My name is Ashley O’Connell and I have always been a pursuer of art. When I was younger I was constantly stopping to sketch my surroundings, and as I got older my interests in different mediums, styles, and techniques of fine arts grew. In high school I had the opportunity to take different art classes with painting, clay sculpture, and my favorite- a glass lamp working class where I got to make beads and pendants. This class is what ultimately brought me to Oregon.

I was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, and moved to Oregon in the fall of 2018. My goal was to find a way into the glassblowing/ lamp working community and to possibly find an apprenticeship. However, different events changed my path. I decided I wanted to go back to college, and so I started classes at Lane that following spring. I continued taking classes while holding a full time job, finding time to spend with my partner and time for my hobbies which include painting, jewelry making, pyrography, reading, and going to the coast. When the pandemic took hold, I decided that the best thing for my success was to focus on my family, work, and myself so I took a break from school while the college was closed.

During this time I did a lot of self reflection and took the time to decide what it was that I wanted to get out of my future schooling experiences, how I wanted to move forward with my art, and I landed on Multimedia Design. Moving forward this year I am excited to learn the technical and executional differences between my experience with Fine Arts and what I have to learn about Media Arts.

By Ashley O’Connell