A Beauty Renaissance with Mia Jenae Artistry

The Renaissance visuals dropped?!

I could go on and on about all that Mia Jenae is. At only 22-years old, she is such a multifaceted, inimitable person — A great human being, an animal lover, a self taught makeup artist and nail artist, a content creator, a mental health and domestic violence awareness advocate, a poet, a musical talent, a jokester, a gamer, the shy dancer that should be centerstage, all and anything creative, a loving friend, but, most importantly, (to me) the most wonderful sister. She has a heart as big as her dreams and she can create worlds in her mind and bring them to life in ways I’ve never seen before. Whenever she originally states what her idea is, just know the final product is always 10 times better. Sometimes I imagine a million mini Mias in her brain putting her vision together like a jigsaw puzzle. Step by step. Trial and error. Taking a break when needed. Stepping back to see the full picture and making adjustments. Luckily for me, I have an inside view to the day to day process (when I’m allowed — ya girl get’s kicked out from time to time) and one thing about Mia - she won’t stop until her idea matches what she sees in her head. She has been working on a creative concept tied to the Renaissance album by Beyoncé and just released it to the public. She was the stylist, the nail artist, the makeup artist, the producer, editor, and much more. Alongside her was a team consisting of Christina Dunn, Brittney Strachan, and myself, who: shot video, styled hair, took photos, created props and clothing, and many things in between. I’ve watched her work tirelessly to bring this idea to life and to tie it all together and I wanted to share a bit of her thought process and inspiration with you all. Hope you enjoy!

BTS on Shoot Day with Mia, Christina, Brittney, and myself.

Dajahnae: I’m excited to interview you. I’m a little nervous for some reason like I don’t talk to you every day [laughs]. I’m just so excited to see this project come to life after watching you work so hard for the past few months. And you know I’m one of your biggest fans! How are you feeling?

Mia: Anxious.

Dajahnae: Okay, why?

Mia: Uhh. Because I don’t know how… I don’t know how people are going to react to it, but I think I care too much about how people see it or if they appreciate it as much as I do.

Dajahnae: I understand that. I feel like it’s hard sometimes to put your heart out there and then wait for the feedback because you don’t know what it’s going to be like.

Mia: And I don’t do this. I don’t share myself in this way.

Dajahnae: In what way?

Mia: Like dancing and showing my body. And… I don’t do that.

Dajahnae: But you’re a dancer. You been a dancer.

Mia: Yea, but I don’t do that for the public. I do that for the close knit and people I’m comfortable with.

Dajahnae: That’s fair. From the time you were born I feel like you’ve always been so creative. What are your earliest memories that tie to creating something?

Mia: The earliest? Maybe like elementary school art class, or violin, or dance class.

Dajahnae: Well, more like a project of your own.

Mia: I feel like I have so many projects of my own that I don’t share with people. […] I guess it was when I was writing songs on my keyboard.

Dajahnae: [laughs] Awww yes. I remember. I was going to say your clay jewelry.

Mia: Yea, but that’s more of a hobby. I feel like making songs was more of a project as opposed to making clay.

Dajahnae: Do you remember your first song?

Mia: No.

Dajahnae: Or you just don’t want to tell us?

Mia: No. I don’t remember it and even if I did, I’m sorry, I wouldn’t say. Sorrrrrry *singsong voice* [both laugh]

A peak into Mia’s brain.. aka her sketch book.

Dajahnae: We’ve all been waiting patiently for the Renaissance visuals since the album dropped. How did this project come to mind? At what point did you know you wanted to create your own video?

Mia: How did it come to mind? I….. It just came to mind. [Laughs] There was really no how. I mean not necessarily just the music, because the nail sets are from the pictures [Beyoncé] released. I didn’t think of the project when I first heard Renaissance I just..I don’t know. I saw the pictures and I was like, “hmmm maybe I can just recreate nail sets.” Originally, it was just going to be nail sets, but then the nail sets turned into, “I haven’t done my makeup in so long, so maybe I should do matching makeup looks and reintroduce myself to the world with my makeup again.” But [Beyoncé] looked at it as a project I guess, right? Like Act 1, Act 2. Like a movie. And I was like why not do my own version?

Dajahnae: And you did! Purr.

Mia: And I did! And it was just going to be recordings of the makeup and nail stuff, but then it turned into wanting to reenact or make my own spinoff of the Beyoncé visuals. My inspiration was from the pictures, the teaser, and the songs. Myself. Because it’s really just my interpretation of it. I don’t really know if those sets are tied to the songs.

Dajahnae: Yea, and you were so serious when picking them.

Mia: Yea, I was serious. My intuition was just like.. I don't know. I think I am 90…hmmmm. I think I’m 97 percent correct. Okay 97 is a little bit high. I think I’m 90 percent correct. I’ll leave 10 percent.

Some of the nail and video inspiration photos.

Dajahnae: Okay. That’s fair. Well, I know there were times that made it feel difficult to continue or finish the project. What was a part of the process that surprised you and/or kept you motivated to execute your vision?

Mia: Hmmm. I dreamed a lot. I think just my conscience.

Dajahnae: It was like, “RENAISSANCE, RENAISSANCE, RENAISSANCE!”

Mia: Yea. I had a lot of dreams and my dreams are very vivid. Or ummm.. when I would sketch my sets beforehand and I would finish my set and it would look like the sketch. I’d be like, “Oooh I wanna do another one!” And also your reactions to them.

Dajahnae: That surprised you?

Mia: You like everything that I do.

Dajahnae: I do! Because I’m your number 1 fan.

Mia: Yea, I know, but I don’t know. It’s.. even though I know you’re gonna like it, that validation is still motivating.

