Born in rural North Carolina, much of Mia’s childhood was spent exploring the outdoors. She developed an affinity for nature as well as an intuitive understanding of the seasons and cycles of life.
During her early adolescence, Mia’s parents moved the family to Charlotte, where they engaged in the restoration of old homes. This transition to the city compelled Mia to search for diverse forms of creative expression in an attempt to reconnect with the natural environment of her youth. She avidly explored the world of music-playing guitar and singing-before realizing that her passion lay in the visual arts.
Mia focused on liberal and fine arts at Florida State University where, with the help of a mentor, she chose metal sculpting as one of her primary art forms. She also excelled in painting, displaying a remarkably colorful, spontaneous, and totally unique style that reflected her natural impulses. Mia left the university to study in Prague, where she continued to improve her conceptual and technical approaches.
During this time of personal and artistic growth, Mia traveled most of Europe by motorcycle, gaining exposure to diverse cultures and art forms. Upon returning to the United States in 1993, Mia felt ready to embrace an artistic career. Her artwork began to represent an intriguing tension between organic earth tones and vibrant, geometric shapes. Her abstractions seemed like snapshots, conveying the story of modern experience through the primitive symbols of a universal language. She opted to approach art through marginal venues, playing her music and exhibiting her painting and metal sculpture in jazz clubs and underground warehouse parties up and down the East Coast.
She took work in a welding sweatshop in hopes of refining her skills while also saving funds to establish a studio of her own. At the young age of 25, she opened her own studio in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has been creating and successfully selling her art for more than five years.
