Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Perry Milou. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Perry, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I realized at a very young age that I was bestowed a god given talent to create, and it was in the first grade that out class was creating a Huckleberry Finn mural on giant brown paper ,,, when it was my turn to paint on it , I never relinquished the paint brush ,,, that was the moment that clairvoyance enter my mind form my heart and above guiding me towards the rest of my artistic life. I have always shared with everyone that I do not do art , art does me !!!

Perry, 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 create mostly pop art and have been inspired by Warhol , Max , Wesselmann to name a few , but I also have a great love of many masters , Michelangelo , Vangogh and Frida Kahlo.

I create bold fresh in your face large scale canvases 20-30 inches up to 60-100 inches . For the past 15 years I have archived all my originals , transferring imagery into high resolution files , over 400 works , building a library for publishing and merchandise  that can be purchased off my storefront
At www.Perrymilou.com…

I do not try to ever set myself apart from others , it is not something that is in my mind , every soul is different and hence every artistic moment in any artist’s life is different , I believe I am only in competition with myself , first and foremost .

Some of my A -list clients include ,

President Biden
Sylvester Stallone
Sophia Loren
Bryce Harper
Robert Hersevac and Lady Gaga

I am a brain tumor survivor from a large pituitary  tumor in 2005 , and one of the world’s first candidates to have this surgery performed robotically at The University of Penna Hospital by renowned surgeon , Michael Sean Grady . This defining moment inspired me to give back my art to  many non- profits throughout my career raising funds through art auctions and always donating my art to any causes possible , please see my press page on my website for affiliations

I believe a few of my top projects included being chosen as the official portrait artist of the 2015 papal visit of Pope Francis to America . This was an incredible cyclical moment being that I am born on St. Francis Day and my Mothers name is Angel DeFrancesco , , my grandfather was “ Francis “ DeFrancesco , my waive names is Angela , and my father in-law in Angelo , and daughter is Francesca , our nanny is Angelica , and our son Nico was born the day the Pope arrived in Philly . All of these blessings helped to create the masterwork “ A Prayer for Peace “ which I will attach.

My second amazing project was being commissioned to paint President Biden twice and most recently for the 2020 election in which I was blessed to create my “ Cup Of Joe “ 15 oz coffee mugs which sold over 20,000 units on Amazon during the election

Thirdly , I am a huge Philly sports fan , and last September I took paint to canvas , inspired by Bruce Harper’s legendary game 6 , NLCS clinching home run over the San Diego Padres, launching The Phillies into The World Series . The original painting “ The Showman sold for 15,000.00 mm and subsequently over 2000 signed lithographs are still currently selling .

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media , well this is a great one , it’s the devil to love and hate .

I’m in it obviously , I’ve been hacked , I’m working on growing it again ,  it’s a tool for sure  but not the most important one .

Look at the terms , you are trying to get followers and follow people , number one  , I try to lead from within myself , I do not need to follow , I am working more on joining those who I actually know and and want to join instead of building false numbers in a popularity contest . We have two children 8 and 12 , we do not allow them on social media ….. rather we teach them to be social in reality and look people in the eye and engage them …. 95 % of my business is from building  true real relationships and through guerrilla marketing , whether in the street , a park, a restaurant or doing a show , not by creating a reel for entertaining purposes where you have no decision on who viewed it or where it goes .

I will always stay in the social media game because it is exposure and exposure is the name of the game 100% always , but I’d rather as much conduct this interview in person so the writer could get to know the real artist and not the artist typing on a phone that is spell correcting faster than he can write .

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think that most people , whether rich or poor , black , white , yellow or brown , and of any creed , race and religion like art ! I also think that most people are scared of art because they cannot define it and are often scared to connect with it . This takes courage and the desire to want to learn about the art but more importantly the artist behind the creation . Once people begin to appreciate and understand what really goes into the creation of any art , be it , a painting ,, poem or song , their level of appreciation and education of the artistic process will evolve and lead them to collecting.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.perrymilou.com
• Instagram: @perrymilouofficial
• Facebook: Perry milou
• Linkedin: Perrymilou

Image Credits
I took all the photos