When local artist Ashley Harrington is creating her watercolor paintings, she isn’t afraid to step out of the box and use tools like spices, knives or even gunpowder in the process.

With her new series “Ghosts,” she said she used a lot of experimenting and imagination to capture “how people change when they go through life.”

“Ghosts” will be on display at The Volume One Gallery from March 4 to April 30.

Harrington graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration.

Harrington said she was inspired by “the whole concept of time” and “how people and places change with time.” Yet the goal of the series is not to invoke nostalgia but rather to get people to explore how people change when they go through life, she said.

One of Harrington’s paintings is an image of her grandfather in the Korean war. Involving her grandfather in her art made the processes very personal for her, Harrington said.

“It stayed with him even when he was out of the war,” she said.

Harrington said her favorite part of the creative process is the actual creating. She enjoys seeing the layers in her work and watching them transform and grow as she works on them.

“The process of etching, knowing that it isn’t the final result; it’s a little bit uncontrollable,” Harrington said about the process of making her unique watercolors.

She said one of the best parts of creating the gallery was while she was making the image of her grandfather in the war. For this painting, she used gunpowder as a medium. She said she enjoyed watching the fire alter her painting in a way that she had less control over.

Harrington said art was always in her life but it was her second grade teacher who encouraged her to “see things where there isn’t anything” and fostered her imagination by taking time to do something creative in class every day. Harrington said this encouragement made her very observant and prompted her to use her imagination.

“Seeing all the paintings in one place” is what Harrington said she is most excited for at the opening of her exhibit.

The art reception for Harrington’s gallery will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday at the Volume One Gallery in The Local Store.