Rising Stars: Meet Drea Torres of Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drea Torres

Hi Drea, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up as a military brat provided very little consistency in my life. Every two years, my family and I would have to pack up and leave for a new home, new school, new friends, new life. Because of this, I cherished memories and photographs more than the average person. Those were the only things I could look back on. The only consistency I got to experience (outside of my family) was soccer. I started to play soccer when I was just three years old. However, when I was 16, I suffered a career ending hip injury. I went to physical therapy and I tried to strengthen it enough to continue playing. But, at age 17, my doctors concluded I needed hip surgery.

Soccer was therapy to me. No matter what I was going through, being on the field helped me work through it. Not having soccer to work through my anxiety, especially at a time in my life where I had to figure out colleges, majors, etc., was really rough for me. Additionally, I was in an unhealthy relationship that made me feel more unstable. My anxiety skyrocketed.

I turned to writing a blog: Purely Psithurism. (2014)

Psithurism is the sound of the wind through trees. I loved that sound. It was calming, therapeutic, and can help someone feel grounded. I needed that. I was searching for peace. I wrote in my blogs about my anxiety, how I was trying to heal myself through self love and clumsy sentences.

The blog became more popular than I imagined because readers related to what I was going through.

My freshman year of college (2015), I walked away from my unhealthy relationship. Self love and the blog helped me get through a major depressive state. I decided to create a shirt with the word “psithurism.” on it. A simple, tangible reminder to love myself.

Others loved the shirt. They started asking for one. So, I took orders, taught myself product and branding photography and design.

Purely Psithurism birthed Purely Drea.

Now I have a design and photography business. From custom art pieces for your home to helping you build your branding assets, I love created design pieces that you make your heart glow. For photography, I do everything from brand photos to family portriats and editorial/fashion photography.

Till death, we do art. I love it.

Despite my periodic long, emotional captions on social media, I haven’t published a blog on Purely Psithurism in almost 3 years. The older I get, the harder it is to be vulnerable about my anxiety, what I’m going through, and my life in general.

However, Psithurism is always there. It has a permanent place in my heart.
I know I’ll return to it soon.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Art is very subjective. The economy is going through it as well, so people’s demand to pay for art ebbs and flows.

I worry that my art has been phased out some days. I think a lot of artists get insecure about their art periodically.
But, I know that I put a lot of heart into my pieces, so I feel confident some days.

I don’t think anything in life is a smooth road, but that could be my Virgo talking.

My business got to a very strong, consistent point in 2021-2022. However, I was doing it full time.
I moved back to Colorado in 2022, I work full-time now, and I was finishing up my master’s degree.
So, I had to pause my business for a little while.

I’m rebuilding now, and I’m so excited to see where it grows, even if it’s just creating for myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am most proud of the fact that despite my business branching off from Purely Psithurism, the mission has always remained the same: to help spread love.

During photography sessions, I want people to have fun, feel confident in themselves throughout the whole process, and cherish special memories.

Design pieces are meant to make the client’s vision come to life and fill their hearts up with joy.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
That this world needs more love and compassion more than ever.

I’m a big believer that people should be considerate of others. I took Covid-19 very seriously, especially during photoshoots. I disinfected. I masked up. I did everything I could to keep my clients healthy.

Covid-19 broke my heart. I knew some people who died from the virus. And, many of my loved ones are health care professionals.

It was very rough to navigate as a business owner and as an individual.

But, love and art can help humans navigate this life.
And that is a very important thing for artists to remember.

Pricing:

• 30 min photo session: $250
• 60 min photo session: $450
• 60+ min photo sessions: let’s chat!
• Design: let’s chat!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://purelydrea.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/purelydrea
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/purelydrea

Image Credits
Purely Drea LLC