Illustrations and tie dye

Hey! I’m Joanna, founder and artist-in-chief at Oddbirdjo. I started this brand to showcase my original illustrations and tie-dye creations.

I love to draw. Over many years, I’ve developed a style that merges the simplicity of stillness with a moody charm that is all my own. I interpret subjects from nature and everyday life to convey themes that are greater than the sum of their parts.

My own experiences of pain and loss weigh heavily on the tone of my work, complemented by my eternal passion for making people laugh. I spent nearly a decade as a successful stand-up comedian and live entertainment producer before walking away to pursue stability and sobriety.

Since then, I’ve grown as an artist and as a person, doing significant work on my mental health and recovery from PTSD. Art gives me an outlet to share the contents of my psyche on my own terms. Sometimes funny, often strange, my thoughts translate into images that express the quiet comfort I’ve found in confronting and subduing the fear that rode sidecar as I navigated the most painful periods of my life.

My playful and bold nature imparts a whimsical twist to my darker-themed pieces and a haunted touch to otherwise ordinary things. My work is an ongoing attempt to draw out lightness and levity from my imagination, while honoring the depth of tragedy that has informed my perspective.

The items in my tie dye collection are wearable works of art. I use a non-traditional ice dye process and a color removal technique, resulting in pigments and patterns that are more appealing than the average psychedelic streetwear. These one-of-a-kind garments are consistently stylized to be worn anywhere, each with their own unique fingerprint of color and movement.

Thank you for taking a look at my work. I love hearing responses, so please reach out if you’d like to share something with me about how my art makes you feel, or if you’d like to commission a piece or form a collaboration.