Artist Spotlight: Angela Swanson - "I Don't Create Art, Art Creates Me"

"Embrace" by Angela Swanson

Angela Swanson, Artist and Web Designer

Angela Swanson is an artist who wears many hats, including artist, web designer, web manager, and social media tutor.

Through art, Angela freely and authentically explores and cultivates emotions. Her tagline, "I don’t create art. Art creates me" captures the essence of her identity as an artist.

Throughout Angela’s work, you can see threads of spiritualism, energy, and curiosity. Although she has a plethora of work in various media—including oil and cold wax, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media collage, and more—she states that she is, in a way, still trying to find her preferred medium. For example, one of her recent series is Femme Unique, which is made up of colorfully painted mannequins that can be mounted on a wall, each inspired by a specific philosophy or idea.

"Prototype" by Angela Swanson

When she sits in front of a canvas or other surface, Angela finds herself surrounded by many ideas to translate into imagery. Currently, her most productive time of the day is in the early hours of the morning; on most days, she gets up as early as 3 am to have a few hours of quiet and focused work before a busy day of caring for grandchildren.

Angela is deeply dedicated to the local creative community, as she has roles in several different nearby arts organizations, including webmaster for Southwest Washington Watercolor Society, Clark County Arts Commission, Society of Washington Artists, and others. Additionally, she recently co-founded the Artisans’ Guild of Camas. Although these efforts are different kinds of work, Angela enjoys them; she sees web design as another meaningful creative outlet. She truly enjoys promoting art and artists in her community.

Buddha by Angela Swanson

In addition to doing webwork for art organizations and artists, Angela also founded and manages her own consortium of artists called Sweet Papaya Arts, through which artists can advertise and sell their work. She is always looking for more artists to join; Sweet Papaya Arts is especially ideal for artists who do not have the time to market their own work or manage their own websites. She finds a lot of joy in using her web skills to promote local artists and looks forward to expanding the group over time. Lastly, Angela offers tutoring for social media and web management specifically for artists.

Whether it's making her art, designing websites, or taking care of her lively grandchildren, Angela brings creativity and dedication to every task. She is excited to keep experimenting in her art practice and to continue contributing her efforts to Pacific Northwest arts organizations.