Meet Stephany Valencia of Valencia Art and Design in Southwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephany Valencia.

Stephany, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Now, I know this may sound a little cliche but my art journey all started when I was a little girl. In my early years, I remember at first drawing what looked like potatoes with arms & faces, and I believed so much in myself that I truly felt like I was Picasso. Soon enough, all of my teachers at school noticed my art & constantly told me and my parents my career should without a doubt be in the Arts. I have to say I was always the most creative student in every class, I’m telling you when there was projects to be done I would be the one to go big or go home, I would always get involved in art contest and landed in the top spots. Since then, I realized art was definitely my passion, it was my way of expressing myself & I just enjoyed seeing people around me react to anything I created, it was always my motivation to get my audience to feel some kind of emotion through art, especially if it made them happy.

As I practiced more and got “good” at my craft, friends & family around me would ask for portraits to be done or paintings for their homes. Now at first I was drawing and painting for free since I just really did it from my heart and didn’t expect people to buy it. My family is the one who started telling me I should turn it into a business, so I researched more about the business side of art and that’s when I began to do commission work. So, I finally started to promote my art and create my business out of it, I would post on social media & craigslist & thankfully my friends & family were so supportive that it has gotten me to where I am now. The craziest moment in my art journey was when one of the Victoria Secret Models contacted me & loved the portrait I had on my Instagram I had of her, so she came in town, I met up with her & she loved it. My jaw dropped and I could not believe it but anything is possible! Ever since my art has been bought from so many places as far as Italy & Mexico. Now that I’m officially Valencia Art & Design, I have so many more art shows I’m planning, commissions, logos for brands & collaborating with other artists. I’m just really happy that I’m able to express myself through art and help others put their own visions on canvas or paper. Everyone and every story I’ve come across inspires me and makes me a better artist.

Has it been a smooth road?
With anything that is worth pursuing, success doesn’t come easy or without some form of struggle. Robert Henri said, ” a work of art is the trace of a magnificent struggle…” For me personally, my main roadblock was myself. There were times where I just completely had zero motivation to create. I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to my artwork which is funny because naturally I’m a very “go with the flow” type of person and frustration would just come over me; in my eyes, I felt like it just wasn’t “good enough” or my “vision” wasn’t being met. I have to say I was and can tend to be pretty hard on myself. Even though, everyone around me kept telling me how good my art was & how talented I was, at times it was difficult for MYSELF to believe that. Eventually, I had to really take a step back and realize I’m the only one stopping myself from doing what I was meant to be doing; which is creating. It’s a scary thought now looking back that sometimes, we can get in our own way towards success, negative thoughts can do that. Soon enough, I realized there’s no right and wrong in art, art is chaos taking shape. Once I let go of being the “perfect” artist, my creativity started to come into fruition. One of the hardest struggles in my art career has also been my physical health, I have an autoimmune issue that affects my joints & there were times where I could barely move my wrist because the pain was so unbearable, my physical impairment made me really angry but I believe because of that & all of those emotions, it created more meaning to my work and made me appreciate it even more. I am now treating the issue in regards to my health, and let me tell you, you really do appreciate everything in your life in those moments & that helped me a lot to really see the beauty in everything. Thankfully, all of that is in the past now and it has been such a wonderful learning experience and I know it will continue to be even greater.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Valencia Art and Design story. Tell us more about it.
I’m the lead artist for Valencia Art & Design, I specialize in anything creative from illustrations, logos for businesses, artwork for your home, portraits, calligraphy for signage, etc. Art is so versatile that is why I’m just so in love with it. I can proudly say what sets me apart is the fact I can get inspiration from anywhere and everything. I don’t necessarily have a set style since I typically create on what I feel like creating AT THAT MOMENT, which is why I believe my clients like coming to me since I can really make everything really personal for them. I take custom artwork seriously, big or small down to every detail, my clients each have different stories to tell & I love really seeing their visions come to life while I create it for them. Whenever I design & create, I put my all into it, & make sure the client is happy with what they wanted. My portraits, I have to say are the more popular request, I’m very detailed with portraits down to the glimmer of eye gaze. Ultimately, I want my clients and audience to really feel inspired and to awaken some sort of feeling through art. I remember once the great artist Pablo Picasso was asked what his paintings meant, he said, “Do you ever know what the birds are singing? You don’t. But you listen to them anyway.” It’s the same with art, it is important to just look and feel.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Big things! Working on collaborating with other local artists, really planning a SOLO art show (you guys will be invited) and hopefully getting more into the interior design part of art as well as fashion. I have many goals for my business & collaborating with other major businesses. The future is very bright and im ready for it!

Contact Info:

• Phone: 713-725-5713
• Email: valenciaartdesign@gmail.com

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