Brick Memorial Grad Named Top Instagram Photographer From N.J.

Tilly Garcia says making art is part of who she is.

“It spills over into everything I do,” she said. “Art-making is integral to my being. I have to express myself and make things or I lose touch and feel really down.”

These days, Garcia -- a 2007 graduate of Brick Memorial High School -- has much to be happy about, however, after being chosen by Time.com as one of the Instagram photographers to follow around the nation. Garcia, who currently lives in Asbury Park, was named the New Jersey selection for the Time.com piece ”Instagram Photographers to Follow in all 50 States.”

The photographers chosen by Time.com span a range of styles and topics, from individuals’ portraits to landscapes, from macrophotography to Photoshop-created whimsical pieces.

Garcia “floods her feed with natural shots of velvety flowers, handmade gothic ornaments, and the romantic and supernatural allure of faded and mysterious books,” the Time.com article says, in describing her work.

Garcia said photography is just one artistic avenue she pursues.

“I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember,” she said. “I take photos, draw, paint ... it;s all the same thing really.”

And while many kids drift away from art after the years of covering Mom’s refrigerator with elementary school masterpieces, for Garcia, the creative bug remained.

“I started to create art for arts’ sake in my early teens, which started with a lot of sketching in school,” she said. Over the years, her works have evolved, and continue to do so. “I’m always striving to meet my own standards, I’m always competing with myself. If other people like what I’ve made, or if I end up in galleries or magazines or whatever, that’s a bonus.”

She began displaying her photos on Instagram because ”Instagram is a minimal, image-based platform, which is great for artists,” she said. And clearly others like her work, as she was featured by Instagram last fall, she said.

“I was lucky,” she said, adding a smiley face to the email.

The Time.com selection was humbling, she said.

“This is so surreal,” she said in a Facebook post as she shared the news.

Garcia works another job currently, but is working on the transition to working on her art full-time. In addition to the Instagram account she has an Etsy store, where copies of her art can be purchased.

“Even when I was working full time at an office, I’d be up late drawing or editing,” Garcia said. “I think I’ll always be that way.”

(Tilly Garcia images via Instagram)