Who Am I?

Well, gosh, I'm still figuring that out!  

I'll let you in on a fundamental aspect of myself that is relevant to this site. I'm an artist.  It's a part of me that is so essential I think I'd be lost without it.  

According to St. Irenaeus, "The glory of God is man fully alive."  Art makes me feel fully alive.

I Am A Graphic Designer

One area of art that particularly appeals to me is graphic design.

As an artist, I can definitely attest to the potential towards the carefree "messiness" that is stereotypically part of the creative process, because I certainly have my hair-flecked-with-paint, floor-covered-in-charcoal, desk-strewn-with-paint-brushes moments that lead to inspired and beautiful works of art.  

But I also love order, logic, and organization.  I like everything to be neat and in it's proper, logical place.  I love to make lists (so many lists) and diagrams and reorganize my room.

It's the combination of these two traits that have lead me to be passionate about graphic design.  I believe the point of functional graphic design is to take a mess or information and make sense of it all, organize it in a logical and intuitive way, and present it to the audience in an aesthetically pleasing way.  This is not only my goal, but my passion.

I Am A Photographer

The other area of art that I love the most is photography.

“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” - Destin Sparks

I think it's so amazing that, with the click of a button, a moment can be frozen in time forever. As I'm sure my friends would tell you, I don't take that miracle lightly. One of my professors said on the first day of our photography class that the best camera is the one you have with you. Whether on my iPhone or dSLR, I am always taking pictures. I have thousands of photos saved on my computer, thousands of moments that I've frozen in time and get to treasure as long as I live.

I have been taking pictures ever since I got my pink Barbie camera when I was about 6 years old. I have come a long way since then. Now I use a Nikon D3100 and have lots of lenses and accessories to go with it.

One of my favorite kinds of photography is portraiture. I love to capture the genuine expressions and emotions of the subject. I don't think that there's anything more beautiful than a person smiling and laughing with genuine joy. I also love to capture the interactions between subjects in a shoot, the love in the eyes of an engaged couple, their goofiness with each other, the frustration of a mother whose children won't pose as she wants them to, etc. I feel honored to not only be able to witness these precious moments between people, but to capute the moments to share with them.

I Am Rachel Marie Baldwin

And I'd really love to get to know you, too!