We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brian Mills. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian below.
Brian, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
This is a question that I’ve recently grown to love. The answer is for me personally, is letting go. About a year and a half ago I unfortunately found myself in a creative rut for awhile.
To make a medium length story slightly shorter, I more or less said “F&%# It”. I put together a color palette using 3 cans I’d already had, and challenged myself to make 6 or so pieces that my 10 year old self would of loved.
From old bands I loved, to video games, books, movies, sports, etc. It all fed into what ultimately turned into my most successful stretch of work to date, and a 14 piece color series. All of which my inner kid are satisfied with.
I think that act of not “letting go” and not chasing the inspiration, can refill the creative tank (from your inner kid, combining physical movement with the work, leaving it alone for awhile, who knows). I’d challenge anyone to give it a try as well, and see what creative ideas they come up with!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Drawing, painting, music, taking things apart and building them back up again,basically any expression of the arts have always a part of my life and upbringing, whether I knew it or not. I never had any intent to become what I guess can be deemed an artist or a painter, but sometimes that stuff just kind of forces it’s way out of you.
I was born and raised in the South and went to Princeton University. There I majored in Psychology and Neuroscience and played football as well. Not much time for the arts, but even so I found myself always “working on a project”; spray painting longboards, bikes and random things for friends. I wasn’t good at it, but for me it’d always been the easiest way for the patterns, concepts, colors and ideas that decide to show up at 1am to make their real-world debut.
Fast forward to now, living in Los Angeles, CA. The story of “Freeside Mills” is based less on events and more on the idea of “Keeping it Free”. From younger years to even now, the response most would agree they’ve heard people say, or even said themselves, in response to seeing someone’s creativity expressed goes something like: “I could never do that, I’m not creative like that/don’t have the skills/etc”, and that always bothered me.
In short, Freeside Mills comes from freeing yourself of the idea that you can’t, or are not “this” or “that”. I’ve personally taken no formal classes, or done anything that would suggest a path that leads to painting or creating art. It’s simply freeing yourself from thought that what you have in your head, has to happen right away, or that artists/creators weren’t hot garbage at some point (like myself), or that your first attempt has to be perfect. Give yourself the freedom to suck at first, to learn, fail, try something new, to youtube it (learned so much there) and still suck. Most important is ultimately enjoying your process, your creativity, and the gift to be able to express it.
As it stands, my mediums of choice are all over the place. From wood panels, to skateboard decks, stretched canvas, and tennis rackets. I try to make these all look cool with acrylic spray paint, acrylic paint, and regular pencil. They may not look it at first glance, but most if not all of my work is very geometric and layered, with any piece have 2-10 layers. The pieces themselves don’t take incredible long to make, but working them up mentally is a bit of a process.
I’ve become most known for the original, commissioned works that I do. Which combine nostalgic figures, modern elements, and tailored color palettes together. Most requests look like one off pieces, or a set of pieces centered around a color palette or theme (Clean Green – A Color Series, coming soon!).
Recently, I’ve been focusing on doing a lot more in person shows to connect with other artists, and folks who took time out of their day to come and experience the things we cook up in our minds. Honestly it’s where I feel the most at home and in my element.
I’m just proud man. I’m proud of myself for putting in the work, and for continuing to be curious everyday. It’s what turned a longshot dream as a kid into somewhat of a living, breathing opportunity to wake up and live in my passion every day. Words wouldn’t do enough justice to describe the feeling of being able to make art that I personally love, and giving that gift of “I really love this piece” to others. This is a dream come true, and sharing that collaborative experience with y’all is unbelievable.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I love this question, because it’s really simple! I wish I’d leaned more heavily into free resources, such as YouTube earlier on. A lot of the mistakes I made and best practices I worked out, could have been avoided, or learned at a much faster pace if I’d used the resources at my disposal.
A lot of other talented and successful individuals find joy and fulfillment in helping the next person, and in no way is it cheating to google “how to make a cloud stencil for spray painting”. Their process is there, and they’re happy to share it.
Also, I’ve found that reaching out to artists directly on social media has been really refreshing. Sometimes artists that we look up to or try to emulate can seem like this grand machine, that churns out incredible work. Which they very well may be. But, in reality they’re still just people who worked hard to master their craft the same as me or any other artist. You’d be surprised at how many artists have responded to a curious message of mine, with a preferred product, tool, or piece of advice.
I think maintaining a consistent level of curiosity as a creator is the overall umbrella. There’s always something to learn, or a different way to get the results you’re looking for. That curiosity for new things has personally helped me improve my skills, and develop my own unique style.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
I think my biggest area of improvement in the past 12 months, has absolutely been around putting together a cohesive series of pieces, while finding a way to make each piece unique. I’ve been challenging myself creatively to find inspiration in one palette of color, for example, and trying to put together 6, or 10, or 12 pieces using that same palette.
It’s what’s improved the level of my pieces, and hopefully continues to do so as I move towards curating these cohesive Color Collections.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etsy.com/shop/Freesidemills
- Instagram: @freesidemills
