Frame by Frame

Hello,
My name is Aja. A lot of people ask me if it is my given name, and it is. It came from a Steely Dan album, although I think that originally it was an Indian name meaning "goat" according to the internet. :-)

My background is primarily in photography, but I have experimented with a number of other mediums as well. My first big serious project was painting a 360 degree mural in my high school World History teacher's classroom which included scenes from Africa, Stone Henge, the Colosseum, and the Superintendent's home, Malta.

I started selling my own wire wrap jewelry to schoolmates when I was 17, eventually branching out to sell at art fairs and festivals. The project eventually evolved into a strictly photography business where I produced nature and abstract photography, but also a great deal of portrait and weddings services. I have learned from photography the value of light and shape in all manor of visual arts. I have experimented quite a bit with found art sculpture as well, mostly using wine corks pieced together to create various creatures such as dragons and lizards covered with delicately placed sequins for scales. The one at the right was my favorite. She's made out of a whole lot of wine corks, a couple of chopsticks, and individually glued sequins as skin. And no, I did not drink all of the wine to supply the corks . . . they were donated.

I am always trying to improve my work and style and am highly inspired by filmmakers such as Terry Gilliam, Akira Kurosawa, and Wes Anderson, just to name a few. The care and detail put into the settings and characters excites my imagination. Some favorite photographers include Moose Peterson and Joe McNally. I also love artists such as Ralph Steadman, Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali, HR Geiger, and even Frank Miller.

My work life has included a number of roles in the hospitality industry, including an opportunity as a marketing assistant where I had some training under the graphic designer and was responsible for creating flyers and signs.

With 3d animation I hope to combine my fascination with cinematography, sculpture, and storytelling to make fun environments and characters. Due to a love for interactive media, my biggest interest is in game art, but I am open to other paths such as the film industry as an animator or even architecture.