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At the helm - an interview with Angel D’Amico, creator of Carpal Tunnel Magazine, illustrator and artist, and designer of AD LOVE Clothing

By bigglassesgirl | June 22, 2007

Part 1 of what I hope to make into a regular feature on Behind Big Glasses:

At the helm - interviews with people making their way in the art&fashion world.

Anyone who wants to make a name for themselves these days almost always has to be able to juggle a good number of different hats.  Angel D’Amico seems to have found the correct formula, working as a freelance illustrator, designing apparel, and holding the title of creator of the tongue-in-cheek named Carpal Tunnel Magazine. I talked with Angel to try to learn what motivates her into doing what she does each day, what she finds most rewarding, and what she has in store for the future.

Why did you decide to create your own magazine?
Well when I started freelancing, gosh it was SO hard to get my name out there. I didn’t know who to contact, how to contact them, and I didn’t have the money to do it. And I always wanted to make a magazine. I’ve had dreams of publishing my own magazine and thought realistically right now in my life, what can I do to get exposure for people like me, who are following their dreams, just starting off and working their butts off for what they want to do in life? And I was working on the computer from morning till midnight sending emails etc. and started getting pains in my wrist and thought, hmm… Carpal Tunnel is a good/funny/smart name because it relates to everyone who works too hard you can work too much on art, design, music, fashion, writing…ANYTHING.

How do you choose who you feature in the magazine?
I am always researching designers/artists/fashion and if I see someone interesting I email them. Now I mostly get people emailing me wanting interviews, so that is very helpful, and then I kind-of pick and choose, [trying to include] a variety of different works.

What inspires you to keep making publication after publication?
The people wanting interviews! And when I get that one really great fan email after putting a hard-worked issue out, that definitely inspires me to do it again.

Besides working on Carpal Tunnel, you’re also an artist in your own right. How did you first start?
I have been drawing, painting, playing piano, and making things my whole life. Little paper furniture, bead necklaces, those crazy strings you tied into your hair in the 90’s, sewing weird shirts out of my mom’s old clothes, to making crazy bell bottom pants, crocheting blankets, and drawing everything I saw…and painting with Bob Ross on TV.

I went to college for Graphic Design but took all the art electives I could to keep myself sane. When I got out of school and didn’t get that corporate design job I thought I wanted because most employers said I was “too artsy” for their companies, I was a little discouraged because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. All I knew is that I really didn’t want to compromise my artistic side. And one day a woman from a design graphics magazine in Australia contacted me and said she wanted to do a 10-page spread of my work! I was like Holy cow! This is what I have been waiting for, and I just thought to myself, I want to show her some new work because most of my work was from school, and I thought, if I had the chance to make ANY type of design/art I wanted, what would it be?

I created some pieces incorporating watercolor/photography/photoshop/illustrator and sent those to her instead of my school and internship work, and thus my freelancing career had lifted off. I now had a confidence boost to get my work out to the world and pushed my way through to get little freelance gigs, and eventually it picked up with hard work and A LOT of perseverance.

You’ve freelanced for a variety of publications and clients - what would you say has been your favorite piece? 
I love doing editorial illustrations because they give you the writing and you can interpret it anyway you want in your style. I think my favorite work has been for YRB Magazine; they trust me and I do not only one style for them, but many different techniques, and not only illustration but design also. So I get to do everything! Oh and I just designed a fashion label and the client picked my favorite one out of the batch of things I gave him, so that was great!

You work in a lot of mediums and will incorporate many techniques together. Why do you favor this approach?
Well, since I am still pretty new at this, I just keep experimenting at different styles and techniques. My clients have a variety of work/styles to choose from, so I feel that I can take on a larger variety of projects and I never get bored! And I definitely get to express my self in many different ways.

You also sell apparel and accessories with your designs on etsy, called AD LOVE Clothing.
I just like doing it all!

With everything on your plate - the magazine, your personal design, etsy, what do you turn to when you need a break?
Well actually I spend my breaks making clothes and accessories for my etsy shop and creating personal artwork to expand my knowledge, experience, and creativity, and to just get it ALL OUT of my head…if I didn’t I think I would go crazy! I really like what I do, and I want to do everything! I also spend my time going to a lot of music shows with my boyfriend. I like to hang out with my family for breaks, lay in the sun, watch movies, go shopping, read Glamour while lying on the couch and eating chocolate.

You can check out Angel D’Amico’s work on the following websites:
www.angeldamico.com
http://angeldamico.etsy.com
and be sure to look through Carpel Tunnel Magazine.  The latest issue features interviews with artist Vanessa Martinelli, jewelry designer Danielle Maveal of danielle maveal jewelry, and Vintage Amore’s Suzy Foster.  Always a great read, though be warned you will likely bookmark far too many sites to your credit card company’s delight.

Topics: at the helm |

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