Sea and Sky Painting

Stephanie Miglietta was born in a small Ohio town in the rural Midwest surrounded by cornfields and farms, just outside of Cincinnati. Her appreciation of nature began at an early age. Throughout her childhood, Stephanie's love of the outdoors was only rivaled by her love of making art. She eventually studied art at University of Cincinnati. In 2001, she completed her BA, Drawing and Painting, at The Ohio State University where she also was inspired by many renowned visiting artists (such as Robert Rauschenberg and Julie Taymor) in a student job at The Wexner Center for the Arts. Upon graduation, she continued to explore retail while utilizing her art background in visual display and merchandising careers with department stores. Being drawn to the warm Florida winters and abundant sunshine skies, Stephanie transferred with her job from Ohio to Florida, where she also met her husband. After many years of working for Macy’s, Stephanie lost her job as part of the company’s restructuring. With time to explore art making again, the June 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting caused her to pick up her paintbrushes after much time away, as it was the only way she felt she could express herself during so much sadness in Orlando. Stephanie is incredibly inspired by the beauty of nature that surrounds her in Florida. She views painting as she views life-- an exciting exploration and an opportunity to lean into intuition and trust. While she plans some of her paintings in advance, her favorite way to paint is by letting her preference for color and mark making unfold without planning it ahead of time. She loves to jump right in, allowing her choices to be guided in the moment. Stephanie enjoys adding and removing paint quickly (especially with painting knives) until she feels that a painting seems completed. She is always amazed at what unfolds at the end because usually the completed painting looks totally different from the way it began. This interaction with the materials in creative flow--painting with texture and color-- is what keeps her coming back time and again. She has been sharing her artwork in person to connect with and inspire others at pop ups in many locations throughout Orlando. Some of her giclee print reproductions of original paintings can be found in Orlando at West Elm and The Shop at Orlando Museum of Art. Original paintings as well as print reproductions can be found in her online shop: sunshineskystudio.