Metacom Creative is the creative space of Ryan Cowles.
Forget you Ryan, Who Was Metacom?
This is a work in progress. I need to get better at writing about myself..
I am a 22 year old artist, designer, web developer, photographer and maybe a few other things. I live in Springfield, Massachusetts / Los Angeles, CA, however I work for clients across the world. I guess being a bit of a nerd when I was younger paid off. Kidding, I’ve always been cool. (I’ve been told I have a dry sense of humor. Or maybe it was sarcastic.. Just take it with a grain of salt.)
I work for a Design/Print Shop in Southwick Massachusetts called Southwoods. I also do Freelance work, anything ranging from Business cards to Web Design to Photography. Have a project coming up? I’d love to help!
I have been interested in design and photography for just about as long as I can remember. I made my first websites on Angelfire when I was in elementary school, and I like to think I’ve progressed a bit since those days. I love drawing inspiration from the world around me, and try to find an appreciation for everything.
I’m horrible when it comes to talking about myself, so when I asked Alanna how to describe myself she gave me the following: I am Awesome, Cute, Hamsum, I have a cool earring and I can grow a beard.
Want to learn something about me? Ask me a question!
I come from mixed blood. I am maternally French and Mik’maq and paternally Irish and Pocomtuc, although my Pocomtuc relatives were pushed from their land and began to live with the Ojibwe’s in the late 1600′s. I look to my roots and you can easily see many influences from my Native American heritage in my designs.
Who was Metacom?
Why did I choose Metacom Creative as my title? Here’s a brief explanation. If you would like to learn more in depth, there are plenty of websites out there that can provide more facts and information.
Metacom or Metacomet was a “chief” or sachem of the Wampanoags. He was Massasoit’s son, and he was given the name Philip by the colonists, and his older brother Wamsutta was given the name Alexander. When Wamsutta died, Metacom became sachem. From the beginning, he sought to live peacefully with the colonists. As the colonies grew, and the Iroquois Federation expanded, the entire Algonquian Federation, including the Wampanoags, were losing their homeland. in 1671 the English forced Metacom to turn over arms and ammunition, and subjected him to English law. About four years later the constant encroachment became too much. Metacom stood up for his people, and King Philip’s War began.
Fun Fact (Kind of)
I was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, which is kind of ironic.
“[during King Philip's War]..the Pocomtuc tribe attacked Springfield and destroyed more than half the town on October 5, 1675.”
Yep, my ancestors burnt my birthplace to the ground. Hm.. Although I spent a lot of time in the city, I’ve always spent as much time as I could in nature . I’ve walked countless miles on the Metacomet trail, and I haven’t found the same contentment I find in the woods anywhere else. It’s hard to live simply in the age of technology though.. Need a web site?
Let’s get back on track now..
Metacom sought to unify all the tribes, to fight for their homeland. Unfortunately this never came to be. Many Algonquin tribes fought for their homeland and their rights to exist as they had for hundreds of years. Metacom was killed on August 12, 1676 by a praying Indian. His wife and son were sold into slavery, and his head was mounted on a stake. I pay homage to Metacom, my Wampanoag brother.
“We were the first in doing good to the English and the English the first in doing wrong” – Metacom
Stay tuned.. I’ll be updating and adding to this!
Any questions or comments? Please let me hear them, leave a comment below!











That has got to be the most interesting “about” page I have ever read. I really enjoyed this. Your writing appears to be just fine. I wouldn’t worry about it at all.
Thanks Ray! Writing about myself has got to be on of the most difficult things for me to do, haha. I have a feeling this page will always be a work in progress. Thanks for the kind words!
I am partial Native American decent as well. I’ve just started getting into HTML/CSS and would like to try a little bit of design and eventually it would be nice to do this for a living. Where would you recommend starting for someone who is totally new at this and no money to buy expensive software? Any books, as I love reading would be great also. Thank you, Brian
Hi Brian,
HTML and CSS are the building blocks for web design, and the great thing is, there are countless free resources out there. I would recommend looking up simple tutorials about coding a basic website from scratch and start there. Once you have a good understanding of HTML / CSS, that will open doors to so many other options. Personally, I find using WordPress and coding custom themes to be an invaluable resource for web design.
In regards to software, there are a lot of open source programs that can be used in place of their expensive counterparts. Gimp is an open source image editing program. It’s very similar to Photoshop, with a price tag of $0. As for coding, I use Komodo Edit, which also has a free version. Although it is not WYSIWYG like Dreamweaver, it will provide you with code syntax highlighting, and that will help you significantly. If you can code without a WYSIWYG editor, you will really develop strong coding skills.
I hope this gives you a little bit of a starting point, and if you have any questions I’d be happy to try and help you out. Good luck!