Los Angeles born artist Michelle Mia Araujo, better known to the art world as simply Mia, is fascinated by stories and characters. One look at her amazing paintings and you get it. Check out our interview with Mia.Art Nouveau Magazine: How are you?
Mia: Recovering from a cold, but otherwise okay.

ANM: When did you know you were an artist?
Mia: I’ve been scribbling and drawing ever since I was 2, so there was never any question in my mind that I would be anything else. When I learned to read and write, I added ‘writer’ to the list of things I wanted to be when I grew up. Though certain professions came and went on that list, ‘artist’ and ‘writer’ are the two that remained. And the visual arts always took precedence.

ANM: Describe your work to someone who has never seen it.
Mia: I’d say ‘you need to see it because I can’t describe it to you’ (and that’s why I’m an artist first and a writer second!) To put it even more vaguely, I’d tell you that it’s figurative, surreal, symbolic, very detailed, and filled with stories and little worlds.

ANM: Tell me about your background in the arts. When did you know you were an artist?
Mia: I grew up scribbling, then perfected that to more controlled lines, but had no formal art training until I took a couple of figure drawing classes over the summer when I was 15. I graduated from high school a year early so that I could attend art school as soon as possible, and graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in 2007.

ANM: You have a background in Creative Writing. Will you be releasing any books that you’ve written and illustrated anytime soon?
Mia: 
I have several stories going on in my head and in journals and sketchbooks all at once, but none are completed. My mind works very similarly to the dynamic in my paintings—there are multiple energies and stories going on at the same time. But of course—it’s my dream to write and illustrate my own stories, so I know I’ll find a way to do it someday.

ANM: Most of your subjects tend to focus on women. Is there a reason for this?
Mia: 
Being one myself, it’s a subject I tend to gravitate towards. I recently did a piece based on the Lord of the Flies, so the subject is a boy, but I had something I wanted to say about that particular story and didn’t hold back based on who the main character was.

ANM: Would you ever incorporate men or animals even in your work?
Mia: 
I’m 23, so I like to think that I’ll be trying all sorts of things during the years that follow. That being said, if inspiration strikes again to paint a male subject I’ll do it again gladly. My thought process is rather spontaneous, and I let it have control. Same with animal subjects…if I am struck with an idea for a painting based around an animal, I won’t hold back. In the meantime, I do weave some of both into the narrative surrounding the female.

ANM: What theme if any does your work explore?
Mia: 
I’m interested in the complexity of life and the world we live in—there are endless facets to who we are, the situations we deal with every day, and the layers and meanings in the stories we read. Because of that, I like to paint more than just the subject– I want to hint at her story, her thoughts, the things around her. And of course there are even more hidden layers beneath what I show you, so it can go on and on. My interest in all this complexity stems from my wish to see every person discover his or her own inner complexity when they contemplate the complexity of my characters.

ANM: Who are your creative influences?
Mia: The list is constantly expanding and fluctuating, but here are some that come to mind: Gustav Klimt, Arthur Rackham, Walt Disney, the Old Masters, silent film stars, nature.

ANM: What’s your process of creating a piece? How do you know when you’re done?
Mia: There is usually a trigger-idea that I write down—whether it’s a line out of a poem, a mental image, or something I’m learning about…I make a list of anything pertaining to that idea and come up with a story and a character. Then I research images for inspiration, and make a series of rough sketches. My sister critiques them, and I make corrections based on our conversation. Then I’ll do a tight drawing and scale it up to final size. Next, I transfer the drawing to my panel and start blocking in colors. I don’t have time to do color or value studies (which I’d love to do if I could), so I start working on sections that I have a good idea about in terms of color, and just go from there. The painting generally stays true to the drawing, although there are times that I remove or change certain elements depending on how the painting presents itself.

Usually my deadline determines when I’m done. There’s always more I could go back to tweak, rework or just get rid of, but I tend to come to a compromise with the piece—it gets to do what it wants, and I get a certain level of detail and tightness in every section that tells me it’s done.

ANM: What’s on your Music Playlist lately? Does music influence your work?
Mia: 
Yes, music influences my work, and so do podcasts and audio-books. If they don’t inspire ideas, they at least keep me happy and learning new things. Here are some I have on right now: big band and jazz music, David Bowie, Mariee Sioux, some Broadway musical showtunes, Radio Bastet (vintage belly dance music), a Psychology class podcast and one on Anthropology, BBC World Service Documentaries, Chasing Hermes, PRI’s The World in Words, and a couple of audio-books too.

ANM: If you couldn’t paint, what would you be doing right now?
Mia: Writing one of my stories, or drawing.

ANM: What’s your favorite color to incorporate in your work?
Mia: 
Interesting question: I don’t really think of colors in that way, probably because I’m naturally a drawer, so I think with lines. When it comes down to it, I’d have to say that naples yellow and naphthol crimson have to be in there somehow. I like how those particular colors mix with the others, they just make it easier to paint warm colors for me.

ANM: What’s next for you?
Mia: 
I just finished up my largest piece to date, which is 4’ wide x 3’ tall. I probably won’t do another one like that in a while, but I do like painting big now. I’ll be showing one painting and one drawing in a Mark Murphy-curated group show at Art Basel Miami this December, and I’m working on a couple of small/medium-sized commissions. 2010 is booked to the hilt and 2011 is  just about filled up, so that’s exciting. I feel extremely fortunate to be doing this for a living.

ANM: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Mia: Thanks for interviewing me!

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