Take a drive through Ahwatukee, and you may see an eye-catching mural at the Zzeeks Pizza near Warner Road and 48th Street. The mural captures a perfect day in Ahwatukee, showing two girls riding their bikes through the desert with cacti and mountains in the background. The creative and vibrant design also makes for the perfect photo op. The mural was painted by Ahwatukee artist Miki Rose, who is making a name for herself as an illustrator and surface designer in the local art scene.
“I don't have anything else. This is all I am. If I don't have this, I have nothing,” says Miki. “I can't think of another way to live besides making work.”
Born in New York, Miki moved to Ahwatukee when she was two years old. She began to take art seriously at age 11, considering it as a possible career. “I've just always been drawing. There was never a life before drawing was my thing,” says Miki. “I've just always been the art kid, the art sibling, the artist in the class.”
After high school, Miki attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she majored in illustration and minored in sequential art. She graduated in 2024 and moved back to the Phoenix area.
Upon returning to Ahwatukee, Miki began sharing her work with local businesses and publications, reaching out to them directly and posting her digital drawings on her website and social media pages. She soon landed work like painting the mural at Zzeek’s Pizza, creating multiple cover pages and layouts for the Phoenix New Times, and designing flyers for Ahwatukee’s First Friday events.
“It's a hard industry. It's not for everybody. But to have my work seen and be popular, and my friends' moms being like, ‘hey. I saw your work on Facebook.’ Like, that's so crazy,” says Miki. “It's really nice to feel seen, especially because I feel like the suburbs are kind of stifling sometimes, but I think my work is another way for people to see me and see what's inside of me.”
Miki says she wants to get into surface design, where her creations are printed on greeting cards, home goods, and other products.
To begin her creative process, Miki says she first needs a good meal, then sits down with a sketchbook. She then draws a thumbnail, which is a sketch the size of a postage stamp. Next, she puts that image into Photoshop and enlarges it, filling in any gaps to bring her vision to life. Because Miki creates a collection, which is a few pieces of art at a time, one project takes her anywhere from three hours to a few days to complete.
“Fun and function are both important when you're looking to develop your work,” says Miki. “My advice to everyone in the world is, if you want to make art, do it with your hands, and you don't need to outsource your creative endeavors to software. That's the only thing we have as humans.”
Miki hopes her career will take her back to the East Coast; however, she says she won’t forget what Phoenix gave her. “If you want to be a creative person, make the thing, and you will feel so much more connected to yourself.”
To learn more about Miki Rose, visit her website at MikiRose.Art.