The Childhood Home - 5035
On the ancestral lands of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples began the city of Denver. We honor their memory and stewardship and acknowledge the past wrongs and genocide. We are grateful and thank you we were allowed to live here.
My little childhood home at 5035 West 10th Ave, in the Villa Park Neighborhood. It still appears in my dreams, has inspired many, many artworks and writings. She has been torn down and I will always miss her. xo
The Girl-Angela (me)
I have been an artist my whole life, but did not fully embrace it until my 20's. I went to Adams State University in Alamosa, CO and started off studying art, but then decided to become a Biologist. I love lab work, Botany, Ecology, and Entomology. I love to sew and paint, make fabric patterns, and be in nature with my family. My work unlearning White Supremacy has led me to make some very powerful art that I haven't shown anyone. I'm not sure I will. But it feels good to break those beliefs and free my colonized mindset. Click my little face to join me on Patreon if you want to see more. 🙂
The Neighborhood-Villa Park
This urban landscape got into my soul. The people I grew up with had a lot of aggression yet were incredibly humorous, loyal, and hopeful. Their cuisine is still a staple. Their music lifts my spirits. Yeah, we might have had some of the shortest kids in the city but their heart and fierce pride made up for their stature. They kept showing up to practice, competed in sports, lost a lot, won some but were committed and I still think about that to this day. Got a bully bothering you? Let one of them know and they would take care of business to protect you. So yeah, all those rumors you heard about us are are true. We will go Westside on you and ferociously protect our own. You really don't want to provoke any of us because we are very brave and show up in all kinds of ways for those we love.
West Denver-Mariachi, Mexican Folklorico, Green Chile, and Viva La Raza!
Villa Park is a west Denver neighborhood, home of the Cowell Elementary Mustangs. It is bordered by Colfax, Federal, Sixth Ave., and Sheridan Blvd. While I was growing up here within this square area, there was only 1 grocery store by Martinez Park, one liquor store, and three churches. My family attended Presentation of Our Lady. This is the geographic area full of busy and not-so-busy streets, small parks, ravines, creeks, hills, traffic, a beautiful view of the mountains to the west, and of downtown to the east. Pikes Peak can be seen to the south on clear days as can expansive blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The Denver Broncos play at Mile High just over a mile away. Even though my other schools were out of this neighborhood, here's a shout out to Lake Middle School Knights and the Denver West Cowboys! (pic borrowed from the Denver Post)
Washington State-Olympia
After moving here I did a lot of things and kept painting. I fell in love with all the water, the tall trees, the fog, and the rain. This blue house was one of my first paper buildings where my line of oilcloth handbags, Dos Chicas was created. They were sold on buyolympia.com for many years. I got seriously burnt out sewing so many bags on my own and felt like a factory worker. Not fun. So, I stopped, regretted it years later, but have come to a peaceful resolution about it all.
The Art-Decades of Living in the Pacific Northwest
Watercolor was the beginning in 1990. I started cutting paper buildings after getting my B.A in Fine Art at The Evergreen State College. Now I combine watercolor, pastel, and paper into elaborate pieces.
Surface Pattern Design
I opened my Spoonflower shop in 2008 or 2009. in 2020, I got more serious about my life-long dream of having my designs on fabric. I practiced drawing in Procreate and other digital apps all year, met some great people, and beefed up my Spoonflower which I add to often. I am now pitching my work around to get some art gigs.