Age - How old are you?
I'm currently 22 years old; I was born in 1980.
When did you start your site?
I made my first website when I was 17. Around two and a half years ago I moved to my own domain, at the beginning of 2001 I purchased JinWicked.com.
Marital Status?
I'm not looking for anyone.
Occupation - What kind of work do you do?
I'm an artist and illustrator, and I also do professional custom picture framing and design. I can frame almost anything.
Hobbies - What do you like to do, besides keep this site?
I enjoy travel, food, photography, history, computer science, psychology, sociology and religion. I'm a workaholic so I don't have a lot of spare time. I also like going to theatres and playing pool. I listen to mostly classical music, ambient electronica and rock. I love the Beatles and Pink Floyd.
Location - Where are you from? Where are you now?
I'm currently living and working in Houston, but I also travel quite a bit.
Why did you start writing your Web site?
To share my work with the rest of the world.
Why do you write a site about you?
Because it would be silly to write a site about someone else with my artwork on it!
Do you communicate with readers of your site?
Yes, I answer all my e-mail and I also answer any mail sent to my P.O. Box as long as they send me an SASE (and sometimes if they don't.)
How much email feedback do you receive from your site? Is it mainly positive or negative?
Quite a bit... anywhere from a dozen or so messages a day on average, to almost 100+/day if I happen to get linked from somewhere that gets really heavy traffic that week/month.
Have you met any new friends because of the site?
Yes, quite a few, including two of the individuals that take photographs of me for my site.
Has your motivation changed over time?
I've become more motivated the longer I've been doing this.
How has it changed your life?
It's made me more focused on my artwork and my long term goals for it. Since last year I've been doing this as an official business, so I've also had to learn all the backend things, like accounting, taxes, and the other fine details of running a business. It's also quite strange when you start getting fan mail. I've been fortunate enough to know a few of the artists that I admire myself, and they're all great to their fans, so I try to use them as a model when responding to the letters I get. Some of my favourite letters are from people who used to draw and found my site inspired them to start again, and from kids who maybe don't have the best situation at school or home, writing to tell me that seeing my site and someone my age accomplishing what I have, to be very uplifting and give them some hope.
Do your friends and family know you keep this site/read it? If so have you had any really negative experiences as a result? If not why?
Most of my co-workers know about it; my boss checks my LiveJournal like twice a day. It's kind of weird at first but it doesn't stay that way for long. I haven't really had any negative experiences. My family is sort of technologically impaired, so they've only seen what I've shown them. My dad was amazed with CafePress and the fact that I had mugs with my name on them. So that gives you a bit of an idea what my situation is like.
How has your Web site benefited you? Your friends? Or total strangers?
Well, aside from making me a modest amount of money selling my original work, it's made me some new friends, gained me a small bit of notoriety, and as I already mentioned, I've gotten some great letters. I'm still waiting for someone to recognize me at the mall.
If you had to do it over again from the beginning, what would you change?
I don't think I would change anything, at least not regarding my site. It's kind of evolved into what it is now over the last three years or so, and I've learned something with each change I've made.
