”

Now, having made herself a solid fixture in Wausau’s creative community, she sells her artwork full time.

“I’m just so stoked all the time now,” she said. “It’s crazy. It’s been a lot of work to get there, but also, it’s so fun. Like, how did this even happen?”

Zeidler specializes in block printing, a technique that in layman’s terms is not too different from using a stamp.

After carving a design into a block, Zeidler covers the block with ink and presses the design onto a surface. Using this technique, she makes apparel, patches, notebooks and prints, the latter of which she displays inside of frames that she thrifts from Goodwill.

On top of all of that, she writes. Three years ago, she self-published a book of poetry called Breath and Bone: The Spiritual Experience of Being Human, a “collection of poems about self-discovery, acceptance, allowing room for awe and meeting memories with grace,” according to the blurb on Zeidler’s website. 

She has plans to release another book this fall, a collection of horror stories.

“It’s been really, really fun,” said Zeidler. “Horror is my favorite genre to write, for sure. I’ve just been letting it be fast and loose.”

Speaking of horror, you may have noticed a bit of a theme in Zeidler’s prints, as well. Any one of her works would look right at home in the hut of a hermit, witch or sage.

“I’m a huge deep-dive nerd,” Zeidler explained. “I find random things that fascinate me, and then I research them very in depth and make a lot of art of them or stories or whatever. A lot of times that has a lot of historical context… Anything sort of alchemy- or anatomy-related fascinates me. Anything that has to do with folklore or superstition… words that get passed down. People’s traditions fascinate me.”

Her latest obsessions have been in the realm of archaeology. 

“The biggest one recently was bog bodies,” she said, “the science of them, how they’ve been found, certain things that have been gleaned from them.”

Zeidler said that there seems to be a perception among people that history as a subject is dry and boring. Part of the fun of her job for her, then, is to present it in a way that shows it off in a new light.

“If I can dig in and make it interesting to people again and relevant, it’s really fun,” she said. “It feels very self-indulgent, but also, it’s a way to connect and educate people, and that’s also really fun.”

For as much fun as Zeidler has with her job, it’s a lot of work. On top of the obvious job — creating things — Zeidler travels to different markets across the state, selling her wares from behind a table. She’s also her own marketing manager, and she’s managed to get her work up for sale at a handful of local businesses, as well.

On average, she works between eight- and 10-hour days, six days a week.

“It’s a curse and a blessing,” she said. “Even when I’m not working, I’m probably thinking about work.” 

Of all of the jobs she’s had around the area, however, she said that this one has been the most fun — and the most rewarding.

“I’ve seen [my hard work] pay off, and I’ve seen my own work support future projects that I want to do,” said Zeidler. “That’s a dream come true. I can’t even get over that that is real some of the time, even though I am working so many hours to make it happen.”

Of course, Zeidler attributed just as much of her success to her support network: her husband, whose own job allows her to work her creative one full time; the city’s creative community; and the people of Wausau themselves.

“The community support for what I do is something that I feel very blessed by,” she said. “I think people showing up to things and reaching out with different opportunities… is really special. It feels unique to Wausau to me in a lot of ways, but maybe it’s just because I live here. I just think it’s so cool that there are so many creative people doing different things, and as long as we’re there to encourage each other and lift each other up, it’s something that creates a really unique and valuable community here.”

Zeidler had been selling her work online for a while before she finally took the plunge and participated as a merchant in the Wausau Night Market — held in the River District — with the help of a friend who works with Wausau Events.

“It’s been really fun to watch them grow,” she said. “The first couple they did were really small and quiet.”

Zeidler is excited to make appearances at this year’s Night Market, which will take place on the evening of the third Thursday of every month through August. Apparently, its size has almost doubled since last year. 

Zeidler attributed that growth in part to young adults who want things to do that are close to home.

“Wasusau is really unique [for a smaller, more rural city] in that people are usually really social,” said Zeidler. “So as long as there’s something going on, there will be an okay turnout as long as they know about it.

“It sounds like people are always looking for something to do, and it’s nice to see people turn up and support what’s going on, whether it’s little local shows or vendors’ markets or whatever.”

Even amidst economic uncertainty, the beginnings of a self-sustaining ecosystem seem to have taken root in Wausau’s soil, and more and more people are getting onboard. Just remember: planting a garden takes work.

“Watching something that you can cultivate and grow turn into stuff, I really nerd out about those things,” Zeidler said of her own business. “I think it’s a skill that people can learn if they have the resources in their life and the people to show them how to do it.”

It’s time for Wausonians to put their green thumbs to good use.

More information on Zeidler and her work can be found on her website, ashliezeidler.com. From there, you can access her online shop; sign up for updates; view some of her work, including prints and short stories; and find a list of local shops and events where you can purchase her work.