Conversations with Francesca Miller

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

Hi Francesca, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Art has been part of my expression for as long as I can remember. As if I was just born with the interest already engrained in me. Watching my uncles draw and paint as a kid definitely fueled the interest. As early as six years old, I started trying to draw cartoon characters from observation. I’ll never forget how impressed my family was when they saw me freehand cartoon characters on my backpack, especially my brothers. They were so used to making fun of me drawing people with no necks, and bodies shaped like the letter “T”, that they couldn’t help but accuse me of tracing initially, before admitting I had skills. This was the beginning of art shifting from an interest to a genuine pull towards a passion for me, as well as discovering art as a tool of empowerment.
Growing up, my urge to create was constant and my clarity on the kind of things I wanted to create continued to grow. I started out making things that just reflected how I felt or what I thought about, which were usually pretty sad things. In high school, I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore. So, I started making things that reflected how I wanted to feel. I started to draw expressions of joy and a sense of freedom, adding color to the art as well. When I actually started to experience a shift in me internally as a result of doing this, it reinforced the idea of art as a tool of empowerment. It gave a blueprint for the kind of art I wanted to make.
These two experiences were the seeds that lead to my practice in art as a form of activism, as beautification, and reflection. The adults in my life saw this and immediately backed me with financial and moral support. I spent the seasonal breaks in school at art camps (shout out to the King Arts Complex camp days!), I attended community art workshops (shout out to Transit Arts, as well as Maroon Arts Group) and eventually headed off to college for art education (Shout out to The Ohio State University). I also chose creative jobs throughout college (shout out to the Lincoln Theatre and Studio 614) that helped build my confidence in creating, as well as teaching others how to do so.
Naturally, immersing oneself in environments like this connects you with people who know more than you, have done more than you, and when they see your determination to follow your dreams, they want to help make that happen. All this to say, my starting point with creativity was self-discovery. I got where I am today because I never stopped the journey of discovering, and people who have come alongside me on the journey believed in me enough to give me opportunities to share my creativity with the world around me.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course, the road hasn’t been smooth. I’m not sure that any road truly worth traveling ever will be.
I’ve had very annoying internal struggles with fear and imposter syndrome, (and some possible undiagnosed adhd *lol*) that have cost me some good opportunities or just led to execution that I know deep down wasn’t what I was fully capable of. Shame is a faithful follow up bully, which has held me back in ways as well. But I’ve learned to “talk back” to these bullies and let them know they don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do. Forming resilience in real time.
I’ve had more practical struggles to work through as well; time management, having to refamiliarize myself with mediums and techniques I forgot from college days, having healthy work-life balance, and working through relational conflict have been struggles also.
When I decided to jump into life as a full-time artist in 2020, I gave myself full permission to “grow as I go”. I told myself I wouldn’t allow a lack of confidence, skill or certainty to punk me out of following my calling. The struggles get real still, but I feel better equipped for them. They can sometimes make you question if you’re journeying in the right direction. The perspective that has kept me from throwing in the towel altogether is that it’s all opportunity. Opportunities for me to grow through hard things, to learn to relate to failure as a teacher, to learn that making mistakes is not the end of the world, and to become resilient.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, mostly known professionally for my visual art. Some people are familiar with my music as well, but I am most widely known for painting murals, portraits and conceptual work on canvas, t-shirts, and a variety of other surfaces. I think my art style would be best described as expressionist because I use a variety of colors and a lot of movement in my art–be it painting people actually moving, or brush strokes that are not stoic.
I would say my rise to becoming more known was in 2020 when I joined the “army” of artists who painted murals around our city as part of the uproar in response to George Floyd’s murder. As someone who believes my art is meant to bring hope, healing and joy to people, I was mostly proud to get to function as a “medic” during such a heartbreaking time. From there, I was able to work with Abercrombie & Fitch on a t-shirt capsule of 3 different designs, I worked on a beer can design for land-grant brewery, created murals for local businesses and taught art in community spaces. There’s an extensive list of the really cool things I’ve been able to do over the last few years. Before 2020, I was in a steady groove of showing work in galleries and painting live for events. I continued doing this beyond 2020, as I started taking on murals. Through it all, the themes of joy, hope and healing have remained central.
Every avenue I have taken with art has been a humbling honor. To be able to say I get to live out my childhood dream of being an artist is wild. Every experience has shaped me and left a profound mark on me in their own unique ways. I’m proud of it all, honestly. If I had to highlight one thing it would be community centered projects; teaching kids around the city how to paint, having them tag along with mural projects, paying some to assist me on projects, building long lasting bonds with people in the community, etc. As one who grew up with a rich creative experience because of people who did that sort of thing with me, it’s always been a desire to be able to pay it forward in my own ways. I’m proud because of what it does for others, obviously, but I’m also proud of myself for stepping outside of my comfort zone in order to even be able to do that. I used to be prefer hiding behind people. I prefer to not be super social with a bunch of people at once. I’m easily overstimulated. Choosing to do so anyway has expanded my capacity and I didn’t realize how much I actually needed that.

What were you like growing up?
Some traits I would use to describe myself growing up are curious, ambitious, determined, observant. I loved to learn and try new things. I was a star student in school and outside of school I spent a lot of time reading, creating or learning new skills. I spent a decent amount of time alone or bored as a child, and I hated the idea of wasting time so I often sought out ways to be productive or escape into stories. I loved to lose myself in a good book, movie, or music. I especially loved losing myself in a good book. It lit up my imagination like nothing else, as well as a great source of inspiration for all kinds of things in life. I believe a lot of the traits I mentioned earlier came from the amount of time I spent reading. Early on in life, I felt like I experienced so much of life from a narrators’ perspective and made a lot of decisions about who I wanted to be and what kind of life I wanted to live by way of closely observing the world around me.
I was also pretty talkative, funny and just as in love with creating as I am now. The only form of getting in trouble for me really as a kid was talking too much–be it having a lot to say out of excitement or “oversharing” my opinions with adults and it being deemed “talking back”. While that’s typically deemed as a negative thing, I’m glad it’s something that has stuck with me into adulthood. My mom would often say, “you just have a lot to express”. As an adult, I’ve gotten better control of how much I talk, and lean confidently on my creative outlets as nonverbal expressions.

Pricing:

• Canvas paintings range $3-$5 per sq. in.
• Mural pricing is $15 per sq. in

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_callmefree/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartisanfran