Today we’d like to introduce you to Triné James.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Georgia and I started drawing when I was very young. I enjoy painting, singing, songwriting, making music, drawing and so much more, and I’ve done all these things my entire life. I took my first painting class in 7th grade, that’s when I knew for a fact I wanted to pursue an art career. I began selling homemade bracelets that same year to my classmates and it eventually led to me selling my first commissioned acrylic painting my senior year, which then led to me opening my website after I graduated high school. My story is, I went to school I came home, I did my chores, I would paint for the day, sing a song, make a video on my tiny camera, or watch the newest TV show. I lived a day to day life and I am still sort of doing the same now. I graduated from Woodland High School, it’s a school in Stockbridge and I transferred there my junior year, before that, I attended DeKalb School of the Arts and that’s where I took more vigorous classes for painting and singing. I continued those classes when I went to Woodland. Then I attended Georgia State University, majoring in Music Technology for half of a semester before I decided I didn’t want to continue schooling anymore, I wanted to become a full-time artist. So now I’m in the stages of working a part-time job to continue to pay the bills and trying to find my grounding with this new label as an artist, a Creator, a director, a painter, a songwriter, a singer; a creative.
Please tell us about your art.
I do a lot of things: I paint, I draw, I direct, I write, I create and score films. Currently, my main source of creativity are my “daily” drawings. I will draw sketches in graphite pencil or sometimes ballpoint ink pen, and I will take a picture of it, send it to my computer and color on my computer with a free website editor called Pixlr. I started doing this because I followed this page on Instagram and she did a daily watercolor painting and it made me want to have some sort of variation on that for myself and challenge myself to draw everyday but it turned into something more because they kind of became journal entries that were drawings so a lot of times there’ll be a hidden message within each picture or something specific from that day that spoke out to me. Like I have one piece that is called “soff eyes” and the reason for the name is because my friend told me my favorite color is green because my eyes are soft or I have a lot of compassion. That stuck out to me because I’d like to think that label is true. Another piece I have called “self cae”, from that day I spent just taking care of myself and making sure that I was okay, you know the whole nine yards, of the daily habits that we tend to rush through when we’re left in a mess of tasks. Or another piece I have call The Healing Component is about how heavily polluted earth’s ocean’s are, whenever I can sell that piece I plan on using a percentage towards an organization that aids in ocean pollution and that donation will continue with every purchase of a print or sticker as well. I hope that people are able to interpret their own message from my artwork, and find things that can stick out to them in ways that are either calming or at least a way to make them happy and especially understood. I know a lot of times I feel much better after doing the piece especially after releasing it because now it’s like that tension is gone for me if there was any tension involved. I spend hours on these pieces and I feel like a lot of times they may seem rushed or to people it may seem like I’m lazy about them, but it’s never the case even if I am days behind and I play catch up I still spend a minimum of an hour on each piece so nothing is unintentional even if there is a “mistake” I use it to my advantage and turn that into part of the masterpiece.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
Check social media, if there’s any famous artists you really admire or look up to, odds are there are other artists in the comments who you can get along with and you may even love their art too. Go to any and all of the art events that you can, especially apply to show your art in these shows. If you see someone sketching alone at a restaurant reach out to them and ask for their @. Connecting with other artists is one third part confidence and two-thirds part commitment. Once you get the confidence to say something to an artist you spot in person or online, commit to that energy and the rest will follow.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I post my daily art on my twitter under one thread, and if it’s a separate piece or painting, I make a separate post about it. On Instagram, I post my daily art on my story, and there is a highlight on my page called 365, every once in a while, I post other finished pieces and other progress pics or one of my favorite daily drawings. If I am ever selling anything, I post sales on my Instagram story, but for the main source of support will be my website, a release date is to be determined in the future.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 4706017377
- Email: airo.mgmtwork@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisairo/
Image Credit:
Towanda James, Angel N.
Getting in touch: VoyageATL 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.
