Bio
I’m Madison Elizabeth Miller and I am 18 years old. I have a twin brother who goes to college in Vermont. I grew up in California and go to University of the Pacific, where I’m a graphic design major. Before college I went to Dozier Libbey Medical High School. I really liked that school and all the medical stuff that I learned there. I was at the point that I wanted to do that in college but right before classes started I realized I didn’t want to do medicine. I had just gotten used to all the medical talk and thought that it was not what I wanted to do, as I just sat in class and try and remember things that the professors were telling when I knew I have had problems with that before. But I know I want to do art, I want to keep doing it and maybe move on and do bigger and better art and I wanted to see how far it could take me so I first had to call up the school and change majors with the unsure assistant wanting to make sure I wasn’t just a panicking 1st year making rash decisions to going from medical to art. But I love art and I’m very happy that I picked this major as instead of trying to remember all the bones in the body I get to actually make stuff and be graded on it and I know I’m so much happy with this choice. If you knew what got me into art it would have been a no brainer in whether or not I would be an art major.
Artist Bio
I do a lot of different crafts like knitting, crocheting, sewing, and your every day random creation that is made of random materials or a mix of the ones stated above. But the one that I like to do the most and I would say was my main medium and which I want to pursue a job with is my sewing. By itself sewing is properly the craft that I have done the longest as I have been sewing for about 11 years now. This started with a kid friendly craft kit with per push holes with the outcome being a very un-even stitched cat to now perfectly hand stitched dolls which I have now been sewing for 3 years. I like to make different characters for me and other people as I first made my dolls to help me so I like to make them for other people too. In the past 3 years I have sewn more than 300 dolls, I make some for me and I make some for others and sell to others when I can have time to open my Etsy store and I also give some as gifts. I also got into sewing from my Nana who was well known for sewing, so it was a big part of my family and I have always gone to my art as since I have a learning disability that has made some classes harder for me than others. I knew I could always turn to my art as I always thought of it as something anyone could do if you just work hard. When I was doing art I forgot all the things I couldn’t do well. I was doing stuff with my art that others couldn’t, art became my only special thing. I still like to mix the other crafts to make some really interesting things for my dolls, combining felt, glue, and a sewing machine to make a tartan for a doll that was 7 inches tall., and use a chain stitch used in embroidery to make a sweater for another doll. I have entered competitions with my sewing like the California State Fair Student Showcase , as not many people my age sew let alone sew the type of dolls that I do, my little 7 inche dolls had to go up against clothing people in these competitions have made. In the Fair I`m very pround to say I have made the finals both times I have enter and winning 2nd the first year then 3nd place the next. I know in the future i will do more and hope I can go on and to better stuff i just have to go for it and wait and see.
Artists Infuence: Susan Hilferty
I think one of the things that has really influenced me with my desire to do costumes is my love making my dolls, since I am basically making different mini costumes for each doll when I make them to represent a play or book character. I enjoy making the costumes for the dolls the most and all the intricate pieces, so i thought I might like to explore doing costumes for musicals and plays. One of the costume designers I admire most is Wicked’s costumes designer Susan Hilferty. l love all of the costumes in Wicked, as they are very intricate and have so much detail. An example is the madam Morrible costume. If you just give it a cursory look it looks like it just has speckled bands, but if you were to look up close you would be able to see how the many beads give the costumes it unique look.
I am the type of person who likes to spend hours sewing to make it look just right I pay careful attention to detail and make sure that each stitch is precise because it affects the finished product. I learned this at a very young age when my Nana’s friend thought me how to crochet at 7 years old. I would crochet a row and she would inspect it, if ever stitch wasn’t just right she would make me undue the row and stat again. When I was 7 I got mad because I didn’t think everything needed to be perfect, but now I appreciate that she taught me to be this way because it really affects your finished product. It also made me pay attention to detail. I always appreciate when I see someone else’s work is very detailed because it make such a difference in the final product. This is also one of the things that I most appreciate in Susan Hilferty designs, because she puts so much intricate work into each characters costumes and gives them their own color schemes and styles. While you may not be able to see all the intricate details when you are sitting in the audience, they make a difference in the finished product and the craft,a ship that goes into them. She has inspired me to follow my passion of costume design.
Website: https://www.susanhilferty.com/
Why Puffins?
While going through my website you may be asking yourself, ‘Why is she using this weird bird called a Puffin?” The answer is not as simple as if I had randomly pick a cute animal for my logo. The true answer is, I like puffins a lot and connect with them. This goes with my logo on my home page, be like a Puffin. You may have never seen a puffin before, but they are very interesting little birds. They can swim, and fly, and instead of living in nests, they dig little burrows for their homes. I like to think, just like it just like I how not many people can do many different crafts it is rare for animals to have so many different talents. They can also be silly, as they do that little walk that make people think they are penguins, which they aren't. They have the nickname "clown of the sea" and are known for being very sociable. When scientists try to reintroduce puffins to other areas they put fake puffins on cliffs because Puffins are so sociable they will land when they see other puffins. One of my favorite pictures shows a puffin standing next to fake Puffin with one leg up, just like the fake puffin, like he is trying to fit in with his new friend. Puffins are also curious about people you see many pictures of them landing next to people trying to take pictures of them. That is the reason I chose a Puffin as my logo. I feel strongly connected to it and they are cute.
