Daily Inspiration: Meet Katie Miller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Miller.

Hi Katie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I was a little girl, art has been a passion of mine. I was always drawing, painting, and trying to think of ways to beat the odds of a starving artist.

Until, the young age of 22, when I found out I was expecting my first son. I ended up putting my art on hold and focused on being a mama. Once I found out I was expecting my second little boy, I became a stay-at-home mom, so I could be there in their younger years. Up until my youngest was a little less than a year old, home life became hard, I felt like I had lost myself, and I ultimately ended up becoming a full-time single mom.

I was scrambling to get my life together to be able to afford to raise my two little boys. I desperately wanted to watch them grow up and find myself and my love for art again. My original dream once my boys were school age was to open an art studio to teach art to kids. Since my boys were still little I had to get creative, and I ended up working tirelessly to open an art-based daycare in my home! I got to combine my love for children and art in one and watch my babies grow up.

Life became easier and I started feeling more like myself and began painting again. I started to use my daycare’s naptime as an opportunity to tap into my creative side. One fateful day during naps, I thought it would be funny to paint a picture of my best friend’s “so ugly he’s a cute dog.” The painting became a huge hit on social media, and friends began ordering portraits. So, naptime became a new side hustle!

Once covid hit, I shut my daycare down, and solely focused on pet portraits as well as painting houses with my dad and brothers. Pet portraits weren’t enough to make a living so I brainstormed what else I could do, and ended up painting murals.

My next venture fell into my lap when a friend asked me if I could face paint at her daughter’s birthday party. I had never face painted before and told her I knew nothing about it, but why not? So off we headed to Michaels for a cheap paint palette. I posted pictures of my amateur face paint skills on social media, and my amazing friends started recommending me. After many hours of YouTube and researching face paint, it resulted in my business expanded through community pages on Facebook.

Fast forward a year, the same friend asked me to come to her daughter’s birthday party again, but this time to teach them how to paint. My original dream to teach kids how to paint was becoming true. It is one of my favorite things to do, and so incredibly rewarding. This new amateur side gig also developed into something I’ve been working hard at. I also started to offer sips and paints for adults too!

This journey through life, and my art career has shown me that doing what you love, showing up for yourself, and being open to the unknown, can take you to some incredible places. Emotional tears when customers receive their pet portraits, a child lighting up when they see their magical face paint in the mirror, and little artists confidently and proudly admiring their finished paintings in amazement.

These are all a few wholesome parts of this career that I live for. I couldn’t have gotten this far without friends and family rooting me on, and supporting my business. I am so thankful for everyone, including my community. None of these parts of my career would have fallen in my lap if it weren’t for people believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The beginning was hard when I decided I was going to open an art-based daycare. Change was really hard for me, and I made big leaps. After so much change in becoming a full-time single mom, and trying to piece my life back together, opening a daycare felt overwhelming at first. I didn’t want to leave a job I was comfortable with and fail and be right back at rock bottom.

I was so scared that I didn’t open until five months after I became licensed and my home inspection was in the clear. Once I finally took that giant leap and became more confident in my decisions, things just started falling into place. Every time a new creative venture landed at my feet, I just decided to go with it. There are little bumps along the way, but now that I’m doing what I love, things just seem to work out with more ease.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a pet portrait artist, face painter, and paint party teacher. I also occasionally do murals and began creating and selling my own original paintings. I guess I would say I specialize in art, as well as being fantastic with kids! It goes hand in hand with face painting and paint parties, and they are my most favorite jobs out of all the things I do.

Ever since I was little, I’ve always just been known for being artistic. That knowing has ultimately just led to amazing friends asking me to do jobs that require a little artistic skill. I’m proud of myself for finally stepping out of my comfort zone, and allowing myself to experience life and everything it throws at me, with more of an open, opportunistic mind.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
We don’t head down to Denver too often, but when we do, it’s to have fun!

The options for activities to do with kids are endless, and it keeps the weekends exciting. The only downside of Denver, more specifically downtown, is the congestion for me.

Pricing:

• (Face Painting) 85$+ an hour
• (Pet Portraits) 90$ and up
• (Paint Parties) 25$ per child, 30$ per adult

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wherethewildthingsart.com
• Instagram: @wherethewildart
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wherethewildthings