Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Elaine Miller
Hi Meg Elaine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I consider creativity an investment in my own mental health. During the summer of 2020 when I was analyzing my priorities and which pieces of my life were important to me, I realized that creativity is not just something I enjoy– it’s something I need. At the time, I was working a full-time job, and my own passion for art had taken a backseat. I decided I didn’t need to make a choice between full-time work (which I love) and my creative passion (which I also love). I could do both. So, I decided to launch my art business. This creative endeavor began with a simple website domain purchase, an LLC registration, and a spot on my table in my small townhouse kitchen. I launched during a very busy time of year in October of 2020.
Meg Elaine Miller Art is comprised of me (Meg!) and my husband (RJ!). I’m a full-time PhD student and employee at the University of Tennessee, and he is an engineer. For the business, I paint and design, and he helps me with custom framing installs. My offerings include nature-inspired art, wall murals, custom work, journals, greeting cards, and stickers.
My favorite service I offer is to create custom art for people. I primarily work on custom landscapes of mountains and special places. For example, I recently had a woman reach out to me because she was eloping in the mountains. Her husband was a nature photographer, and she wanted a custom painting of a photo he had taken in the spot where the got engaged. This is my favorite type of project– the opportunity to bring a place to life forever that means so much to others. I have also engaged in similar projects for businesses on custom art installs and wall murals- I’ve partnered with a beauty salon, yoga studio, wedding event center, and more. I enjoy the opportunity to tackle something new for people and to bring someone’s most special place in the world onto their walls of their home or their business.
I hope that my story can encourage others that creativity can be a form of taking care of yourself- like eating healthy or exercising. Allowing myself to unwind with a paintbrush in hand is a form of escapism that is unmatched.
I’m excited to be part of the Knoxville community and grateful for this interview.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If you are going to put yourself out there, especially with something so person as artistic expression, there are going to be bumps along the way!
Custom art can be tricky, especially when you are painting something that means so much to someone else. I enjoy painting people’s most special places in the world. For instance, I’ve painted engagement locations, the view from a family-owned lakehouse, the summit of a favorite hike, etc.. All of these locations mean so much to the people who ask me to paint them, and that comes with challenges because you want to make sure it captures what they wanted.
Over time, I have gained a lot more experience in having a very in-depth consultation process, along with check-ins to make sure that I am capturing what they had in mind. Overall, my clients have been amazing, and I have been very fortunate.
Now, I use some of the lessons I learned along the way to help others. Through social media, I share my process with other artists. I love teaching and helping other small businesses, so I’m very open to sharing the order forms I use for custom art requests, some tips and tricks for checking in with the client as you paint, and contract processes with businesses for wall murals. No gatekeeping here! We can tackle these challenges together!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have a full-time career as a PhD student/Instructor at the University of Tennessee, and I run my business as an artist over the weekends as I have time– I consider it my creative outlet. In 2022, I moved to Knoxville from Colorado (where I previously worked at Colorado State University), and now I get to be a part of the amazing Knoxville community. Therefore, some of my greatest passions in life are education, business, and art.
I really enjoy learning about color theory, graphic design, and the psychology of art. Fortunately, my passions in my career and in my creative outlet (this art business) often have the opportunity to intersect. As a PhD student, I enjoy researching how art and design can impact decision-making. So, in general, I am always thinking about things like colors and shapes and their impact on people’s response.
Additionally, I love education and continuous learning. These qualities are extremely important to entrepreneurship and are essential to continuing to grow as a human and as a business owner.
I love being a part of the Knoxville community, which has truly welcomed me with open arms the last couple of years, as I attend local pop-up shows and meet other creatives and small businesses in the area. I hope to continue to invest in this artsy, outdoorsy town!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Many of the opportunities I’ve had in this business have come as a result of running into people, meeting people, being introduced to people, etc. Sometimes it feels lucky- when you feel like you weren’t necessarily looking for something, but it is just dropped on your doorstep, and then it just fits.
For example, I was running a booth a market one time, and someone approached me to ask about my journals. She asked if I ever do custom journals because she had this great idea– she was a photographer and wanted to know if I could paint her a custom set of journals for client gifts. She wanted them in her brand colors. This led to a whole host of businesses asking for the same thing. Then I hosted an event for a networking group, where I led business owners in the process of creating their own journals, and we had them printed locally and distributed. That spurred on other opportunities, and so on.
Maybe this is luck…maybe this is a result of the amazing types people that call themselves creatives. I think it’s more likely the latter, but it felt like luck to meet her that day. Creatives are always willing to collaborate, and I think this can lead to a lot of “lucky” situations, where you feel like the connections you make can trigger a huge change in your business or in your life.
I hope I have more “lucky” meet-cutes with other creatives in this area because I’m always open to a good ol’ collab.
Pricing:
- Free consultations for custom art and wall murals
- Pricing is then determined based on size of the custom work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://megelainemillerart.com/
- Instagram: @megelainemiller.art
