Thank you for visiting my website! My name is Michelle Angela Lee. I’m a California based artist and designer behind Angela Xue Jing. I chose to name my small business after two of my great grandmothers, my name in Chinese Li Mi Xue, and another person that is very special to me. My tai Laolao, Li Jing Hong, was an excellent seamstress and sewed all the clothes for my mother growing up. She would hand-sew buttons for a few cents each to support her family in Beijing. Meanwhile, my little Nona Angie was an eccentric woman who wore colorful sweaters and floral skirts and always felt the need to travel.

My art and designs are informed by my roots, my childhood experiences and my nomadic lifestyle. The three creative spheres that I would like to contribute to long-term are children’s books, portrait art and fashion design. While we are encouraged to stick to one niche nowadays to suit “the algorithm,” I can’t imagine giving any of these three passions up. I find these interests can build on each other.

My interest in children’s books started in childhood. As an immigrant who didn’t have a very colorful childhood, my mother fulfilled what she was missing from her own past by reading thousands of children’s books to me. We were obsessed with Madeline, Little House books, and American Girl books. I also adored Eloise at the Plaza and books by Tomie di Paola. Most of my favorite books featured a curious little girl, history and travel, accompanied by a cartoon, live-action movie, and dolls. These books hold a special place in my heart. For the past few years, I have been working on a travel-based children’s book set in Rome, with the goal of creating a series like my childhood favorites. In the meantime, I have illustrated and helped published two children’s books which you can learn more about in the books tab.

Portrait art is also a passion I can’t live without. At school, when we had free reading time, I used to draw my classmates’ portraits instead. While I invested many months into refining my portrait drawing and charcoal skills, which you can view in the Artwork tab, I decided that I wanted to take my portrait art down a more creative, colorful path. I am currently interested in creating Nihonga artwork. This is a Japanese painting style that uses mineral pigments and gives the subject an impressionistic, flat effect. Portrait art allows me to explore darker themes and traumas that children’s illustration does not.

Finally, I fell in love with fashion history when I was 14 years old and brought home a large book on 18th to 20th century fashion from the Kyoto Costume Institute. While I never related much to clothing trends, the swingy, beaded dresses in Downton Abbey and the silk gowns in the Spanish Princess took my breath away. My fashion designs draw from my childhood memories, oriental history and my roots. You can view my fashion designs in the Couture tab.