About artist Mary Milliken
I’m a visual artist and digital designer living in Los Angeles with my fiancé and our two cats. I create original artwork and illustrations, zines, stickers, and even murals, and can design everything from logos to custom stickers to menus to cute lil social media graphics. The sky’s the limit!
I specialize in-person events and pop-ups, where I paint live and chat with event guests. I’m especially known for my portraits that I draw on-the-spot from life or from a photo. Since 2020, I’ve drawn hundreds of people and pets through the US!I love animals, frolicking at the beach, Dr. Pepper, being in nature, and baths.
I have a masters in art education from the school of the art institute of Chicago and I’ve been a creative professional for over 15 years in a lot of capacities, everything from an art teacher to a photographer to a gravestone designer (for real). Now I manage my own business and use all the skills I’ve learned over the years!
I’m a one-stop creative shop! I paint original works that are almost always available for purchase to add to your own art collection. I even offer payment plans. I also create custom art commissions such as my watercolor portrait and tasteful nude oil paintings. My design services include brand design (logos, packaging art, social media graphics, website art), print design (greeting cards, menus, banners, brochures, postcards). I also offer small-batch printing services for folks who want affordable, waterproof die-cut stickers and stickers sheets and small-scale printing like flyers, postcards, business cards, and packaging labels!
I’m accepting commissions, let’s make something today!
Artist Bio
Mary Milliken (they/them) is a non-binary artist, illustrator, and educator known for bold, textured work that celebrates queerness, body diversity, and satirical takes on mental health. With 15+ years of experience, they create custom portraits, zines about queer and self-love, humorous stickers, and hand-painted upcycled apparel. Based in Los Angeles and originally from Elmira, NY, Mary pops up at events, markets, and weddings offering live watercolor portraits of guests and pets.
Artist Statement
My style is versatile and oscillates materials and media – acrylic, watercolor, ink, paper, and canvas. Mixed media interests me because it is sculptural, tangible, requires many skills, encourages experimentation, and results in a feast for the eyes. Designing for a company that made artwork by hand showed me how art becomes more human when you introduce room for error.My art focuses on beauty in chaos, mundanity, and mindful appreciation. I document what feels beautiful to a queer LA transplant – the social connection of a portrait or a captured landscape in an ever-changing city. Light is used to highlight natural geometric shapes while juxtaposing chaotic linework and loose brush strokes. I digitally augment my hand-made artwork to transform my work without ever destroying the original. My challenge is getting back to before – before learning the “right” ways. Focusing on “right” is what created my anorexia, kept me in my hometown, and stopped me from living my full truth. Graffiti, fatness, poverty, eating disorders, queerness, and grief are subjects that are avoided; thus, I actively feature those ideas in my work to continue processing, grieving, and growing. I grew up appreciating the work of Mary Cassatt: soft, loose depictions of light, landscapes, flowers, and intimate, fleshy scenes that were not exclusive to the White male gaze. The work of Toulouse-Lautrec depicting Parisian nightlife would influence my depictions of LA and queer performers. Later, living in Chicago introduced me to playful, satirical, and political styles of the Chicago Imagists and Neo-Expressionism.
EXHIBITIONS & FEATURES
Best Visual Artist, Sapphic Los Angeles (2025)
LA Hope Dealers Sinners Welcome, Los Angeles, CA (2025)
Folklore LA, Featured Artist, March-June, Los Angeles, CA (2024)
Fruit Slice Quarterly Magazine, Issue #2, Featured Artwork, Los Angeles, CA (2024)
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery’s Apophenia, Los Angeles, CA (2023)
Memorial Art Gallery’s 67th Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition, Rochester, NY (2021)
Tri-County Arts Council’s Southern Tier Biennial, Olean, NY (2021)
The Rockwell Museum’s The Face Mask As Canvas Exhibition, Corning, NY (2020)
Arnot Art Museum’s 76th Regional Competition, Elmira, NY (2019)
Selected mural artist, Quiet Support, Elmira, NY (2018)
Portrait Interrupted: Recycling and Renewing the Personal, Solo Exhibition, Corning, NY (2017)
