Ashley has loved art as a child, and started taking art classes in second grade from Cathy Clark, her first local art teacher and a children's book publisher, who taught her all the basics of art. She has utilized a wide range of mediums, such as watercolors, inktense, graphite pencils, and pastels, but the two she particularly likes are acrylic and charcoal.

 

As an aspiring artist, she applied to and was accepted to Parsons School of Design at the New School, Pratt Institute, and California Institute of the Arts, to name a few, and was awarded the highest honors merit scholarship from these colleges based on her high level of creativity and academic achievement. She was also one of the top 10 finalists of the Art & Design New Generation Award, an international competition founded by Hitonari Tsuji, a well-known Japanese Akutagawa and Femina Prize-winning novelist. She is also a winner of multiple Gold Key awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

 

Many of her artworks are related to her personal life experiences and values. Producing art that reveals her for who she is and what she believes is one of her artistic goals. "Life can be stagnant, but creating something different from anything you have ever seen gives a new sensation, which gives me the drive to further create."