Check out Talia Spencer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Talia Spencer.

Talia, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My journey started when I was four years old, with MS paint. I drew pictures using the mouse of an old flower-power mac from the ’90s and fell in love with expressing my internal visions through art.

When I was 17, I began writing novels, because really the act of drawing was only a way of expressing worlds & stories. Novels had more scope to me than painting.

At 19, by chance, I pitched my novel to Rick Carter. The story was bad, but he was able to see the core of the theme & related enough to become my mentor.

At his recommendation, I studied Entertainment Design at Art Center College of Design for three terms and dropped out to begin working.

Since then, I’ve been working in the film industry doing cinematic concept art. (My specialties are keyframes, environments, vehicles, creatures & props.)

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I believe that stories uphold a society’s culture. Great worlds & themes can inspire people to remember their inner power, or the inherent beauty surrounding us at all times. The ways in which you can use stories to uplift are infinite. & Everyone knows what it’s like to go to a great movie & come out inspired to your core.

My art is just a way of expressing a story. My technical training is how I express that story accurately, beautifully, and with precise craft.

Specifically, though, I create the worlds that the story lives in.

I’m given a character, & I have to think, “How does the character interact with this space?”. Is my character surrounded by books, & why? Which books are the most worn? Which ones never get put back on the shelf? What is the pattern of this being, what’s their struggle, what’s their highest ideal, their lowest demon? & How do I express these with objects and shape, light and color?

& then it’s just a matter of having enough grit to sit and paint, enough efficiency not to spend time on things that are unnecessary, and enough good taste.

Do it with love.

The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Well, my advice is to give everything to it & to have faith.

Your art may be romantic and magical, but it happens in the real world. You’re in competition with all the other artists (as a commercial artist specifically) & you can’t expect to make money at it if you’re not in the top percentile in terms of skill.

That means you have to work harder and smarter than everyone else. That’s the only thing you can control, besides advertising yourself online/networking/having the right circle of friends.

But mainly your day job eventually MUST become some kind of art if you want to make it. If you’re spending any time working a job that isn’t artistic, you’re already 8 hours behind every person who has an art job who also spends their lunch breaks painting personal work. This sort of factors into who you’re surrounded by as well. If you’re working an art job, so are your coworkers, and they’ll share with you their ethics & their technical know-how.

I know what it’s like to think you can’t spend all your time doing art because you need enough money to eat. There were times in school where I went for three days without eating and was only saved by free pizza day. But you have to make a choice, either you want to do art for a living so badly that you’ll sacrifice everything, or you don’t. That may sound harsh, but that’s the thought process that got me where I am.

It’s different for everyone obviously, but for me, it’s boiled down to giving 100% & not making ANY excuses.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Taliaspencer.net

@taliaaspencer

My Instagram is where I post everything I do that I deem good enough. My website is more for employers to deem if I’m good enough. 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: Taliaspencer.net
• Email: Taliaspencer1@gmail.com
• Instagram: @taliaaspencer

Image Credit:
Alex Cunningham

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.