We were lucky to catch up with Michayla Grbich recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Art has always been something that has been a part of my life. I’d always been creative, but I think high school was when I really started to look at it differently as less of something I was good at and enjoyed – and more like something I was good at, enjoyed, and wanted to pursue and live in. I had a wonderful high school teacher, Bill Barder, who really encouraged me – and that led me to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. While at MCAD, I really realized my niche was in illustration, and the sky seemed limitless now that I had an answer to the way I was working, and could look back and find parts of myself and my work in the illustrators who had come before me. I cultivated a real love for my work and illustration there, and I learned and grew so much – now it’s really fun to look back at my portfolio and see the pieces that totally impacted the way I work now for the better. Building the portfolio and tools to be able to pursue a creative path after graduation was really essential, and I was able to find work in beer labels and branding, and find regular gallery work through building connections through social media and word of mouth.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an illustrator, I am a designer, but first and foremost – I’m Michayla. I love music, hiking, reading, pop culture, fashion, houseplants, and my dog, Randy. I’m based in Minneapolis, and am so excited to be a part of such a vibrant art community. I’m currently pursuing my MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and am making work I never thought I’d make – and it is such a joy to be experiencing.

My creative practice has a lot of reference to pop culture – I often work with a wonderful gallery (Gallery 1988) and have so much fun making works for their shows. When else would I have the opportunity to make a Kermit the Frog risograph or an Animal Farm illustration for the Los Angeles Public Library’s 150th Anniversary? Outside of this thread appearing in my gallery work, I also gravitate towards portraits of pop culture icons I really like. Portraits are a quick and fun thing for me to try out new things with so that my professional work can benefit from these studies, and I would love to expand this into a more professional side of my practice – editorial portraiture is something I’ve been eyeing up.

I also am really into making beer labels and gig posters. I love the collaboration aspect of these freelance opportunities, and having something that’ll be out in the world and is something that everyone involved was excited to put out is such a great feeling. Hand typography is a major part of my work, and I think coming from a more illustration and design based background has really benefitted me, because when I’m working in these areas, I’m looking for the space for the text to be active in as opposed to just placing text. (Which I also do! Typography in general is very aesthetically pleasing to me.) When I’m working with these clients, I just want to make the most intriguing piece that is the truest to them – through a contemporary visual art lens.

Currently in my MFA program, I’ve been trying out mixed media works. I’ve been making illustrations that I cut and make more three dimensional, and then I add acrylic, rhinestones, and gold leaf – I’m really into the idea of the sublime vs. the mundane, and bringing that more ethereal aesthetic to my art. I’ve also been really into creating series of works – for collages, zines, posters, really anything, I’m just very excited about narratives and am verging into bringing in my own voice and seeing how that can live with my art.

I’m still actively learning with every piece I create, and creating and collaborating is such a thrill – I am always looking for new subjects, clients, and experiences to be a part of!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think, for me, I just wish I had been a little more fearless earlier. I’ve found on social media, there’s so much access to aspirational artists, galleries, calls for art and that always feels approachable – but off limits. For me, it felt a little bit wrong for me to throw my hat in the ring in the early days, because I was so new in my career that I was very uneasy with opportunities that I wanted, but didn’t feel I had the experience to have “earned”. So, I was limiting myself! Which is hard to admit now, but when you’re starting out, it’s so easy to make missteps like that. I was also living in an area where there wasn’t really an art scene – let alone one in illustration – so I felt a bit disconnected in that way too.

Once I started applying to things, and posting regularly, and making connections, the world felt smaller. I really do credit Instagram for that, especially during the lockdown, because suddenly there were galleries and art directors really looking for new artists – and I feel so incredibly lucky to have been “found” by some that I continue to work with to this day, because I know that this doesn’t happen for everybody. I needed that boost of confidence to really start reaching out and applying to things, and I’ve kind of carried a level of fearlessness with me since then, because the worst thing that could happen is that your email / message isn’t responded to, or you’re told no – and both are realistic and normal outcomes.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Honestly, just the act of creating. When I make something, it is something that could only come from me. It’s personal, it has my thoughts, it has my choices, and when it is out in the world, it’s because I was happy with it and my client was happy with it. Being able to see things in my own art, and reflect on what I’m liking, and what I want to practice further is so fun – being an artist is like being a chameleon, you constantly get to change. Seeing my work evolve and grow is just beyond rewarding, because right now, I don’t know where the limit is for where I’ll go creatively, and challenging myself to grow further and explore more niches, formats, and mediums is really freeing – and I don’t take these opportunities for granted.

I also love the social aspect. Talking with clients, talking with people who see my work, and just being able to talk with other artists is just genuinely something I hold really dear to myself. To see artists I love make work they love is incredible. To celebrate their successes, and have them celebrate my own is fulfilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michaylagrbich.com/
• Instagram: @msgincluded
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michayla-grbich-66051616a/

Image Credits
Professional Photo only – Yi Wang