We were lucky to catch up with Halie Torris recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Halie , we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I developed my self-confidence through diving into my paintings and my creative practice. From a young age, it instilled a confidence in me that felt different than anything else I’d ever experienced. There was nobody telling me to create art… it was an inner calling that was followed and nurtured over time.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Halie Torris and I’m an oil painter based on the coast of Maryland. My focus is to create narratives within the figures of my work by using the power of body language to express feelings of love and longing. The core of my work is to create a safe space and representation in the fine arts for women to love whomever they wish to and to accept their own authentic stories. In 2020, I began working as a full-time artist and creating large, pictorial oil paintings in my studio just fifteen minutes from the ocean. Currently, I am creating a body of work that dives deeper into identity and the complexities of relationships/situationships between women. My future endeavors include public exhibitions and bringing my online community together to view my work and experience it in person.
I share my work online with my community on instagram and tiktok – sharing videos of my painting process and inviting viewers into the creation of each piece. I also sell my work on my website (halietorris.com) as well as paper and canvas prints of my work.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three skills that were most impactful were authenticity, adaptability and spontaneity. Being authentic to the work that I’m creating and painting from the heart has always led me in the right direction. I am a firm believer that if you listen to yourself and not the outside voices throughout your journey you will never be led astray. Adapting to your environment that you’re physically in and also online was an important part of my creative path. Geographically, I wasn’t around a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community, but as I shared online I noticed that didn’t matter and I could still connect to the people that mattered. It’s important to not fear change and to try new approaches when they’re needed. Lastly, spontaneity. My best ideas came during spontaneous moments – moments where I truly allowed myself to be and trust whatever came next. Planning your career as an artist seems very counterintuitive looking back, only because there have been so many twists and turns that I never could’ve prepared for.
Trust your intuition and your gut first… focus on the work… and the rest will come.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.halietorris.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halietorris/channel/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@halietorris_art
- Other: merch: https://halie.store/
Image Credits
Alex Ashman Photography https://www.alexashmanphotography.com/
