This course combines the rigor of formal instruction with the freedom of personal experimentation. Artists of all levels are invited to engage in this diverse curriculum that focuses on bringing out individual style and expression. Students will create works of art that border on abstraction using a variety of sources such as observation, memory and imagination. We will also take a look at modern masters and contemporary painters in order to study color composition and technique. After an initial formal assignment, students will break away to create individual works of art using oil pastel and oil paint on paper.

Ashley Hagen received her BFA from the renowned School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She studied painting and printmaking at Lorenzo de Medici Institute of Art in Florence Italy and received an International Ambassadorial scholarship to study painting and drawing at Der Bildenden Kunst and the Universitat fur angewandte Kunst in Vienna, Austria. Her paintings have garnered numerous awards and have been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions. Her artwork continues to be acquired by private collectors around the world.