Ashley Rek, aka A. Rek
Ashley Rek is an artist based in Connecticut, USA.
She spends her days completely fascinated by the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Inspired by the animals, plants and endless gorgeous colors the universe provides day to day. She believes art can be seen everywhere in everything.
Ashley has always been fascinated by the world of illustration. The ability to take words and bring them to life for people to experience marries her two favorite things. Art and books. Being a firm believer that every book would be better with images, Ashley is naturally drawn to the wonderful whimsical world of children’s books. Creating new worlds and places for kids to explore their imagination is one of the biggest goals she would like to achieve.
Ashley is always trying to create nostalgic works reminiscent to the likes of the great worlds made by Maurice Sendak, Tim Burton and Mary Blair (to name only a few). She dares to dream that one day she can create that same feeling of nostalgia in future generations, with her stories and art.
Ashley received her BA in studio art from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. For six months after graduation she participated in the Disney College Program internship, in which she moved to Orlando and made some delicious pizzas for Hollywood Studios’s Pizza Planet.
After moving back home, she took on a paint and sip teaching job with Muse Paintbar in West Hartford. This role allowed her to get back into acrylic painting and also get used to public speaking with classes that could have up to 50 people. She became the store manager after four years of teaching, and carried on managing her team and teaching people the wonderful world of acrylic landscape painting.
In the interim, she also went back to the Paier College of Art, just for fun and to brush up on more subjects. Specifically focusing on Illustration; but also dabbling in comic books, something she had never tried before, but always wanted to learn more about. The spark and love for illustration only grew and grew from there. From doodling to writing and illustrating her very own book, Ashley learned so much from amazing mentors and friends. She continues to meet amazing artists and keeps her heart and mind open to learning more and more about the wonderful world of art and it’s importance in the past, present and future.
