We were lucky to catch up with Marlene Solorio recently and have shared our conversation below.
Marlene, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I started creating art at a very young age but my professional education in Art & Design kicked off at an early point in my life back when I was in my Junior year of high school. I would attend an Art Portfolio development program during the weekends to learn the basic foundation of Art & Design such as drawing, painting, sculpting, and the programs I would need specifically for Graphic Design. After that I went on to get 5 more years of experience at CSULB where I earned my BFA in Graphic Design, learning Branding, Packaging, Typography, and more. Post graduation I learned from my internships and jobs how to do much more than design including Illustration, 3D Modeling, building a lifestyle brand, websites, doing Photography, and so on. I’m always eager to learn new things, always taking time to check out some online courses to gain new valuable skills that can come in handy, while also keeping up with what I already know, especially in this fast evolving field.
Marlene, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Marlene Solorio and I am a Xicana artist born and raised in Los Angeles. I began pursuing my passion for the arts at a very young age. In high school I was introduced to Graphic Design by my art teacher and decided to pursue that as a career after seeing all the different types of cool projects I could work on as a designer such as posters for films and bands, apparel, packaging, branding and more. I went on to get my BFA degree and after 5 years I kicked off my design career working for a music label briefly and landing a full time job at a Latino digital media company that changed my life. I developed my art style and began creating work that I was absolutely in love with and helped pave the way for where I am at now. I’ve worked on an array of projects, from murals to apparel, illustrations and graphic design. My art is a reflection of myself, my life here in LA, my cultura Mexicana, community and what I’m most passionate about. It’s my strongest form of expression and I’m proud that it has allowed me create the life I dreamed of as a kid and most importantly to be there to represent and uplift.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Around 2014 I had started a personal art blog on Tumblr, where I would put together a collection of beautiful colorful images I was inspired by, music, quotes, and new illustrations I started to make on my own that were focused around Mexican pop culture. I loved how it all started to look and the style I was creating which motivated me to post consistently. I finally felt a strong connection to my new pieces and I began getting an amazing response from followers who felt the same connection with my designs. I decided to start sharing my art on Instagram for the first time and that’s when my work finally took off and started getting noticed. I had built up a good amount of pieces that would help land one of my favourite jobs as a Designer for a digital media company in LA. I began illustrating more and practicing drawing on my iPad which became one of my absolute favourite tools. My work began to get shared online and I started to connect with other artists, businesses in my community, brands, important organizations and more. I noticed my work was also reaching audiences internationally and that’s when I realised how much an online presence can really help put you out there in the world! Now I’m able to work on projects here in LA and all over. My social media became my online art portfolio and has been one of the best ways to get discovered and get reached out for work projects. So I would highly advice others to take that leap and show your work because you never know who will come across one of your pieces, regardless of how many followers you have. Build something that’s YOU and everything else will fall into place at the right time with perseverance, consistency, and love for what you do.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom to create what you wish and share that gift with others. The fact that even one idea, one piece can inspire and make a positive impact on someone or a whole community is very special. As an artist who has been pursuing this since childhood, being able to do this every day is a dream come true. And being able to share those special moments when I’m working on really cool and amazing projects with my audience, friends, and family is one of the most beautiful feelings. I’ve connected with a lot of amazing people through my work and have gotten the chance to collaborate with them and grow as a community.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marlenesolorio.com
- Instagram: @m2rl3n3