What is in a Name of an Artist

I've been struggling recently with something less tangible than my artwork: my name. I'm from Generation X, or so I'm told by a recent online game. I was born in 1977, so now you know my age, and raised to be and do whatever I want. Both a blessing and a curse.

But with that freedom comes questions and uncharted territory, and mistakes. So, when I got married ten years ago, I wasn't certain what do do with my name. I had started my artistic career and all of my works had been signed "Schaeffer," my maiden, or as another artist called it recently, my birth name. At the age of 26 (I turned 27 the week after our wedding) I was among the first of my friends to marry. I had many conversations with the few who were marrying about their naming decisions. Should I keep my birth name, should I lose it and take on my husband's name, Goldberg? Or should I lose my middle name, Traill, shift my birth name, Schaeffer, to my middle, and take my husband's as my last? Should I hyphenate? And then, what should I go by for my business and what are the legal / social ramifications of those choices?

Read more: http://www.traillworks.com/blog/whats-in-a-name-of-an-artist

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