About Amanda Hawkins…
I design and build websites, paint, draw, embroider and pretend to know how to sew. In all mediums I enjoy dirty, grimy, minimal and abstract work. I love hiding things in the background and building it up with layers of texture and bursts of bright color. My interest in art peaked in the tenth grade, on the fateful year I decided to take two classes: one in chemistry and one in art. Long story short –creating collages out of odds and ends and painting sure trumped memorizing the Periodic Table!
I graduated from college in 2002, a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts with a graphic design emphasis. In 2005 I received an Associates degree in Digital Graphics and Web Design. I laugh at the title of the degree now, we spent a total of one week building a website at the end of the last class.
I bought the domain, http://www.ahhh-design.com, in April of 2005. While *trying* to put up a simple portfolio of design work I was introduced to CSS and promptly fell in love.
In 2006, I themed my first WordPress site while working full-time as a print designer — it looked awesome and I was so flippin’ proud. A local web design firm was also impressed, so much so they offered me an actual web design job. YES, PLEASE! I spent two years with them learning everything I could about html and CSS. I loved every second of it. In my spare time I became fairly obsessed with WordPress theming – and started freelancing full-time in January, 2011.
June of 2011 we had a baby girl, she is amazing! I continued doing client work in my *spare* time with a lot of help from my awesomely supportive family.
In early 2013 I stopped accepting client work to focus on The Craftiest WP Theme – a workshop and WordPress theme to help crafty DIY’ers take control of their websites and code. Coming very soon!
Here are some nice things my friends and colleagues have to say about me::
“Amanda was fantastic to work with! I love my website and it is generating the results I need. She listened, offered terrific ideas, stayed in touch along the way and continues to be helpful long after my site launch. She is quick to respond which is a a breath of fresh air these days. I enthusiastically recommend Amanda and will use her services again should I have the need.”
“I’d like to give a special shout out to Amanda Hawkins, someone who has never met me, yet seems to know me fairly well. She is responsible for waringis.com’s new look, which I finally feel like represents me. It’s unreal. ”
“In the past, I’ve worked with some bad designers and some terrible designers. And while they all can make a pretty website, rarely do they “get it” when it comes to incorporating even some of the most basic parts of the technical side in WordPress. Amanda’s designs are great, AND she “gets it” so as not to overcomplicate the design process or the end result. She rocks!”
Amanda’s work is incredibly versatile. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes tragic, it seems always imbued with a feeling similar to nostalgia – something bittersweet and much more perfect than the reality surrounding us.
- Erica Engel
Hawkins’ work is nothing short of inspiring. Each piece, perhaps a reflection of childhood innocence that seems to represent a little piece of all of us that was lost so long ago we’d forgotten it had even existed in the first place. Colorful, optimistic, imaginary, haphazard, but so very meticulous, her work consistently succeeds in inspiring me to throw every rule I’ve ever learned, every symbol and representation of adulthood out the window, and grab a box of crayons and go to town.
- Rebecca Tillett, rtillett.com/
Amanda Hawkins is singularly talented at the coupling of both intimate and abstract. She is able to evoke the uniqueness from everyday objects and the audience at once enjoys her creations as a secret to be kept and a treasure to share.
- Marc Bourdon, myspace.com/thesmileease
Amanda’s work is sweet and sincere; she has a divine sense of color and texture. I am so honored to have a piece of her work in my home.
- Heather Murphy, heatherlmurphy.com/
Don’t let Amanda’s calm, quiet, demeanor fool you. Take one tiny peek at her artwork and it’s a true insight to the interworking of enchanting color, intricate scribbles and witty phrases. I have had the pleasure of working with Amanda, and find her to be nothing less of a delight. Professional and structured, her creative ideas were inspiring to our department and she became a pivotal member of the group. As textured and multi-faceted as her work, Amanda has become one of my dear friends and most admired acquaintances.
- Michelle Conery
