Who I Am
It’s only fair that I tell you a little about myself up front. My name is Angela, and I’m a 30-year-old American woman, born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was married to a military man (Air Force) for seven years, and during that time I got the chance to live in the UK for four years. Thanks to the military, I’ve also made my home in Florida, Texas, and Virginia. I met lots of great people and saw lots of wonderful things during that time and I don’t regret a bit of it, even though the marriage didn’t last.
I now make my home in eastern Massachusetts with my boyfriend and three guinea pigs, Isis, Artemis (“Mimi”), and Pomona (“Mona”). The area reminds me very much of my time in England — I guess they call it New England for a reason! — and I’m enjoying the landscape and weather immensely.
What I Do
I’m an all-around crafty sort of person. I enjoy webdesign and graphics, first and foremost, but I’ve been creating things of one sort or another since I was a child. At first it was sketching and making dinosaurs out of clay, then I grew to enjoy working with colored pencils and ink, winning first and grand prizes in local art competitions throughout grade school.
In high school and college, I took a handful of elective photography classes. I learned the ins and outs of working with single-lens reflex cameras and black and white film; I even began developing my own film at home. I think this tickled my father no end, since photography has always been one of his favorite hobbies, and he was more than happy to buy supplies so I could explore it further. I currently work with a digital camera, but I do still break out the Pentax my dad bought me in college every once in a while.
In college, I studied under the amazing Ms. Patt Odom, one of the premier artists and art instructors on the Gulf Coast. She instilled in me a new appreciation for all technical and practical aspects of visual design, and my artwork soon began to take on new dimensions.
Currently, I tinker a bit with jewelry-making with natural materials, such as gemstones, minerals, wood, shell, and bone. I also enjoy making holiday wreaths and other seasonal decorations. I occasionally work with fabrics and animal pelts to make bags and pouches. I’ve dabbled a bit with woodburning, and over the last few years I’ve made some pretty nice pieces, both on commission and as gifts for friends.
I got the webdesign bug while living in the UK; I wanted to create a website so that our families could see what we were up to. I started with a small, free website hosted at Geocities, but I soon knew that I wanted to go bigger and better — and learn how to write the HTML myself so I wouldn’t be restricted to copy-and-paste code snippets. My dad recommended I start my webdesign self-education at W3Schools.com, and the rest, as they say, was history!
Why I Do It
Because I love it! It’s true; I really do work on websites and graphics in my free time for the sheer fun of it, but I also love the challenge of working with someone else and trying to translate their ideas into something “real.” It’s a treat for me to be approached by someone who is wary of the whole design process, and for me to begin working with them and put all their fears and anxieties to rest.
It’s a great feeling to make someone realize that not everyone they do business with cuts corners and tries to eke by doing the bare minimum. I believe in doing something right or not doing it at all. I give my all to every project that I take on. It gives me a sense of accomplishment, and I usually learn new techniques and tricks in the process, which makes it even more rewarding. I like to feel good about the work I do, and I want my customers to feel good about it too.