Melanie, thanks for the compliment. I was thinking about these "artist's names" one day, and just wondering where they all came from. Senjin is a buddy, so he explained his alias pretty much. I learned the rest of the story a year later. Maybe one reason some of us use an alias is that it is a way of reflecting how we see ourselves. We might identify with a particular character in literature or history. I think some of us just don't want to use our own names in our artwork. Maybe we don't want our friends, relatives or co-workers to know about our art? Sometimes it is nice, or even liberating to be "annonymous" (spelling?). And sometimes it is awkward to use your real name. I had a hard time finding a design for a "web-button" that had enough room for "Ron Knights." Over the past few years I've bugged my friends and family to see all my creative pursuits. They get tired of it fast. But when they do look, they don't want to remember my current alias. They said I will always be "Ron" or "Ron Knights" to them. So I'm back to being "me." Ron