Meet Victoria (Tori) Clark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria (Tori) Clark.

Victoria (Tori), let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in a very artistically inclined family; painters, musicians, & designers. So far, I’m the only one to move it from a hobby to a full-time career. I actually did not take any drawing classes until my first year of college. Beginning as a business management major at CSU-Fullerton, I had hopes of going to a culinary institute to run my own pastry shop. I soon snapped out of that dream when I failed two business courses in my first year. After taking one Art 101 class, I totally fell in love and made a pretty rash decision to switch to an Art major with a concentration in illustration (with absolutely no experience). Oh and I may or may not have written in my concentration before I had permission to do so. Oops!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Illustration in general, felt very tumultuous for me. I’ve lost jobs, worked with unrelenting clients, been furloughed from jobs, and even worked three jobs while going to school full time at one point.

One incident stands out the most though: After a car accident during my senior year of art school, I actually completely fractured my dominant hand, needing six screws in the middle of my hand. I was halfway through the semester already and was advised to continue going to my classes. I had to do my figure drawing, figure painting, advanced illustration, and darkroom photography classes with one hand. I felt like all of the progress I finally made was wiped clean. But it also gave me an excuse to finally see art as not a future career choice and not see the work I make for my classes and portfolio work and just … have fun with no pressure.

I’m ambidextrous now and I paint with both hands now though so that’s cool!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I actually just accepted a position as a graphic designer for a luxury eyewear brand called DITA. I also do freelance illustration for fun projects like portraiture, merchandise design for screen printing, and concept art in general.

I would say that people have tended to seek out my personal style nowadays which is super cool. I’m proud to always be putting out work that makes people happy. My personal work varies in tone but a lot of my favorite clients are female-owned/run businesses from everything to roller skate shops and photographers.

I like to think I have a knack for reading my clients’ minds when it comes to their visions.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Actually, I’m putting out a children’s book soon! I had the opportunity to partner with the writer/friend/legendary producer, Kathleen Zuelch, to bring some light to children’s mental health awareness.

I also continuously work with my amazing artist friend Maxwell Hernandez (@mxhphoto) to put together themed shoots for inspiration and fun content.

In the future, I’m looking to still collaborate with high fashion and music industry to eventually do creative direction!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://toriclarkart.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: toriclarkart

Image Credit:
Maxwell Hernandez (@mxhphoto)

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.