We were lucky to catch up with Mikki Nunn recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mikki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
As corny as it sounds, I think I always knew that my life would take me in the direction of creative pursuits. Growing up, I had lots of hobbies, most of them in the arts. I was in chorus and band, theatre, and as many art classes as I could be in. Nothing made me feel as comfortable and at ease as making art, especially drawing. Being able to create something purely from my own two hands, whether it be drawing, painting, or creating ceramics was a way not only to express myself, but to give myself tangible evidence of my talents and self-worth. When I was in high school and the time came to start looking at colleges and career options I had a lot of possible paths I could pursue, but in the end I knew it would come down to something in the visual arts field, and eventually I landed on graphic design.
Mikki, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I grew up in rural North Carolina, near the blue ridge trail. I was really the only kid in my high school who was serious about studying art and wanted to learn more, and I took this as a personal challenge to be successful. Drawing and painting came pretty easily to me early on, but when I was about thirteen or fourteen I started experimenting with digital mediums. This was when my love for digital art and graphic design came about, and not much later I realized that I was going to have to work twice as hard to make people respect my art and me as an artist. As I advanced in my skills I began to deepen my understanding of what it meant to create genuine works of art that seeks to connect with and inspire people while still staying true to my own ideals. I feel I followed a pretty linear path in getting into my field. I decided to go to a small, liberal arts college for my BFA in Studio Art. This choice forced me to explore just about every medium, subject, and career path available to me. While at the time I wasn’t grateful for it, looking back I’m thankful that I had people to force me out of my comfort zone and evaluate what I enjoyed and didn’t so much enjoy as an artist. My senior year I was met with the question of how I was going to use my degree: become a fine artist or jump into a design career. I opted for the latter and ended up moving to Charlotte, North Carolina after graduation.
I now work as a web designer for Townsquare Interactive. We provide the owners of small businesses with our creative talents to help with websites, advertising, and more. I feel very lucky that I am able to use my creative talents while still working and earning a steady income. The love of my job allows me to come home and not feel completely drained most days, so I still have time to create projects and new bodies of work on my own, and also work on commissions for personal clients.
I continue to experiment with the use of digital mediums and how we, as the artistic community, can start to bring digital works into the fine art space.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
From a consumer standpoint, I think it’s important to do your due diligence when purchasing art of any kind. Obviously, the first step is buying local: research local artist markets, find an artist co-op close to you, look up artists in your city on Instagram and follow them, etc. If ordering online, research and make sure that the thing you’re buying (t shirt design, framed prints, quilt) is an authentic creation from an artist and not a cheap (and stolen) reproduction, especially if it’s coming at a cheap price. Artists will continue to have their designs stolen from large corporations as long as there is a market demand for it, so it’s up to us to put a stop to it. From an artist standpoint, taking people seriously when they say they’re an artist, no matter the medium or career path. As a community whose core values are supposed to center around inclusion and open mindedness, many of us have gotten shoehorned into the idea of what an artist can be. Take digital mediums seriously, take fiber and craft mediums seriously, take all artists seriously.
Lastly, it’s time to thank artists for their contributions to our society. Everything we interact with on a daily basis: from our toothpaste tubes, to our cars, to the Netflix show we watch when we get home, had some sort of creative input in its design. Give creatives the credit they deserve!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I’m sure I won’t be the first person to say this, but people need to understand that being a creative is hard work. In college, when people go around and share majors, it’s so common to hear someone say they are a science or math major and get a “wow, that is so hard, I could never do that” response. But when someone says they are majoring in the arts, the response is usually “aww, that’s so cool! It’s so fun you just get to [draw, dance, sing, etc.] all day. Being an artist is hard work, not only emotionally, but physically, and it usually doesn’t come with a steady 9-5 timetable either. 12+ hour days, injuries, burnout, and more are not uncommon in our fields. It takes quite a lot of courage to decide to go into a creative journey as well. It takes quite a long time to hone your skills, find your niche, and then earn the respect of the people around you who constantly tell you that you’ll never succeed or make money doing that. Non-creatives often struggle to understand what “success” looks like in the creative world. Our job is not to get rich quick, or become the best at whatever we do, or to become famous. Those things are nice, yes, but as creatives our first job is to build connections between people and allow others to connect with us. If we can do this, we have succeeded.
Contact Info:
- Website: mnunnart.com
- Instagram: @mnunnarts
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnunnart/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHzW4NYn7LtTX8PYiBY8_OQ
- Other: Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/mokki/shop