Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariah Smith.
Mariah, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born and raised in North Texas. I’ve always had a more creative outlook on life which lead me to attend the University of North Texas. Over the course of four years I worked very hard to earn my two degrees in Merchandising and Home Furnishings Merchandising. While working towards these degrees I worked to gain experience in the Retail industry as well. My favorite skill that I gained in the Retail industry was visual merchandising. I love to make things look aesthetically pleasing, and I was able to practice this with my work during college. I recently completed my internship for a furniture distributor in Dallas. I basically did everything creative for them. From re-designing their photography studio, staging and photographing product photo shoots, creating marketing content, and creating and maintaining the company’s social media presence. This internship allowed me to further practice what I learned in college. I also do social media marketing for furniture companies, and am now trying to expand my clientele as it is something I am passionate about. Throughout all of this school and work I had to find some hobbies that would be an escape from my busy life. That’s when I stumbled upon modeling.
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 work a lot, but when I do get some free time I love to model and write. Modeling has been life changing for me. My friend Angel was the very first photographer I did a photo shoot with. Looking back, I can laugh at how awkward I was when we were shooting together. Once I posted the photographs from that shoot I started to receive messages on Instagram from local DFW photographers looking to expand their portfolios.
I started to model for more and more photographers gaining experience of my own. May 2018 marked a year for my hobby of modeling. It makes me happy to see how much I have grown in modeling over time. I’m not perfect. I’m still learning and growing every day. I think its amazing how much social media has impacted the modeling industry. I’m 5’4″ and definitely not the skinniest, yet I still am able to model for a variety of opportunities. The industry is evolving and it’s exciting! Modeling has increased my confidence by an insane amount. I love creating content for people to enjoy. Creating fun concepts or being a part of someone else’s concept is inspiring in itself to me. I want my modeling to be an inspiration to others who are interested in starting modeling themselves.
Writing has always been an escape for me throughout my life. It isn’t until recently that I started writing publicly again. I have a blog on my website, and now write for an online magazine EPIC. I’m very new to the magazine so I have only written two fashion articles. I have a lot of goals for my writing. I want my writing to entertain, but also educate. I want to create thought and discussion among my readers. Lastly, I want my writing to inspire.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
This is kind of a hard question for me as I see how conditions for artists today can be positive and negative. Social media has completely changed everything for us. I think Instagram released when I was 13 and I’ve had it ever since. Platforms like Instagram allow artists to be noticed way quicker than if social media never existed. This is a great thing. At the same time though, there are MILLIONS of artists out there that have the same kind of access to social media. It can be very hard for someone to differentiate themselves from those millions of other artists. Especially when some people don’t understand the science of social media marketing or just don’t have the time to do it. It’s easy to get lost in a big sea full of fish. If it weren’t for Instagram though, I never would have had an opportunity to get into modeling. There are definitely ups and downs to the conditions that artists deal with today pertaining to social media. I can’t really choose an option of whether life is easier or harder for artists in recent years. There is a balance among those two options.
Dallas is so great about encouraging and helping artists. There are endless opportunities around every corner. You just can’t be afraid to network with people. I actually live in Denton which is a very artsy town that also helps artists shine. I think that the DFW community just needs to keep doing what they’re already doing. There are so many events and meet-ups for creatives to network and create content. These are great to attend because I have met so many amazing people from such events. I truly believe networking is key. As long as there are networking events for creatives in the DFW areas then the cities are helping significantly. The expansion of these events to more DFW suburbs would further help as there aren’t too many as is.
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?
Instagram is the main platform for my modeling work. I will post my favorite shots onto that platform. My writing can be found on my website, as well as EPIC’s website under the Design category. If someone wanted to support my work just hit the follow button on Instagram, subscribe to my website’s blog, and subscribe to the online magazine.
Contact Info:
- Website: belleame.co
- Email: mariah.sierra@me.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariah.sierra/
- Other: https://epicthemag.com/design/fashion
Image Credit:
Sarah Nwiba, Amanda Sweet, Savannah-Ray, Olivia Arratia, Korin.
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