This is one of my more up to date pieces it’s a self portrait that I recently made. The triangles on the face is supposed to represent my biggest insecurities which would be my acne. I wanted to feel better about how I looked and also wanted to create something that made me smile when I looked at it there’s a lot of bright colors that make it look very vibrant.

When I was younger art was the only way I could express myself. I had trouble speaking and was beyond shy when I became a teenager I was severely abused and didn’t have anyone to talk to or anyway to express myself because if I did there would be consequences. Even though all that happened I was able to put myself through high school and now taken my younger brother since being in college and am completely paying for my own college and helping my brother through his. This scholarship would allow me to focus on my studies and get the most out of my program to become a better artist. Because art isn’t just talent it’s skill.

I am Braelynn Sodden 20 years old and I’m the first one in my family to not only graduate high school but attend college. I come from a low income family where education was not important but for me it was the most important thing I could do. I’m transferring to Salem state university in the fall to be apart of their arts and design program when I’ll study digital art as my major and 2-D animation as my minor. I would like to after graduation to go work for a few studios like Ea maxis or rooster teeth until I’m ready to establish my own studio. I would like to hire local artist and be as inclusive as possible. I’ve volunteered many times in the past and would like to continue to do that in the future and use some profits from the studio to go to helping get technology and improvements within schools with high poc numbers. I only have two student loans out currently but it would help more than anyone would ever know if I could receive this money to help pay for school with out so much stress.