A few years ago Ashley Ernest and her husband Matthew Werkmeister headed out on an adventure. 

Ernest and her husband decided to try living the “camper life” — spending each and every day day in a 31-foot camper. For a stretch of time, they set up on a relative’s farm in Vermont. 

Ernest said she enjoyed it, but after having a baby, she and Werkmeister decided to put down more permanent roots. 

In November, they moved to Barrington and turned the camper into a 31-foot mobile art studio. Ernest said that Creative Wanderings Art Center is the only mobile art studio in the area, and possibly in all of New England. 

“We are right now focused on doing events around Rhode Island,” Ernest said. She mentioned appearances at the Mt. Hope Farmers Market in Bristol and at the Barrington Street Festival earlier this year. There were also plans to attend the Warren Concert Series.

Ernes, a Bristol native, said the mobile art studio is all about sharing art in a less formal environment. Creative Wanderings Art Center focuses on allowing children to express themselves through art and then go home with a fun project, she said. The creations include sewing miniature stuffed animals and painting feeling rocks. 

“We cater to whatever the interests are,” Ernest said. 

A recent birthday party for a young included creating mini-stuffies shaped like animals. 

“He really likes farm animals,” she said. 

Ernest said the 31-foot camper-turned-art studio can go almost anywhere; at most of the parties they run, the camper is set up in the driveway. That approach may seem like a great option for people who want their children to have an art-based party but at the same time avoid messy art projects inside their kitchens or living rooms. 

Once the Creative Wanderings Art Center arrives at a location, the awning comes out, the tables go up, and the fun projects begin. 

“We lived in it,” Ernest said. “We can definitely do art in it.”

Ernest has been an art teacher for years and loves the freedom and flexibility that comes with running her own business. She has received some valuable assistance through a business mentorship program called SCORE. She praised her mentor, Fran Green. 

Ernest said Creative Wanderings Art Center holds public sessions — she mentioned one at the Del’s in Warren in late-July and another at a farmers market in Tiverton — but focuses mostly on private events. Class sizes range from four students to around a dozen. 

To learn more about Creative Wanderings Art Center, visit www.creativewanderingsart.com