Check out Lauren Miller’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Miller.

Lauren, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
There are a few major moments in my life that I think led me to where I am today.

1. Discovering my love of visuals.

Growing up, I had an intense passion for learning — but also images, which I didn’t necessarily recognize until I was much older. I taught myself to code HTML & CSS as a young girl so that I could make my Neopets guild page “look pretty.” All of my school notebooks were filled with random doodles on every page. I had a secret treasure trove of scenes I had illustrated in my desk at home growing up.

2. Trying my hand at acting.

When I was in middle school, I left my Texan home to pursue acting in Los Angeles, California. I stayed out there for about a year and a half, and I credit this period of my life to teaching me how to work hard, take critique, fail (and succeed) well, and how to not be afraid of trying new things. I learned not only acting, but also singing, dancing, modeling, and improv. And I continued to teach myself web design and the basics of coding in my spare time at home.

3. Getting involved in graphic design.

Back in Texas in high school, I took my first graphic design courses mainly because I wanted to try something new. I had no idea how that would translate to the rest of my life. When I entered college, I applied for a graphic design position primarily because I needed some money (said no artist ever!). To my surprise, I got the job, where I would be creating posters and advertisements for many of our university’s campus events.

I was horrible when I first started, and I worked with several other graphic designers who were immensely and undeniably better at it than I was. It was frustrating and embarrassing at first, but I stuck with it because, honestly, the job was way more flexible than other positions on campus.

But that’s ultimately how I got to where I am today. By working with other artists that were so much better than I was, week after week after week, I got better. A lot better! I had learned from my time in California that critiques – while not fun in the moment – are one of the most powerful methods for improvement.

By the end of my college career, I had been made Marketing Director for that same organization. Even after graduation, the university continued to use me for many of the campus’s largest events.

4. My internship in the Dominican Republic.

Considering my artwork today, I think I was also strongly influenced by a 2-month summer internship in the Dominican Republic during college. I interned for a micro-financing NGO that helped give women and families small loans to help them start their own businesses. The trip was a life-changer on many levels. I had never been stretched so mentally (my Spanish was still terrible even after five full courses in high school) and physically. But this is absolutely where I discovered my love of adventure.

Never before this experience had I felt so alive. I discovered that I loved adrenaline and also wonder: jumping off waterfalls; riding motorcycles; visiting remote villages; trying new foods and talking to new people. It was incredible, and I discovered a part of myself that I truly hadn’t known existed. It has stuck with me ever since.

5. Going out on a career limb.

For my first year or so after college, I freelanced in graphic design, photography, web design, copywriting and editing, and social media management. I had majored in business during college (specifically Entrepreneurial Management), but I didn’t want to go into corporate immediately. So I started a blog – CommonCanopy.com – that blended my love for design, adventure, and personal growth into one big exploratory work of art. And I freelanced for companies and individuals while I worked on developing my blog.

This allowed me the time to branch out into other areas of art – such as gouache painting. And now I’ve turned many of those pieces into a line of products! While I’ve still got so many things that I want to do with my blog and my artwork, I’m happy with the direction it’s heading! It’s pretty exciting!

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
All of my designs speak to one central theme: adventure. My paintings & illustrations are available on many products such as duffel bags, floor pillows, backpacks, leggings, art prints, and more.

It is my belief that adventure and creativity are intimately intertwined – different sides of the same coin. Both require you to venture out into the unknown, one physically and the other mentally. To live a fulfilled life, one where we are always growing as people, I believe we must willingly seek out opportunities for adventure. That theme is reflected throughout practically everything I produce.

My Tropical Adventure collection features tropical foliage, a body of water, and a girl in action in the scene. My Mongolia collection is the result of my own interest in that barren country. Many of my illustrations feature wild & majestic animals. My next planned collection is based on Marco Polo! Essentially, I illustrate those things that speak of wonder, excitement, and story.

The entirety of my blog, art, and work is to help people seek out adventure & creativity in their daily lifestyle. I want people to look at my artwork and have that spark of adventure ignited in their souls. And I want them to develop, through pursuing that adventure, a wild confidence that they may not have known could exist within them.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I think the role of art has always been to speak of what is on people’s hearts and minds, so I don’t think that at the very core of it the role of art has changed too drastically. It has and always will be an avenue for people to express themselves. I think that when you see a dramatic increase in local, national or international events and issues being reflected in art, it’s evidence of what is important to people in that time period.

In my art, I try to speak to people on an individual level. I believe that every person has within them the ability to affect the world around them and that what we do matters. Local, national, and international events and issues affect my art inasmuch as they affect me at my core. I think I see that reflected in the themes of my art rather than in explicit reference to current events.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find my work on my blog CommonCanopy.com. I sell my designs primarily through Society6 & Etsy, and they are available on a range of fun products! Just go to CommonCanopy.com —> Shop to browse!

My favorite way to stay in touch with people and announce upcoming events is through my email list, and I’d highly recommend joining if this really sounds like your thing! You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook, & Pinterest with the username @commoncanopy. (But you’ll hear from me a lot more on my email list!) You can find links to both the email list and my social media accounts at CommonCanopy.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.commoncanopy.com
• Email: lauren@commoncanopy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commoncanopy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commoncanopy/
• Other: http://pinterest.com/commoncanopy

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