MIA'S SHORT BIO
I live in Greater Manchester UK.
I’m a graphic designer and self-publisher. Inspired by patterns and bold colours, I create and sell clothes, device cases and home decor products on Redbubble as well as books on Amazon.
At school I loved to illustrate my English essays and write stories. I would cringe with embarrassment as my teacher held up my work. I was a novice at drawing but knew I absolutely enjoyed it. I have no idea what urged me to draw at an early age and no one in our family is an artist. The closest to art was my gran who loved crafts and taught me some of her skills; sewing and crocheting.
At school I had an inspiring art teacher. She also ran the sewing classes. She seemed to recognise something in me when I was too young to identify what it was I wanted to do with my life. She encouraged me to take the exam for the art scholarship. I got through the tests and was accepted for the art school. I loved the time I spent there.
I remember coming first in my silk screen attempt it was a messy craft. It was extraordinary that I liked this art form so much as I hated getting my hands dirty!
After art school I went to the local Technical College. Armed with a few qualifications I moved to Leicester where I studied for a BA and eventually an MA in Graphic Design. Those were some of the most enjoyable days of my life.
When I left Leicester I moved to the heady lights of London. I lived in Barnsbury Street, Islington, in a Georgian house. At that time I didn’t know London
that much and thought I lived in the back and beyond not realising I was at the centre of everything.
During those early days I was flat broke and made endless pots of homemade soup to survive.
For a very short time I trained to become a Chartered accountant and jacked that in when I realised that I was so bored conducting audits for solicitors accounts. Then one day I got into computers and never looked back. I spent many years training other professionals in some of the top companies and advertising agencies helping them create magazines, brochures and leaflets.
Years later I left London and returned to the North West where I decided to take a break from training others and spend more time investing in myself.
I started out writing children’s books but put several of them aside for publishing later. Not long after I came across a course on how to create colouring books. In under a month of launching I had 15 grown-up colouring books in Amazon’s bestsellers. Further books followed and I now have over 40 books.
I’ve always wanted to produce my designs on fabric and came across print on demand that allowed me to do this and so much more. Now I have many of my designs on clothes, device cases and home décor.
