Hi, Averi here!
Recently Jacky and I had talked about the idea of sharing our creative journeys. We both consider ourselves artists and creatives and as all of us do, have really evolved into our creative styles over time.
I got really lucky because my mom has saved literally EVERYTHING I have ever drawn or made...
So without further ado, here is my Creative Journey.
My entire life I've considered myself an artist. I've been drawing from the time I was able to hold a pencil, and I have always had a desire to create. My early drawings were mostly of myself, my family, my pets, and different animals.
Here are some of my drawings from age 3 through early elementary school.
In 5th and 6th grade I was absolutely obsessed with Elsie Larson's (then Elsie Flannigan) blog, A Beautiful Mess. Back then Elsie had a ton of really quirky minimalistic art that she would do and that's something I tried to emulate at this point in time. This was also the introduction to indie music for me, I vividly remember watching the music videos for Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear and Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie on her blog.
Here is some of my art from that time.
Later in middle school I got really into pencil portraits, which really set the pace for the rest of my creative journey. During this phase of my life I was drawing constantly and my art improved drastically.
Here is some of my work from 7th and 8th grade.
This artistic style carried it's way through early high school for me as well.
Here are some of my drawings from 9th and 10th grade.
Later in high school I took AP art. This time really pushed me to try new things (shoutout Ms. Waugh and Ms. Dallam!). At this point I started working more with watercolor and colored pencil, and admittedly drew a few too many Birdy portraits. Here are some pieces I did my Junior and Senior year.
After high school I carried on my watercolor portraits, here are some of my pieces from age 18 and 19.
In my 20th year of life I started doing graphic design for Gold Hand Girls, woooo! (find em on insta @goldhandgirls) This honestly changed everything. I've always had a love for music and this gave me such a great outlet and I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now without it. Before this I had almost NO graphic design experience or knowledge whatsoever.... lol. Basically, I got the adobe suite and bullshitted my way through Illustrator for a bit, then started pursuing a graphic design degree and took courses.
Here are some of my graphics from that time:
Also around this time I got really into concert photography shooting for Gold Hand Girls. This really solidified my love for music. I had always been into music, I took piano lessons, learned the guitar and played cello in orchestra, and I also frequented local shows, but this was a new in for me. I had also dabbled in photography before, mostly taking photos with my friends, but this really challenged me to learn more about my camera and get interested in photo.
Here are some of my photos from 2017 and 2018.
Two years ago I got really into painting, and last summer I really went in on it. If you haven't noticed a theme here yet, I'm really into trying new things. Honestly through this I learned a lot, and found a love for self portraiture. There's something really intimate and self reflective in staring at a painting of yourself for 15 hours. I plan to do one self portrait a year to capture where I'm at in that point in time.
Here are some of my paintings.
I've really gotten into photography this year. I've been experimenting with film and digital and have been shooting groups, landscapes, and my friends. One of the things I've shot a lot of this year are portraits, which I really truly have enjoyed.
Here are some of my portraits.
As for recently, I've been working on Lovers Spit Mag! Jacky and I have been truly pouring our hearts into this publication and I couldn't be happier. I've been taking a lot of live music and band photos, getting REALLY into film, and doing some graphic design for the magazine.
My creative journey has been a lot of trial and error, a lot of trying new things, and a lot of vulnerability. We all grow and we all change and that is so beautiful!!
Wanna share your creative journey? email us at loversspitmag@gmail.com !