Aisling D’Art is the pen name of a third-generation artist.  (Her name is pronounced “ASH-ling Dart.”)

Her name is almost synonymous with art zines, art shrines, artists journals, ATCs and wild art dolls.

Aisling’s family history: Aisling’s grandfather was one of the developers of acrylic paints for artists, and noted for inventing many materials and techniques still used by artists and interior designers.

Aisling’s mother graduated from Mass. College of Art, and is known for her landscape paintings as well as her portraits.  (Aisling’s mother was also a model for several noted New England artists, including Ernest Major.)

Aisling was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in nearby Belmont, MA.  She attended Colby-Sawyer College (New London, NH) and then Harvard University.  From there, Aisling moved to California where she worked in fashion in Los Angeles, modelling part-time when she wasn’t running one of Hollywood’s largest and most innovative fine art schools.

Several years (and moves) later, Aisling settled into a happy routine as a wife.  She became the mother of three wonderful children, teaching art classes and workshops as time permitted.  During those years, she also wrote several popular books about fabric art, costuming and quilting.

When divorce threatened Aisling’s ‘happily ever after’ view of life, she began writing about her life at her first website.  That was in 1995, before anyone used the word ‘blog’ and Aisling was considered a little weird for sharing her diary online.

The pen name, Aisling D’Art, gave her (and her family) anonymity.

But, Aisling’s unique and original ideas have always attracted attention.  Before long, Aisling.net attracted hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of visitors daily.

Friends and fans followed Aisling’s challenges and victories as she accepted the apparently inevitable divorce, and later found genuine happiness with a wonderful man from Texas.

Today, Aisling and “HT” live a somewhat quiet life in New England.  She’s still working on art, writing for magazines, books and the Internet, and pursuing a variety of eclectic hobbies.

About this website

This website began in the mid-1990s by Aisling D’Art.  It started as her online journal, long before anyone used the word “blog.”

Soon, people asked to see Aisling’s art, since she talked about it so much.

When they saw photos and scans of her art, they asked, “How do you do that?”

A few how-to articles became dozens and then hundreds of webpages about art materials and techniques.  For many years, Aisling.net was among the leading art websites of the art journaling community.

But, as the site outgrew its simple navigation, Aisling split it into smaller sites.  In many cases, the results were a series of fragmented sites.

In late 2008, with software and navigation tools not available in the 1990s, Aisling began reintegrating the full range of articles at Aisling.net.

Until the site is complete, the best access point is the sitemap: http://aisling.net/sitemap/ [Link]

Aisling and Yahoo Groups

In the late 1990s, Aisling D’Art founded the Yahoo Group, AJ2 (Artists Journals 2), still thriving — under different management — as WAJ2 (Writers and Artists Journals 2).

Aisling is also the moderator of the original Artists Journals group, AJ.

Over many years, Aisling started and moderated dozens more hugely successful Yahoo Groups.  They include WildArtDolls, AJ-marketing, ExtremeArtJournals and many spin-offs.  All of them are now moderated by other talented artists, so that Aisling has more time for art.

Aisling’s Classes

For many years, Aisling taught at some of the country’s top arts events, including Artfest, Art and Soul, Art Unraveled, and her own DisneyWorld event, Celebrate Art!

However, when some arts events became too expensive for struggling and aspiring artists, Aisling objected loudly… with proof of price gouging when event organizers refused to lower their prices.

Retribution was swift, and affected the presentation of some of  Aisling’s classes.  As a result, she quit the national events scene after 2003.

Instead, she taught free full-day workshops during the five years (2003 – 2008) that she lived near Houston, Texas.

In late 2009, once she’s more settled in New England, Aisling intends to resume her free and inexpensive art classes for beginning and experienced artists.

And, if you see Aisling teaching at any large events, you’ll know that they’re priced as fairly as possible.

Aisling’s zines and products

For many people, Aisling D’Art’s name is almost synonymous with art zines.  Aisling pioneered handwritten art zines in the mid-1970s.  She was one of the first to offer art zines on CD in 2001, and was also an “early adopter” of digital zines.

Today, her zines are published irregularly.  Past subscribers still receive copies, and new fans are able to download them — when they’re available — through this website and Santa Flamingo, Aisling’s online art store.

Since the 1970s, Aisling’s decorated envelopes and cards — and her artistamps — have been an important part of the mailart scene.

Aisling was also one of the creators of torn-paper collage journals, which evolved into what are now called gluebooks.

Her whimsical pocket shrines are still collected by friends, fans and art enthusiasts.

Her mixed-media and cloth dolls are generally zany and wildly popular.  Her paper art dolls were among the first featured in Art Doll Quarterly, in that magazine’s second issue.

Aisling’s podcasts

In 2004, Aisling began podcasting about art and creativity.  She’s still working on a format and schedule that fits her style.

You can listen to many of Aisling’s past podcasts, including Views from Santa Flamingo. [Link]

Aisling’s online diary

Aisling remains committed to her original online vision, sharing a creative life with friends and fans.   You can read her past journals, online, among the pages of Aisling.net.  Her online diary (blog) also appears at this site.