Smallish, Watercolor on Paper, 2025

I got this idea from pinterest, as with most things! I saw a few ‘aesthetic’ pictures of people’s favorite shoes, and I thought it would be cool to make one for my favorite pair of shoes: My berry pink platform converse. 

I started this process by taking pictures of my own feet in my backyard. I then picked my favorite and traced it. I did this at my house over spring break, so I had to get a little creative with how I did that. Then I painted on the berry color, the background, the first color of the sole, and the ground and allowed that to dry. To add more complexity and interest, I added more to each layer by making the soles more dirty (accurate, unfortunately), adding folds in the fabric to show how my foot was sitting in the shoe, and painting my skin. To finish it off, I used a sharpie to add the metal parts and black lines. 

The only symbolism in this is how much I love these shoes! Because they are the exact color of my hair, they can match anything!

There wasn’t much struggle with this painting, it was just something cool to add to my portfolio. I’m happy with how it turned out.

This is in a very painterly style. I love it because it’s colorful and still realistic.

Niya Miller "Drum Head"

idk, 2025, Acrylic on Plastic

I made this for Mr. Greubel as a fundraiser. Every year in band, we have a band kid or two (Camila and I this year!) make a drum head design based on our marching band theme from the fall. This year, our theme was female empowerment. Mr. Greubel gave me a few visuals of what he was looking for, one of which was Rosie the Riveter. I didn't want to just copy that down onto a drumhead. I wanted to make it my own. So I made it pink! 

I started by tracing Rosie onto the drum head with sharpie. I then mixed 3-4 pinks in various shades for the design. Then I just colored her in. The painting part of the piece felt like I was doing a color-by-number because it was fairly simple. Once I was done with the many layers of acrylic, I added a pink layer to the back. It's tradition for the band kids to sign the drum head before it's auctioned, so I had everyone sign the back. I signed in pink, seniors signed in purple, and everyone else signed in black. 

The artwork is supposed to symbolized female empowerment. Rosie the Riveter is a famous World War II era poster encouraging women to go into the workforce, so I re-branded it. Maybe my version is encouraging women and girls to get involved in music programs!

The most difficult part of this work was the eyes. It took lots of paint and a few tears and hand cramps to get them right. 

I love this piece because, to me, it represents my two favorite classes: Advanced Studio and Band! 

Niya Miller "Fishbowl" 

idk, Stoneware, 2025

I got the idea for this specific bowl after I did a day on the wheel. I think the flat walls were good to add something to. So I looked through the clay texture tools, and found a fish stamp. I rolled it onto a slab of clay and cut the fish out, and pasted them onto the bowl. After firing, I glazed the fish in a koi fish pattern and the background with various blue glazes. 

There is no symbloism in this bowl.

The hardest part of making this bowl was trying to make the fish say to the bowl exactly how I wanted to.

This is a utilitarian work. I love how the different glazes work together.