Check Out Olajuwon Orenuga’s Story

Hi Olajuwon, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and Immigrated to the US, specifically Texas when I was a child; I lived in Chicago suburbs while gaining my childhood education. I have always been into entrepreneurship from selling candy bars in school, to cutting grass during the summer. I am self-taught in art, and went to college for psychology, I learned that it was hard to secure a good job with a general degree. My mother supported me changing my major to Graphic Design, I gained my bachelors from Eastern Illinois University. Although most of my classmates secured employment early on I was not so lucky. I started to turn my drawings into apparel, selling it online and at concerts. Always wanted to make art into a lifestyle, but it was difficult first starting out. I met a tattoo artist named Carla Banuelos, while printing tshirts, she taught me the fundamentals of tattooing, I became her apprentice in Chicago. After I learned the basics, I moved to San Diego in 2018. I worked at various shops throughout San Diego, I was forced to leave employment after COVID pandemic and decided to start a campaign to create Ozone a clean, open, and nurturing space for creativity and bring like-minded individuals together. My mentor was aware I wanted to start the shop, and she wanted to invest. We joined forces to bring a breath of fresh air to the art/ tattoo industry in San Diego!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been a lot of hiccups, on the journey up the mountain. I value all the hard times , they are the learning experiences on the of the journey to success. A good lesson is that hindsight is 20/20 looking back, everything has a purpose. Since opening Ozone everything has been going good so far, even though inflation is hitting everyone. we have a great spot right by the beach and offer a fair price! There’s never a moment were we can get comfortable. There are a lot of great tattoo shops in the san Diego, we knew had to bring something unique & original to the industry. All hands on deck, we combine together people of all different cultures, and backgrounds to make our visions into reality. we knew it would face challenges , but hard work and a little luck anything is possible!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like black and grey, nature-themed, anything dealing with animals, I also do Japanese-inspired art. I bring a mix of different influences, and stories into my art. I went at a four year university although I was drawing before that. I think that it’s important to learn the learns before you can break them.  my work is always evolving but I have certain themes and ideas that i plays around with; nature, mythology, space, animals, spirituals eastern philosophy, ancient civilizations, geometry, math, psychedelic, and the esoteric sometimes macabre. i am currently doing more mixed-media based primarily In watercolor, it very close the art of tattooing, and you can still do many styles. Art is way of life being versatile is important, i plan on getting back into screen printing my art to sell, maybe even food truck haha.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Art magazines, spectrum art books, old vintage tattoo books, tattoo history books, anything from Japan I love their culture and devotion to their craft. I watch a lot of YouTube while I’m drawing, nature documentaries, National Geographic, art history documentaries, world history documentaries, anything science or space related. i get a lot of inspiration from nature, and there are so many great artist on instagram.