C. J. Bognar (AKA C. J. Barnard) is an award winning artist who's original paintings hang in private and corporate collections throughout the country.

C. J. was born in Southern California, but grew up in Sonoma County, California. She moved to New York in 1978, where she lived until October of 2009. She is a new resident of Milton, Georgia, where she lives with her husband and beloved animals.

C. J. studied at the Art Students League in New York , but is mainly a self taught artist. She believes that art comes from a place inside and she prefers to just "do it" rather than study someone else's ideas.

One of her first oil paintings was of a red elephant. " I painted the elephant red as a warning color, because they are endangered. After this first painting C. J. has never looked back. Her passion for animals has driven her to become a successful artist. She is best known for her red elephant paintings and animal portraits.

As a curator of numerous art shows C. J. has raised funds and awareness for conservation groups such as The Gorilla Foundation and The African Wildlife Foundation, and was awarded the New York State Assembly Outstanding Citizen award in 1998. C. J.  is quoted in the 1999 Queens Tribune as saying " As human  beings we hold in our hands the ability to shape our environment in any form we desire. We can create or destroy, purify or pollute, devour or conserve. The choices are ours. Lets hope we make the right choices as we enter the new millennium."