Ayako Ikeda was born in Kumamoto, Japan, and earned a Bachelor and Master of Arts in living design and architecture from The University of Shiga Prefecture in Japan.  Her glass art studies began in 2001 at the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art, the first public institution in Japan specializing in the field of glass art. Since completing her studies in 2003, Ayako has traveled extensively and worked with many glass artists from all over the world.  Her work has been exhibited in Japan and the United States in a number of group exhibitions, including the Enomoto Gallery at Osaka and Milestone Gallery at Toyama.  In 2004, Ayako moved to the United States to pursue her career as a glass artist.  She has been an instructor at Hot Soup Studio and Gallery in Philadelphia and received a grant from the Contemporary Glass Philadelphia in 2005.  In 2004, with Christopher Lydon, she co-founded Glassboss Studio, a limited production company creating contemporary blown glass objects.