Art and Evolution of the Artist

Like many artists, my journey with art began the second I could hold a crayon in my hand. It's been a lifetime of growth and change and experimentation, to say the least. I'm grateful the majority of my youthful expressions as an artist stayed off the internet, but I still cringe a bit at my early 2000's DeviantArt profile. No, I won't be giving you that screen name to search 😂

I've gone by many pseudonyms while putting myself out there. Some were influenced by my self-reflection and the art culture in my hometown (Annie E. Existence). Some were inspired by my favorite music (Autopsy Annie). And some are amalgamations of my interests brought together to represent me as a whole (Lil Hobbit Cosmonaut). With those pseudonyms came a variety of signatures for my art; fluid letter mashups AE and AA. Eventually, I decided that having my signature directly traceable to my legal name and not my pseudonyms was the most professional choice. That's when the signature combining my initials, BJO, was created.

It's okay to let the way you define and present yourself as an artist to change. You might find that right and true expression, that you settle into comfortably, and feels like home to you. Or you might explore a thousand faces, and a thousand signatures, and a thousand styles and mediums before your time on this earth comes to a close. The only thing that matters is that it's YOU!