Today we’d like to introduce you to Delia Miller
Hi Delia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Delia Miller, I am a mural artist and student pilot from Apopka, FL. As a child, I have found my passion for art and creative expression in conflict with my interests for the sciences and analytical world. The inevitable questions always arise — “Yeah, art is cool but what will you be going to school for?”, “When are you going to find time to pursue both?” and my personal favorite: “How are you just going to let your talent go to waste at some office job?!”. As a child, it had been ingrained into my core that through pursuing STEM, my artistic side would go to shrivel and die.
However, a part of me found solace in discovering the world of large scale public art, especially those with a social impact. I began to see a place in which my artistic outlook is not undervalued in the light of my enthusiasm for STEM, but instead welcomed in harmony. I found a similar outlook when deciding to go to flight school to become a commercial pilot. The feeling of my very first flight lesson was like nothing I had experienced before, sparking that same unfiltered passion and curiosity that I had observed in myself so early on. Throughout the years I began to find overlap in how my perspective as an artists informs my journey as a student pilot and vice versa. The ability to visualize the history of Florida, from Downtown Orlando to our Florida springs ecosystem, in an accessible, large scale form has been such an incredible honor and responsibility to me as an artist. My ultimate goal is to be able to show others, especially young girls, that you can pursue more than one passion with confidence, despite how different those passions may be.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my biggest challenges was deciding what path I wanted to pursue in my life. Coming from a household with many in the medical field, I was strongly guided into that career field as well. Although my family is very creative and has a strong interest in the arts, pursuing a career in a non-traditional field was very foreign to them. This meant that I had to give my projects my all, and really display to them that these fields can be lucrative when passion is behind them. In the present day, however, my parents are very supportive, probably my biggest supporters, and I couldn’t do half of my murals or flight training without their support.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
This Spring, with my newly obtained Private Pilot License, I will be taking on my first national art project! My project consists of flying to various states in a small, single-engine Cessna and partnering with several ecological conservations to paint murals with meaning. From the midwest to the southeast and beyond, being able to combine my love for art and aviation has been a dream.
My artist bio:
Delia Miller is an artist from Apopka, Florida. She creates murals across the Central Florida area and is heavily inspired by nature and cultural heritage. Delia believes that art should not only be aesthetically pleasing but should also tell a story. Whether she is working with a community group, a nonprofit organization, or a private client, she strives to capture the essence of their vision and translate it into a beautiful, meaningful work of art. Alongside painting, Delia finds joy in teaching with the nonprofit ArtReach Orlando every week and helping youth discover their strength and voice through the healing power of art.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has found its way in and out of my story. It was luck that guided meet a young, black female airline captain in a random airport bathroom who introduced me to my first flight school, or that got me the opportunity to paint my first mural in my senior year of high school. I believe I would not have been able to pursue the projects I have without the impact of my mentors.
I began to learn that luck is never passive. As a once reserved and quiet person, the tenacity and grit I had to develop is what led me to being in the environment for “luck” to come my way. I have found that staying prepared, whether its for the opportunity to paint outside of state, or to fly my first solo cross country flight, is what allows me to be ready when the wind shifts in my favor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deliamiller.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliamlr/
Image Credits
Delia Miller (all images of my murals), Julian Wood (image of me standing on plane), Maureen Hudas (image of me in lift in front of mural)
