The Get Inspired! Project – Angela Duen

Listen to the interview here!

Angela Duen

 

Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I am honored to have in front of me Angela Duen. Hi Angela, and welcome to the Project.

Angela Duen: Hi, Toni. How are you?

Toni: I’m great. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Angela: That’s such a hard question to answer, it really is.

Toni: It is. I agree.

Angela: I don’t want to come off and say, “I’m a mom, I’m a this or that,” but I am a mom and my husband’s name is Ben Caldwell. I have three gorgeous children. I have twins and a newborn son who is four months old.

Toni: Congratulations.

Angela: Thank you so much. I’m a fashion designer by day, and at night I’m a mom and I’m a crafter, an organizer, a runner-around type person. I just keep busy in my life.

Toni: You are a busy woman.

Angela: Yes, exactly.

Toni: Let’s go into the first question of the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?

Angela: Inspiration for my day job, I do a lot of shopping in the fashion industry. We call it ‘inspiration shopping’ and what it really is is trend shopping. Trends are mass. Everyone is doing the same thing. That’s what a trend is. But inspiration to me, for me it comes from the individual. It’s what a person does in their small or even in their big way to change not just the world but their world.

My husband is a super talented illustrator. He has his own unique style. It’s not mainstream popular, but it’s unique and it’s his. He has fans, and he has people that like it and appreciate it, and he sticks to it. He doesn’t ever try to change it to make it more popular or so more people like it. It’s just what he does. That’s what he’s passionate about. That inspires me.

I have several friends who have just taken up running. They do it to make themselves better, to make themselves healthier. That inspires me. It’s not just an artistic thing. It’s the way you live. It’s what people are passionate about.

Toni: So it’s almost a driver.

Angela: Yes.

Toni: Whether it’s a driver to be inspired by the work that you do, but then to stay true to the work that you do.

Angela: Exactly.

Toni: That’s what inspires you. Not to be influenced by others to change what originally inspired you.

Angela: Absolutely.

Toni: Okay. How do you put that mentality that you see that you love as far as inspiration into practice here in Berks County?

Angela: I have a really good friend. Her name is Rebecca Botven. I make jewelry and she does children’s clothes. She’s extremely talented – really, really talented. We got together one day and we founded a group called The Indie Girls. We produce craft shows. Mom crafters, artists, individuals who have really, really great talent – talent that I truly admire. We call these people to us. We drag them to us, whether they’re kicking and screaming or willingly. We seek out these people and we cajole them and invite them and recruit them, and then a lot of times we end up mentoring them. They join us, and we organize them.

We put together this craft festival. At first we were small, and we’re still small, but we’re beginning to be known. I think what we’re known for is our unique, handmade, locally crafted items – jewelry, things for your loved ones. Really special things that when you buy them and take them home for yourself or you buy them and you give them to somebody, they really mean something. It’s not disposable. It’s something that is truly special and you treasure.

In my head we provide a place for the community to discover these individuals. A lot of times it’s the mom who’s sitting home and knitting and her kids are wearing them or her friend’s kids are wearing them, but why shouldn’t other people be able to find these things? I think that’s our main goal is to give these truly talented people exposure.

Toni: So these are women who are inspired to create, and they are staying true to what inspires them in what they’re creating, and it’s their own stuff, and how that turns you on as far as being inspired into practice is creating a platform for them to display that inspiration in those crafts.

Angela: Exactly.

Toni: That’s pretty cool.

Angela: Yes.

Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?

Angela: In terms of what I tend to like, I tend to gravitate towards people who get things done. I’m an action sort of person, and execution – when you say you’re going to do something, you do it, you follow through, and you create something.

When I first moved here three years ago, one of my first friends was Beverly Houck. She works at the Yocum Art Institute. She really inspired me, because she could literally pull together a production, a show, a play with two pieces of tape, a stick of gum, and a $5 bill. She’s really resourceful, and when I met her I was really inspired by that. I still am. She works with kids, she works with teenagers, and that really inspires me. She’s a true Pennsylvania native.

My husband inspires me. We met when we were in college. He’s a super kind person, a great, great person, and really talented as well. Just a beautiful illustrator. He’s not a Berks County native, but that’s okay. He lives here now.

Toni: That’s right.

Angela: He really, truly inspires me. The roster of mom crafters, throwers, ceramic people, and artists we put together for the Indie Girls, they really inspire me as well, because like I said, they’re passionate about what they do. They’re skilled and good at what they do. They do things that I can't do, so I admire that.

One of the girls, Jeanette, is a knitter. People always assume that I can knit and sew because I am in the fashion industry, but I call myself a ‘white knuckle knitter’ – it is not relaxing for me. My fingers get all contorted. My knitting is tight and it’s terrible. It’s a mess. I never can finish anything. She makes these beautiful things that are functional and warm and loving, so that inspires me.

Toni: So it’s really interesting for me to hear your answers, because the common theme from this interview for me is that the resourcefulness, the staying true to your passion will either inspire you and also are people who you watch and you learn from. That’s amazing. What would you like your legacy to be?

Angela: This is a really interesting question, because I’m just little old me. Legacy is such a big word. For me, I don’t crave fame, fortune, money, or anything like that. I just want to be known as good at what I am. I want to be a good mom, a loving wife, a loyal friend, a hardworking employee. I want to always devote myself to whatever it is that I have committed myself to do. I don’t sign on to do a lot of things, because I don’t want to stretch myself too thin. I want to make sure that I can spend the time and the energy and give what I can give to those things that I’ve said yes to and those things that I’m passionate about. To just be loyal, kind, talented, hardworking, and actually funny. I always want to be funny, because I think a sense of humor goes a long way to be remembered in life.

Toni: I’ll tell you what – legacy, it doesn’t matter how big you are. It doesn’t matter who you are. It’s individual to individual. Your answer to the legacy question was beautiful.

Angela: Thank you.

Toni: I thank you for that, and I also thank you for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.

Angela: Thank you so much. It was really a pleasure to be here.