Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorena Mitchell.
Lorena, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
The path that I took to get to this point in my life wasn’t very smooth. Art has always been a passion of mine, but I didn’t pursue it when I graduated from high school because I didn’t think that I could make a career out of it. This lead to me attending the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Environmental Engineering major for freshman year. I wasn’t very happy during my time there, and a family emergency had me returning home at the end of the school year. I ended up taking a little time off and attended Lone Star College where I rediscovered my passion for art and sparked my interest in animation. However, I still wanted to obtain a four-year degree and gravitated towards the University of Houston Digital Media program. I’ve learned a great deal about film and animation, and I’ve also gained some knowledge about print, web design and packaging design.
Since college graduating college, I now work at Webinopoly, overseeing the design of e-commerce sites, and doing some designing myself.
Some of my other interests besides art include making terrariums, listening to true crime, visiting museums and going to shows with my friends.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I make a lot of digital art – mainly of women. I don’t really have any particular source of inspiration. I usually just create art based on whatever’s caught my interest at the time. I like to work from unique color palettes, and work from combinations that people have put together as “palette challenges.”
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
I think social media has made it both easier and harder for artists to get more visibility these days. Easier in the sense that you don’t have to have a fancy degree to get hired for your dream job and harder because there are so many other artists that have the same wants as you and make it more difficult to stand out from the rest.
I think it’s important for cities to reach out to artists to help beautify public spaces – I know that Houston participates in the Mini Murals program to paint murals on traffic control boxes and in other public spaces.
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?
I’m on Instagram as @renadoesart and Behance here: https://www.behance.net/lorenamitchell. I did the RAW Artists Houston show a few months back and may do another in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.renadoes.art/portfolio.html
- Email: renadoesart@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renadoesart/
- Other: https://www.behance.net/lorenamitchell
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston 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.