Indie Light

So here we have it, another one of those wacky Promo Spot features, where I wax lyrical about one of the many crazy talented artists, crafters or creators I have the pleasure of coming across while running this site. Today I’ll be talking about Tori B Bearly, the personal brand of an Ayrshire based artist and graphic designer. 

I will add, as the more observant among you may already know, Tori B Bearly has been a contributor to this platform for several years, and following our recent rebrand has taken an even greater role in the production of design elements for the site. I’ll touch on that point more in a moment, but right now I’d quickly like to add in my standard disclosure statement, that despite our ongoing relationship, I will endeavour to be as honest, forthright and fair with this feature as possible.

So who is Tori B Bearly? Well it would be easy to say that they are an artist and leave it at that, but that would be doing them a phenomenal injustice because they are so much more than that. It has been one of the most profound pleasures of my life to watch them grow in skill and confidence as an artist and graphic designer and it was such an easy decision to make, when I started this platform back in 2017 to bring them on board as our primary graphic designer.

I have absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever, but much like any deficit of skill, I’m acutely aware of the capabilities of others, and without tooting my own horn, I believe I have a reasonably well developed sense for the aesthetic, and I would happily recommend Tori B Bearly for any project or position requiring an artistic touch. I mean I hired them for arguably the most important creative project in my own life, and I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t personally vouch for their incredible dedication, commitment, creativity, adaptability and desire to continue growing and developing their skills.

Tori first started their career with more of a focus on traditional art, with things like pencil and paper sketches, and paintings; they’ve continued to develop in this area as well. Since 2021 they’ve been enrolled in college, pursuing a qualification in Visual Communication, it was here that they began to fully explore the expansive field of traditional art, learning to utilise and master mediums as diverse as charcoal, soft pastels, watercolours and inks just to name a few. I strongly believe, especially as someone who has seen them tackle these various mediums that there is no artistic format that they cannot conquer given sufficient time.

For approximately three years Tori has been developing their skills as a digital artist, adding yet another feather to their cap, as a comprehensive, full service graphic designer. In that period of time they have since become adept at utilising various digital design software including ibisPaint and Procreate, and have gone on to develop an impressive portfolio of digital work, as well as lending their talents to various platforms and outlets.

They are responsible for all the graphics and design elements used on our site, and its associated social media accounts, and while it’s currently in development, they are also creating all of the design work for our upcoming sister platform, Reckless Media, which will most likely be going live in January 2024.

As well as being co-founder and chairperson for Unity League, a Kilmarnock based LGBT+ community group, they are also solely responsible for all the design work for that as well, from the Logo and Cover art utilised on all social media, to all ad materials and content shared on socials as well.

Lastly, and related to their digital art, they have, within the past year or so began to create, produce and sell their own stickers, these come in a range of styles and designs, with the more LGBT+ focused ones being sold over on Redbubble, while the majority of their other work is being sold via their personal store.

You can support Tori B Bearly in several ways, first and foremost, by engaging with their content, which you can do by following them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also donate to them via Ko-Fi to remove the ‘starving’ part from the whole ‘Starving Artist’ thing. You are able to purchase the majority of the work shared to their social media, or commission your own, by sending them a direct message on any of the socials linked above.