STRIKING A BALANCE

Consultant by day, artist by night, Eleanor Miz wields a full portfolio.

Life is an interesting, unpredictable journey. Compelling fascinations fade while an encounter dismissed as irrelevant proves to be the portal to an exciting new opportunity. An experience in childhood—a time when we are exposed to something new every day—may metamorphose over time, from a pleasant memory to a defining aspect of adulthood.

Looking back at her youth, painter and Wilmette native Eleanor Miz recalls, “I certainly had a different upbringing than many of my friends.” Her physician father had been an opera singer; her mother is the children’s book author and illustrator, Miriam Nerlove. “My mom used to bring my sister and me to the Art Institute and give us sketch pads and charcoals. It was then that I first fell in love with so many Impressionist artists—Monet, Renoir, Degas—and my absolute favorite, Georges Seurat. I used to sit on the bench in front of his A Sunday on La Grande Jatte and endlessly sketch my own versions of the work.”

The myriad ways art, literature, and music bring meaning to life captivated Miz early on. “It all resonated deeply with how I was raised,” says the Wilmette resident. “There were lots of big emotions and creativity in a household with an artist mother and psychiatrist father.”

Growing up, Miz imagined being a doctor like her dad and went so far as to prep for the MCAT. However, after earning a degree in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a post-baccalaureate in Business Administration from Northwestern University, she found her way to the world of change management consulting establishing a career at Ernst & Young. And while medicine may have fallen by the wayside, her interest in art remained strong. “I had studied oil painting formally for many years. When I was on the road as a traveling consultant for EY, I realized how much I loved painting and how much I looked forward to the Thursday plane ride home, when I could return to a painting I had left the previous Sunday.

Although she remains firmly planted in the business world, Miz still maintains an active art practice. “I primarily work on commissions around the North Shore, collaborating with interior designers—such as Bethany Poulos, Jen Decker, and Ashley Harding—who are in the finishing stages of a project.” Like any artist, especially one who holds down a “day job,” carving out time to be creative takes some doing. While Miz is at the studio (blasting Maggie Rogers as she attacks a canvas), her husband, Alec, takes care of the couple’s two young children. “I am thankful for him and my family and network of friends,” says Miz, “for enabling me to pursue my passions.”

Miz’s passions don’t end at the studio door. “I am a big believer in keeping busy,” she observes about herself. Miz plays mahjong with Mod Mahj Chicago regularly, works out at reform PT + Pilates and The Vibe, keeps up with her reading (she’s currently hooked on the work of former Chicagoan Claire Lombardo), and serves on the Board of Directors at the Woman’s Club of Wilmette.

As spring slips into summer, Miz—who showed her work at Vintage Refined in Chicago this past winter—is working hard on commissions. With each new work, her intention remains the same. “Whomever I am painting for, my hope is that they feel something from what I’ve created. There is nothing greater than walking by a painting, listening to a song, or reading an incredible novel, and coming away filled with emotion.”

For more information, visit eleanormiz.com.