Check out Clarissa Martinez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clarissa Martinez.

Clarissa, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist. 
My journey began a little over a year ago when I first moved to Austin to finish my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas. I found myself in toxic relationships that were beginning to take a toll on my mental health and how I viewed myself. While getting out of those was very freeing, I also found myself very alone in a brand new city. Even though this was very uncomfortable for me, it put me in a position to focus on myself more. I began to walk with more purpose and boldness and that’s really when everything began to change for me. I was able to wake up and do whatever I wanted to do that day. I’m a huge coffee shop lover, so I would just dedicate a lot of my time to discovering new coffee shops in the city and also to strengthening my faith. Those two things really bring me joy and made me feel better during a dark time of my life. 

So then I decided to start a blog through Instagram to begin sharing the cool brunch and coffee shops I had been discovering in Austin and my hometown, Houston. Last November, I decided to launch my own website, thelifeofclarissa.com, which was super exciting. Through my website, I speak about self-care, skincare, makeup and my faith in ways that I would not have been able to effectively speak about on Instagram. Now, I write blog posts every other week in addition to shooting content for my Instagram. 

 

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? 
My content through Instagram is mainly pictures focusing on skincare, restaurants, or coffee shops. My website is focused on three subjects: lifestyle, beauty, and faith/self-care. My goal in life is to be a light to others and that is exactly the intentions I have with my content on both Instagram (@thelifeofclarissa) and thelifeofclarissa.com. There are a lot of people who feel like they are in a world of darkness and I want to be a source of light for them in any way possible. It may be hard to see a correlation between coffee shops and happiness, but when I was in a dark place mentally, coffee shops made me feel at peace. Even now when I am overwhelmed with work, getting my work done at a coffee shop is therapeutic. I know I’m not alone in that, even if it may sound weird to some people. As far as topics such as skin-care and makeup, I believe those are important because when my skin and makeup look good, I feel good. It gives me a boost of confidence, so I want to spread that to other people!

 

The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about? 
First, I think it’s important to remember that everyone starts from somewhere. Manny Khoshbin said something pertaining to this the other day on Instagram (@mannykhoshbin) and it really resonated with me. In his post he said “Everybody starts from somewhere, don’t get discouraged if you got only a few thousand dollars or nothing for that matter.” Everyone is a beginner at one point, so don’t get discouraged!

So far, my only major expense has been my website and I slowly saved for that through different side jobs. My advice would be to pick up a side job such as Uber, Lyft, Favor, or Postmates because that definitely helped me. Especially with being a college student, having the ability to pick up shifts when I needed to and had the time to was extremely beneficial.

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? 
You can follow me on Instagram at @thelifeofclarissa and my website is www.thelifeofclarissa.com. I am also about to start vlogging and posting them on IGTV and later on my own YouTube channel, so stay tuned for that!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelifeofclarissa.com
• Email: clarissa.martinez0214@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelifeofclarissa/

Image Credit:
Erin Dudley (Instagram: @sewstratton) and Amanda Alvarado (Instagram:@hersimpleway)

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