We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Layl McDill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Layl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Even though I grew up fairly isolated in Gillette, Wyoming my parents made sure our family had many experiences including travel, sports and community involvement. They also let me create as much as I wanted to and basically gave me the tools to explore all the arts and crafts I was interested in. We traveled all over the country as a kid and when I was in high school they took us to the Smithsonian Museum. This is where I saw pop art and other contemporary art for the first time- my mind was blown! After that trip I realized art could be anything and my creativity soared. Then when I wanted to go to art school my parents totally supported me. I know when I decided to be a full time artist right after graduation they were a little worried but they continued to be my biggest cheerleaders. They had taught me smart money skills and determination by being an example themselves when they owned their own business- I always saw that there would be times of struggle but if you stuck it out and made smart decisions you could make it work. Even now when they are in their 70’s and I am 30 years in on as a professional artist they continue to help me by traveling to arts festivals around the country. Their continued positive feedback has fueled me my entire life!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I use polymer clay to create “millefiori canes” which are logs of clay that are sliced up to reveal tiny pictures. I call my brand of canes “Silly Millies”. I sell these canes so that others can enjoy the magic without all the hard work and I use these slices of clay to create sculptures that range in size from one inch to 17 feet! My work is colorful and whimsical. Every piece has a sensation of story- many times people ask “what is that from?” because they think it is from a fable or fairy tale but they are just pieces that give you the feeling that there is more story to them. I exhibit and sell my work at art fairs, art centers and galleries all over the country. I am especially interested in showing my work in smaller rural communities because I want to bring art work that they may have never experienced before to these places since I grew up in a small town and I would have loved to have seen work like mine. Who knows who I will be inspiring- even if it is just to bring some wonderment into someone’s life.
I live and work in Minneapolis where I have a fanciful studio that is open to public six days a week. I teach classes there a few times a month. I also teach all over the country especially in conjunction with my exhibits.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started doing art fairs after I graduated from art school I had no idea what I was doing but I signed up for lots of festivals all over Ohio. One weekend in March I did a show on Saturday in Northern Ohio and then on Sunday in Southern Ohio. Then the next weekend I did another show on Saturday in Southern Ohio. At each show I made exactly $12! This was a lot of work for very little return but I didn’t give up. I just took it as a lesson learned- don’t do festivals in March in Ohio! And study more the market you are trying to reach – these just weren’t good fit for the work I was doing. I still take this lesson every weekend I do a festival- it’s always a chance to learn about the market and never a failure if you learn something. I figure you get something out of every experience even if it is just that you shouldn’t do it again.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2011 my art business was really struggling from the results of the recession. I had added all the arts festivals I could but I was not profitable. My husband is also an artist running a tile business and his sales were way down. That’s when we had the idea to open a pop up shop in the downtown Minneapolis skyway system. There were lots of empty store fronts so we found one to run in November and December. At first it was barely breaking even but the last 10 days before Christmas we ended up making all our profit for the whole year! We did this venture the next 3 years but then the downtown retail scene totally changed and we pivoted back to art fairs and online sales. This idea to do something very different saved our business and also made me realize there is always a new direction to take if you need to.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laylmcdill.com
• Instagram: @laylmcdill
• Facebook: @laylmcdill
• Linkedin: @laylmcdill
• Twitter: @laylm
• Youtube: @laylmcdill
• TikTok: @laylmcdill

Image Credits
Layl McDill headshot taken by Devin Larkin