We were lucky to catch up with Arna Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Oh my god yes. When I think about a regular job, or I go into an office and see someone working, I feel grateful that I’m able to make a living as an artist.

That being said, everyone is so different, and I don’t think being self employed is right for everyone. It has big disadvantages, and there’s the ever-haunting question of “am I working hard enough?” And “should I be working now?”. There’s a lot of pressure and deadlines, and the responsibility is intense. I didn’t take a vacation or travel for multiple years. But despite the difficulties I would not trade it in.

I don’t even have a solid reason why I don’t want to work for someone else, but when I did work at a job I just wilted. In spirit.

Arna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a print artist and pastel painter. Most of my work is sold from my website, Arnamiller.com in the form of poster prints, and also fun items like puzzles, t-shirts and matchboxes. I also show at galleries and coffee shops, doing both solo shows and group shows. And on top of that there’s always some fun project going on, like designing wedding invitations, painting a mural, designing a card game, stuff like that.

Getting into the art business was a slow and steady process, starting about 15 years ago when I just dreamed of working for myself as an illustrator. I went many years making a very low income, while I spent my time drawing and printing, and focused my life on improving those things.

The most popular series I’ve created (it’s a collaboration) is the Drunk Cat series, you’ll have to just look it up.

My goals are to create something beautiful, and meaningful, that I’m proud of.

I’m inspired by vintage book covers and illustrations; Asian firecracker packaging; and sci-if magazine covers; and vintage matchboxes.

I feel most proud and grateful for my team. I couldn’t do this alone. So I have enough time to create new works, my husband Joze helps with fulfilling orders and other business related things (he is a genius with numbers), I have a great social media and graphic designer, Naomi, and a kind and helpful customer service gal, Dyne.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I moved to Europe in 2020 that changed a lot of the way I was working as an artist. I was doing all my own screen printing before that, I had the whole set up: the exposure unit, spray out booth, inks, dark room, screens, inks, etc.

I traveled around with Joze, my husband now, and we spent a few months in Spain on a meditation retreat, and I ended up getting a commission that I couldn’t turn down financially, so I had to work on it in less than ideal conditions, but it worked out. After that we were in Edinburgh during lockdown, then Slovenia, then settled in The Netherlands. I had wanted to try risograph printing for a long time, and at this point I was forced into it. Getting it outsourced, of course, by Risolve Studio in Pennsylvania. I am consistently happy with the results.

During all this time of moving around I kept drawing, and practicing pastel painting. And creating prints for risograph. I also got some classic designs screen printed by Ink Lounge in Denver; and started using Abstract in Denver as my fulfillment center.

I actually prefer not printing, it turns out. And I never would have known otherwise.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron about 15 years ago, and I really dove in and did all the exercises. The one that had the biggest impact was morning pages. I would wake up 30 minutes early, no matter what, and free-flow write for 3 pages. I ended up doing it for years and years. Now I’m less strict, but writing exactly on my mind, no filter, helps get through mental blocks, shows me what themes are going on in my unconscious. For example, when I first started, I consistently wrote about how much I was dreading going into work, (when I worked in an office) and then that I shouldn’t feel that way. After so many days of writing the same thing, I had to face reality. So I guess morning pages has made me more honest with myself. And helping me learn how to listen to my own voice.

The other resource that helped a lot with the business side, marketing and organization is the Art Biz Success program by Alyson Stanfield. It’s a self-paced online marketing course for artists. It goes through topics I hadn’t previously thought about, like keeping track of the dimensions, media, selling price of a piece, and having a good image of all artworks out in the world. There’s another section on how to write about yourself, a topic that I found difficult. But she gives you writing prompts, and suggests that it’s an ever-evolving story that you must keep updating and improving. These are just a couple examples, it was very helpful to me as a business owner, and someone who was doing their own marketing.

Contact Info:

• Website: Arnamiller.com
• Instagram: @arnamiller
• Facebook: Arna Miller Illustration