Eric Ashenhurst was born in Minnesota in 1960, and spent most of his childhood in Itasca, Illinois.  From the moment he could hold a pencil, he was drawing cartoons and entertaining others with his depictions of cartoon characters.

 

At the age of 36, with no formal art education, Eric couldn't shake the feeling that he had to develop his natural talent for art.  He tried watercolor and found it fascinating and addictive.  He immersed himself in books, videos, anything he could get his hands on to learn more about watercolor.  He attended workshops from internationally-known instructors Tony Couch and Tom Lynch.