BAINA Bathe
Vol 37.
Ash Roberts

From her Koreatown studio in Los Angeles, Ash Roberts paints abstract landscapes that reflect the quiet shifts of the natural world. Influenced by a childhood spent among landscape designers, her work explores the cycles of growth and decay with a muted, impressionistic palette. Rather than capturing exact scenes, Roberts evokes the feeling of nature’s transience—calm, fragile, and always changing.

In this conversation, Ash shares how bathing has become an extension of her creative process — a daily ritual that mirrors the intention and quiet found in her work. From childhood memories in Saratoga Springs to her current bathing routine, Roberts reflects on the sensory details that shape the way she returns to water as a space for stillness, transition, and restoration.

"Bathing and being in water is in a sense part of my artistic practice. Here I am able to cut through external noise and return to the internal landscape that I often work from. Water is a great place to return to the intuitive mind versus the thinking mind.

It often happens after a day in the studio. After long hours, bathing becomes a way to transition out of the intense focus required during the day. I wash off any remaining paint and the pause becomes a way to process the days work and reset for another day."

"Self care is a practice. I watched both my grandmother and mom instil acts of ritual for themselves, so to a certain extent, I think this is why I carve out the same time for these self care rituals myself. I approach the studio in the same way using scent, light and silence to create a container for myself.

Bathing has become more intentional where it’s not out of necessity but out of a practice. I have also become more interested in outdoor bathing. "

"When I bathe, I usually incorporate scents found in nature, rosemary shampoo and conditioner (I love Necessarie products) and hinoki wood. Those scents can be transportive. I like incorporating earth tones into my towel selections and bathing accessories while keeping it minimal. The same way I set up my studio, sparse, intentional and sensory.

I grew up in Saratoga Springs where there are over 20 natural public springs. It’s famous for it’s water and some of my earliest memories of bathing in nature are there. I remember a feeling of spaciousness and refresh that you don’t get in Los Angeles"