Hi there! My name is Ashley and here’s a bit of my story:

Growing up, there weren’t very many images, toys or animated films that I could find my reflection in. I remember wishing my hair was long and flowing like the animated characters I saw on screen or that the princesses and heroines that I came to adore so much resembled me.

To counteract this frustration, I began drawing my own princesses and ballerinas and mermaids with brown skin and long braids - images that made me feel beautiful and special when I looked at them. These eventually turned into comic strips and short stories with illustrations about little black girls like me living life and having fun!

Over the years my family and teachers could see that I had a natural raw talent and encouraged me to enter contests as well as take art classes. I won numerous awards throughout elementary and middle school including 1st place in my age group for multiple years at The California State Fair.

While in high school, I took an interest in flip books and started drawing stick men battles on sticky notes which eventually turned into more dynamically illustrated animations on flip books. As a result, I ended up enrolling in a summer internship program at The University of Southern California Film School for Animation and did exceptionally well.

In 2008 I was one of 15 in the world to be accepted to USC Film School as an Animation and Digital Arts major. I soaked in the concepts of 2D animation like a sponge and wrote, animated and directed my own 2D animated short film before graduating in 2012. You can view it here!

In 2019 after many years of personal development and a re-ignited relationship with Christ, God led me to start what would be the first of four constantly evolving stages of my art business. With every passing year, I gained new skills, made mistakes, learned from them and re-launched my business again and again.

Finally managing to encapsulate my art style into a brand, I am now running my own small business including a website, online shop, instagram page, TikTok and YouTube channel and am looking to expand my business through collaborations, commissions and licensing. I am also booked for numerous festivals throughout the year.

I have so much more in store and am determined to continue in faith to bring the vision for this business that God has given me to fruition and then more!

If you would like to partner with me or my business in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out via my contact form. I love forging new connections and friendships!

Apart from my artwork, I enjoy most activities outdoors including hiking, camping, biking and roadtrips. I’m also working on a thrill-seeking bucket list - cliff diving, parasailing, bungie-jumping to name a few!

It’s so nice to meet you!

God Bless!