My Story

Hello, I'm Manda! I'm an artist and web developer living in the heart of downtown Seattle with my husband, dog and two very loud little birds. I'm from all over but have lived in Seattle for the past 10 years. Previously, I bounced around the east coast.

I've been drawing and painting since as far back as I can remember. I briefly pursued a career in art while living in New York, but now a days it's mostly a hobby for my own personal enjoyment and expression. Web development came into my life while I was still in high school and I've been doing it professionally since 2011. I focus specifically on front-end development but will dab in back-end or application development at times. I enjoy situations where I can combine the development and art facets of my life into one fun, creative project.

I'm an enthusiastic aquarists (not to be confused with Aquarius) and fan of deep sea squishy things. The ocean and all its inhabitants inspire a lot of my art work, though I'm completely terrified of the ocean. I tend to be attracted to things that I find horrifying. One day I hope to overcome this fear and do some deep ocean encounters, but for now its great nightmare creativity fuel.

I'm a bit of a Japanophile stemming from an early interest in Japanese music. I participated in a Japanese language culture study abroad in college. My experience there really solidified my appreciation for a country and culture that is so different from my own. I became fascinated with the customs, traditions and folklore. This fascination inspired some of my first web development projects and through a shared interest is how I met my husband. Safe to say it's been a huge factor in my life.

When I'm not coding or creating you'll find me chilling at home with my many pets. My dog's name is Soma (after the video game). She inspires my #ShibaStruggles sketches with her daily antics and attitude. I have two birbs (not a typo) who are both adorable and annoying. It is never a dull or quiet moment in my house hold.

In case it wasn't obvious enough from browsing my site, I also have an intense love for rabbits. I rescued my first rabbit, Bunnbun, when I moved to the west coast. She single handedly sparked my intense love of rabbits.

Fun Facts

• I grew up on an island in the North Pacific Ocean.
• I am extremely short.
• Before moving into web development, my full time job was managing a pet store.
• I volunteered at the Seattle Aquarium for a time.
• I pair pizza and potato chips with a glass of milk.
• While I'm heavily into VK, rock and metal, I'll be damned if I don't know the lyrics to every Spice Girls song.
• If I weren't doing web development I'd either run a bunny cafe or open up a shop called "The Betta Bowl" to sell fancy betta fish.
• My current favorite Japanese word is maboroshi (幻 or まぼろし: phantom, vision, illusion, dream, apparition).
• I'm totally cool with insects... unless they're dead.
• Pineapple on pizza is delicious. Change my mind.