Ms. Ashley began studying art at the age of five. She was an art major at Stephens College, and also graduated from the University of Florida, Florida State University and Arizona State University. For her working career, she took a hiatus from art, with intermittent forays into drawing and oil painting. Recently, she jump started her passion for art by taking classes/courses within the University of Hawaii system.

Although trained in the classical style, once research for a composition is completed the artist prefers to work strictly from a mental image. This allows the imagination to be the master of reality, especially when painting illustrations of classics such as Ovid’s The Metamorphoses or when creating dance pictures. In portraiture, that freedom is exercised in the settings, and in the art of Hawaii, from juxtaposing scenes seen daily. Otherwise, traditionalism prevails, and there is usually a meticulous attention to detail which can take months to accomplish.

Ms. Ashley sold her first drawing at the age of six and received her first art award at the age of eighteen. Her works hang in private collections from Georgia to Hawaii.