About ~buffy, Cope Aesthetic
My name is Buffy (yes, my real name), ~buffy is my artist name.
The tilde (~) is a remnant from my web dev days. I used ~buffy to sign my electronic communications in that career because essentially, what one was looking at was virtually linked to me...
I started signing my completed art works with ~buffy because they too were a reflection of me.
They came from within. A manifestation of my imagination that sometimes represented personal experiences, emotions, or observations.
Other times, my art results from the vision of the clients – filtered through my creative lens – flowing reimagined into the art.
Cope Aesthetic
In 2011 I chose to use Cope Aesthetic as a name to represent my body of work. I added Cope Aesthetic Design during my senior semester of college in the Spring of 2014. I had to build a website for my Senior Portfolio Design class and wanted to use a name that would communicate that I was a design professional but keep it connected to my overall Cope Aesthetic brand. I have always had an affinity for phrases that have multiple meanings. In the case of Cope Aesthetic, phonetically: "Cope Aesthetic" sounds like Copasetic - a fun way to say “it’s all good” - and that was my original inspiration. Breaking Cope Aesthetic down into it's components: 1. Cope was my last name. 2. Aesthetic is a core design principle that defines a design's pleasing qualities. In visual terms, aesthetics includes factors such as balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and visual weight. Designers use aesthetics to complement their designs' usability, and enhance functionality with attractive layouts. When choosing a name, I was developing principles guiding my aesthetic creativity in the artistic realm with a focus on web and graphic design. Finally, an aesthetic attitude involves appreciating artwork for its own sake, and that is my personal approach even more so now, as a visual artist, fine art photographer, muralist, and customizer. I’ve often said my paintings are complete or my photographs are composed just right because when I look at them, I don't just see it, I feel it – visual aesthetics bring me pleasure.
Artist Biography
In 2017, three years after graduating from FSU (2014), Buffy started signing her art with the artist name ~buffy as she began her art career as an emerging visual artist using a variety of mediums, substrates, tools, and processes to create art while searching for her niche/style. All while working toward her goal of painting murals.
A year later (early 2018), she painted her first mural inside a collaborative art space in downtown Raleigh. Throughout the early to early mid-stages of her career as a full-time working artist she has painted twenty-three murals. Seventeen in eight towns across North Carolina, four in two towns in Missouri, one in Kansas, and three at a forty-seven acre retreat in the Dominican Republic.
Those murals were by invite, in answer to calls, as a volunteer for, a crew member of, or in collaboration with other muralists. She's been an assistant in a cohort for community murals, she's been the lead artist for her own murals sometimes having volunteers and crew to assist her too, and she's also painted at mural meetups with groups of other muralists traveling from and to national and international locales. Well into the mid stages of her professional career, her work expanded to other mediums such as chalk, which was added in the second quarter of 2021, as well as leather paint applied by brush or airbrush to customize sneakers beginning mid-2023. As of 2024, her portfolio showcases mid to large-scale public art (murals, installations, vinyl wraps, & chalk drawings) as well as small to large scale private art (murals for residences & smaller commissions). Commissions include customized sneakers, and hand painted clothing, accessories, sports equipment, safety gear, and more. Her portfolio also includes passion projects, pet projects: art created for the sake of creating art, and art created while building skillsets. Buffy is a perpetual student committed to evolving as an artist as she evolves as a person and now she is striving to be a successful entrepreneur, otherwise known in the industry as an "artrepreneur" She continues to learn while growing her portfolio so her artistic evolution includes other mediums but her primary medium is paint. With it she's painted canvases, people, clothes, objects, and places.
Artist Statement
Creativity is ingrained in my DNA - it flows through my veins, an inseparable part of my being - as much a part of who I am as my physical form; shaping how I think, learn, and communicate.
My entire life is a series of artful projects. From my earliest recollections, I tended to always gravitate toward my imagination. Exploring new dimensions through creative expression.
Starting off in earlier years as imaginary play, it later became a form of mental escapism that eventually turned into a hobby.
Each new creative hobby or activity captured my mind and filled my heart... crystalizing to a deeper desire.
What began as childhood play evolved into a profound fascination.
That fascination or inner desire for visual arts was cultivated throughout my academic career, becoming a true passion, while attending University. From then on, this inner desire turned passion could not be sated unless I created.
Suffice it to say, I love making art. Even more, I love sharing the joy of art with others wherever and whenever possible. Each brushstroke, each captured moment, is infused with a deep love for the craft and a desire to connect with others on a profound level. That led me to want to make art that lived in the world in some way shape or form.
Art is not just a means of expression for me; it's a way of life—a constant exploration of beauty, emotion, and human connection. My mission is to bring joy, inspiration, and a touch of magic to the world through every piece I create, large-scale and small.
Career Highlights:
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Event Artist: Chatham Arts Council, JumpstART event, First Sunday, Main St., Pittsboro, NC, November 7, 2021.
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Chalk Artist: Chatham 250th Sidewalk Chalk Festival, The Park at Briar Chapel, Pittsboro, NC, September 11, 2021.
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Chalk Artist: An AoPS Academy Summer Math Walk event, Apex, NC, June 26 - 29, 2021.
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Chalk Artist: An RSVP Event for Elon University Employee Appreciation Day at The Rhodes Stadium, Burlington, NC, May 27 & 28, 2021.
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Silent auction street artist: For the 50 Colonoscopies under 50 Charity Auction & Gala, February 28, 2020.
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First solo exhibit (art & fine art photography) in North Carolina. The Davie, Raliegh, NC, July 5, 2019 - July 31, 2019.
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Wearable art show: Wearable art designer, STRUT: A Fashion Exhibit of Extreme Ornament, Sertoma Art Center, Raleigh, NC, June 22, 2019.
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Appearance: Live Painting and pop-up artist, Imurj, Raleigh NC, April 30, May 7/8/15 & 29, 2019.
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Appearance: Featured artist, Dee McNair on the Air Show, on NC Spectrum Channels 4, 8, 18, & 1304, April 9, 2019.
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Appearance: Promotional video for interview with Dee McNair of the Dee McNair on the Air Show, February 15, 2019.
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Appearance: Promotional video for SMASH 2019 with Dee McNair on the Air, January 2, 2019
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Exhibit: November 2, 2018 - January 2, 2019, 7 of my paintings in 3 galleries around Raleigh and High Point, NC
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Showcase: October 20, 2018, my bodypaint/costume design was featured in the CircusSPARK Fantasy Showcase on the Main Stage in City Park on Fayetteville St., Raleigh. I wrote an original poem to introduce my character and was asked to read it as my model walked on stage.
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July 20, 2018, helped lead a “Bull City” themed paint night. Hosted by/for members of The Social Club in Durham, NC
College Career:
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Selected as one of the first 16 FSU students for the inaugural MetroWest Chamber of Commerce college student initiative. February 25, 2011.