We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Torres. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.

Stephanie , appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have always held an interest in art, but I believe I learned to fully pursue my potential and learn much faster due to the education I received from my talented professors at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, who each have experience in multiple aspects of being an artist. I was mentored on everything from the process of making the art to showing how to make sure your art is visible in the best way to your audience and so much more in between. I am so grateful for the close attention my professors gave me in the short time I was their student. Among these lessons, I learned that the bottom of your ceramic pot should look just as nice or nicer than the outside. I learned that adding layers to your artwork will show you who you are as an artist and help the viewer get lost in the details of your thoughts. I learned that being an artist involves working until you are satisfied with what your audience will read into your piece. This was a great experience accompanied by a part time tutor job in an elementary school, which added some obstacles in the sense of adding more to an already full schedule. It took time away from the studio but it also gave me an insight into teaching art to these young artists. This tutoring job gave me the bright opportunity to teach my own class full of students and show them basic techniques including how to paint a landscape for the very first time. These moments inspired me to become a great teacher of artists.

Stephanie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Stephanie Torres is an artist who makes highly decorated porcelain pottery and highly detailed drawings and oil paintings. Currently, she has been teaching art to middle school students in a public school where she is teaching all kinds of mediums to her students.

Her vases and floral pottery are inspired by the garden her mother cultivated as she grew up. Stephanie grew to love that garden and a love for nature bloomed. She captures the delicacy of the roses like the veins by pressing the soft clay into the wrinkles of her palm to replicate their organic patterns and the similarity between live nature. Then carves out thin lines to guide your eyes through the garden on her pottery just to capture your attention with the dots of watered down clay.

While Stephanie learned ceramics she also learned how to paint in the university of Houston Clear – Lake as she pursued a Bachelors of Fine Arts with a Studio Concentration. Here she learned how to use oil paint, a soft fluid slow-drying paint that makes blending so much easier, or being able to add a soft glaze of color to brighten an image. Stephanie mixes surrealism and realistic paintings in her portfolio. She also enjoys painting portraits of loved ones.

“I aim for people to think beyond the art they see but how it was made, the hands of an artist and their thought process.”

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Teaching and making art something I thought I would be able to handle with a 50/50 amount of time. I started teaching 3 months after graduation, I thought I would be able to teach and go home and work on my art. It was a wishful way of thinking that I work towards everyday. My first year teaching was difficult as you might hear many people say, I had to learn what lessons were right for my students, something we could all enjoy while maintaining a well managed classroom and an uplifting environment. I had to learn how to build a classroom culture where students feel comfortable asking questions and exploring the art media in a variety of ways. These past three year of my teaching career have been incredible, honestly a dream come true. However, as a teacher you have to be your best student and learn from the good and the bad you do. I have learned to manage these two passions of mine and I am currently in the process of building my home studio. Throughout these years I continue to make work in small batches and mostly for family and friends, this helps my spirit stay alive.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey? Ultimately, I have a mission to own and run a successful multimedia art studio. I would love to combine my love for art and teaching and help people create art with guidance and hopefully teach them enough for them to create on their own. This studio would also give young artists an opportunity to have a quiet, clean place for them to continue their art even after they have graduated from art school. This idea has been a topic of conversation with my good friends and I since we met in college. Finding a place with all of the heavy equipment one might need to create a certain art medium might be difficult to find. This multimedia art studio I feel would be the best way to help people cultivate and find joy in their own creations.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: stephanietorres.studio
• Facebook: stephanietorres.studio
• Twitter: @BubbleOfJoyArts

Image Credits
@sunlitceramicandphoto