From flowers to horror art, Central grad blossoms online and on storefronts

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

Elkader is a flourishing town of young artists—among them recent Central graduate Mia Stone, or Xanadu, as she is known online. 

She has been a frequent participant in student art shows, but more recently popped up on social media for creating colorful window paintings now brightening downtown storefronts. 

Attention is well deserved for a local talent who has been creating art since she was young. But it wasn’t until middle school when Mia started taking it seriously. That’s when she got a hold of some proper supplies and her first drawing tablet from one of her brothers. By 2018, she was using an old cracked phone and a free art program to work on digital art. 

The draw to art wasn’t just the supplies; it was watching her older brothers. One of them, Josh, used to do tattoos and draw when Mia was younger, and served as a “big inspiration.” Brother Ollie also worked on digital art, and is the one who gave Mia the drawing tablet and taught her how to use the programs. He continues to be one of her “biggest cheerleaders” when she shows off a new piece. 

Back then, Mia created a piece on an old phone that she is still incredibly proud of today. It was a drawing of two girls laying in the grass, one with white hair and eyes and the other with black hair and eyes. Their hair was intertwined in the flowers and grass surrounding them, giving almost a yin- and yang-like look. 

The drawing took over three hours, but Mia is “extremely proud” of it, while recognizing how far she has come as an artist when she revisits the piece. 

It is an interesting drawing, one that questions where Mia finds her inspiration. The short answer is: “from anywhere.” 

Sometimes, though, it’s from a dream about a person. That’s how Mia created a character with huge rings that went through the eye sockets and circled around the back of her head. If that doesn’t clue you in on the fact Mia’s favorite style of art is horror art, well, now you do. She might also say it’s more animated and dark, given that she grew up on animation and gets ideas from other artists, converting it all into her own unique style.

There are easier ways to find motivation, however, and Mia utilizes several, like simply scrolling on Pinterest. Sometimes it’s seeing random objects like flowers or designs that generate an idea. Either way, it’s all a process. 

“Sometimes I have an idea in my head, like a pose I want a certain character to be drawn in or a certain scenario. Sometimes I can open my iPad and immediately draw something I like, but other times I sit and stare at a blank canvas for a while before I decide on what I want to draw. Art is a lot of retracing steps and starting over, especially when you want to like the pieces you create,” she explained. 

Those pieces are typically made digitally, her favorite medium, but Mia also ventures into acrylic painting on canvas because it allows her to add the little details she is known for. 

“My art style tends to be a lot more detailed than some, so when I make a painting, I enjoy layering the paint to create a really broad palette of coloring. Especially when I paint portraits of characters and I can use a red tone underneath the skin color to make it seem more realistic,” she said.

One piece that stood out in recent years is titled “Bloom.” Mia explained it’s a painting of a woman who looks distraught and a bit off-putting, with her eyes closed and one half of her face opened in a petal-like way. 

“I was inspired by how, as people mature, they tend to ‘blossom’ like a flower, becoming a better version of their past self,” she said.

The painting reflects a deeper narrative about expressing feelings and the perception that “school kills artists,” a phrase Mia has heard repeated often in the online community. “Bloom” represents the idea of overcoming discouragement from negativity, unsupportive comments, self-doubt or societal constraints, all of which wilt a person before they can fully blossom. 

“That quote is what inspired me to create the painting in the first place because I finally understood what it meant,” she said. “Artists can become heavily discouraged by lack of support and refuse to ‘blossom’ due to the pressure from other people. The painting is a mixture of both beauty and body horror, which I believe captures my idea perfectly.”

Looking at her portfolio, it appears Mia has certainly overcome and blossomed, both in high school and outside it. While attending Central, she participated in multiple art contests and shows, including the NEIA Art Show hosted by Upper Iowa University, where she finished second as a 10th grader in the craft category. Her work has also been displayed at The Collective in Elkader. 

Beyond that, Mia’s mark has shown up all over downtown. You just likely didn’t realize you were looking at a piece by the one and only Xanadu. 

Prior to the latest window murals, Mia painted murals for Christmas when she worked at Rise and Shine, as well as two others for a Ladies Day Out when the theme was Mardi Gras. She painted a masquerade mask with some beads and some feathers at Emerald Grove Boutique and then some beads and colorful feathers at Old Crow Mercantile. 

She returned to Emerald Grove earlier this summer, settling on flowers that she hoped would bring attention to the shop and light up the downtown area. 

“I was trying to picture a field of flowers and I added whatever I believed would fill the space,” Mia said. “I like to add a bit of artist touch to Elkader when I’m given the opportunity, so I’ve been going around and asking businesses if they’d like some flowers painted on their windows for summertime.”

The other window mural was done at Chic Retreat, an opportunity that came about when Mia was told other businesses in town might enjoy the liveliness flowers bring. She began to ask around. After asking the owner what colors she’d like for the flowers, the answer was sunflowers, so Mia focused the design on the large, yellow flowers and added a few more vines and different colored flowers to make it pop. 

“There’s not much color where the shop is located and I thought, if I painted something nice, it would not only brighten up the shop, but bring attention to it,” she said. 

There is one other thing Mia does as an artist, and it is something called Art Fight, which has been around since 2015. In short, “Art Fight is an annual art game that lasts for one month, beginning every July. During the event, users can register on the site to join in. Each year, participants are split into two themed teams to which they are assigned randomly.” 

The main premise is something known as “attacking,” which is where players “attack” people of the opposing team by making art of original characters you choose belonging to members of the other team. From those attacks, you receive points and eventually a team wins. This will be the second year for Mia, who was on the winning team last year in an event that featured over 425,000 participants. Over two million attacks were made. 

Returning this year, Mia, or 1XADU1 if you feel like registering and finding her profile, will feature some of her favorite character creations, like Okutan, Mollie, Solu and Ayesha.

“I have one main character I draw, who I made in 2018. Her name is Okutan and she is a horror/slasher character I made for fun a long time ago. She was inspired by a lot of other horror characters and urban myths spread across the internet (Creepypastas). I have a couple of other main original characters I draw like Mollie (who is in the same franchise as Okutan, Creepypasta), Solu, Ayesha, etc.,” Mia said. 

Mia said Art Fight “isn’t about winning or gaining points, but rather to inspire other artists and giving and receiving amazing art.”

Whether it’s creating art on a broken device, participating in art shows in high school, bringing beautiful color to downtown storefronts or attacking in Art Fight, Mia believes in the power and importance of art. She called it the “purest way you can express yourself.” Even if you’re not good, all you have to be is passionate about whatever is important to you, from painting to singing or even writing. 

“Art changes how people see the world, changing the view of what others might see as ugly into something beautiful and unique. Art is important because it’s not something you put aside and do later. It’s something that is a constant in your everyday life,” she said.