Artist Tori Weyers knew from the age of 3 that she wanted to be an artist, although she wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. Growing up, she would see shapes, creatures and patterns in the world around her and constantly point them out to her parents. This led Weyers to take art classes both in the standard school curriculum as well as extra classes that were offered around Indianapolis.

“I loved being creative and would get art supplies every year for my birthday and Christmas,” Weyers says. “When I got older I decided that graphic design was the direction I was going to go in and I received my BFA from the Art Academy of Cincinnati and have been working as a professional designer for over 15 years.”

Over time, Weyers noticed that her sketchbooks — once filled with creative musings and drawings about life — had become focused on ideas and structured designs for her job. She knew she needed to find a way to get back to the passion and creative voice she had buried behind deadlines and style sheets.

In 2010, she started taking art classes and put a home studio together in her basement so that she had a creative space to find her voice. In 2011, she got accepted into her first group show at the Harrison Center for the Arts and never looked back.

Weyers has since shown her artwork in lots of group shows, sold many pieces, and was a featured artist in Art Journaling Magazine in 2013. In 2014 she started teaching classes at the Indianapolis Art Center and taught her first Project Party in July at Nickel Plate Arts.

Tori Weyers is now working on large abstract paintings as well as a series of mixed-media circles. Both have a bold use of color and composition that draw from her experience as a designer. Learn more about Weyers and see her latest work at drawriot.com or by following her at @drawriot on Instagram.