Dajahnae: I feel like I would tell you if it was trash, but you’ve never shown me something that I felt you shouldn’t post because it’s bad. But you see it that way.

Some of the nail art for the Renaissance project. All hand painted/sculpted by Mia Jenae.

Mia: Yea, that’s just the creative eye for you man. It.. Yea, we not gonna talk about it. We’re not gonna shine light on that big critic. That.. yea.

Dajahnae: Okay.

Mia: You know what?! We are gonna shine light on it because… fuck you, bitch! I did it anyway, whore. *Blac Youngsta voice*

Dajahnae: You did it anyway! I feel like that’s what the process is. Sometimes you have things that are holding you back in your mind and taking that step forward to be like, “Forget you, ima do it anyways.” Even if it’s not received in the way that you think, the biggest hurdle is putting it out there. Some people could have this idea and never do anything with it. You know what I’m saying? They not even being vulnerable enough to be perceived because they don’t want other critiques other than themselves. [Editors note: heavily talking to myself here!!!!] But, I feel like putting these things out there gives yourself the opportunity to tell your brain, “Forget what you say. I’m gonna continue to be great and wonderful!”

Mia: Yes! I pushed my baby out.

Dajahnae: Oh yea! Elaborate on that.

Mia: Listen to this now. I was impregnated for months with this idea that was growing inside of me. It made me cry. It made me happy. It made me eat. Stress eat. […] And finally the push day has come. And as exciting as the push day is or, you know, having the idea/the baby out in the world… Pushing sucks… balls. But you gotta push.

Dajahnae: and breathe.

Mia: You gotta *imitates loud birthing sounds*

Dajahnae: How am I gonna write that? Imitates birthing sounds?

Mia: Yea.

Photos taken by Christina, Brittney, and myself.

Dajahnae: How has this project changed your perspective on life and all that is to come in the future?

Mia: I didn’t give up on the project when I could’ve. As long as I took with it. So I guess the mantra that comes to mind is “Keep Going”.

Dajahnae: *sings* Just keep swimming.

Mia: Yea. Just keep swimming. Being comfortable, I guess. Learning to be comfortable. Because this is out of my comfort zone. I coulda just did the nails and makeup and just shown my hand and the side of my face, but I showed everything. And I wasn’t drunk or high to do it.

Dajahnae: That’s big.

Mia: That’s another perspective. I don’t need to be drunk or high to..

Dajahnae: Create?

Mia: Not to create.. just to be, I guess.

Dajahnae: It came from the depths of your sober mind, as you said in your caption.

Mia: Yea. We’re learning to love the sober mind.

Dajahnae: Amen to that. What’s your earliest Beyoncé memory or favorite moment? You were a Beyoncé super fan from the time I knew you.

Mia: I could tell you a few things that I think about. So, I think about.. I think we were driving to BJs with Mommy and she was listening to Ego.

Dajahnae: That would be the song she was listening to [both laugh].

Mia: Yea, she was listening to Ego and she cussed some lady out in the parking lot. [both laugh] and then she went back to singing. Then, we got out of the car like nothing happened. I think about the DVDs.

Dajahnae: Oh yea, we had nuff DVDs!

Mia: I think about when Homecoming came out on Netflix.

Dajahnae: And we stayed up waiting for it!

Mia: I think about the concert, obviously. The first concert I went to [I am… World Tour in 2009]. I just remember for some reason, after when we were taking the pictures, I swore I was gonna see her outside and we were going to take a picture.

Dajahnae: I mean, technically you did take a picture with her.

Mia: [laughs] But not physically. I was just like, “In due time I’ll get my real image.”

Our first Beyoncé concert. The I Am World Tour at Madison Square Garden.

Dajahnae: Anything you wanna tell the people?

Mia: What do I wanna tell the people? If you didn’t watch, that’s okay. Thank you. If you did watch, but not all of it, that’s okay too. You still watched. Thank you. And if you did watch all of it, thank you. THANK YOU to everybody.

Dajahnae: [laughs]

Mia: I don’t wanna be too mushy, gushy, ushy.

Dajahnae: That’s okay. More to come.

Mia: A lot more to come! All I ask is that people be patient with me. I am trying my very best.

Dajahnae: And doing the damn thing!

Mia: And doing the damn thing! But I cannot rush and I promise it is all worth it. CLEARLY YOU SEE IT. All 4 minutes and 44 seconds of it. It is worth it. And that goes for anything in life, people. You don’t need to rush. Take your time. In the end it will be worth it. Blessed Lord. Amen. Hallelujah.

Dajahnae: I guess this is a hard question, but out of all the Beyonce projects you did, is this your favorite?

Previous nail art projects inspired by Beyoncé albums and Ivy Park.

Mia: Ummmm. They’re all my children. I cant say that. This is my most intricate child. This was my middle child.

Dajahnae: [laughs] Okay.

Mia: Right? I’m the middle child. This is was my middle child. The middle child gives headaches.

Dajahnae: Oh, so it gave a lot of trouble?

Mia: Is it my middle child or is it the youngest one?

Dajahnae: Nah. You was giving trouble, my girl.

Mia: No, but like, what do they say? Is it the middle child, the oldest child, or the youngest child? I think the youngest child is babied. The oldest child is ignored. [laughs] Sorry, no shade to you. And the middle child is like AHHHH.

Dajahnae: Well, what a beautiful middle child it is. Okay rapid fire questions —Favorite song on Renaissance today?

Mia: DON’T ASK ME THAT.

Dajahnae: I said TODAY. Favorite song on Renaissance TODAY.

Mia: Oh, um.. Church Girl and Alien Superstar is playing in my head.

Dajahnae: You’re not gonna like this either. Nails or Makeup?

Mia: I’m not gonna answer that.

Dajahnae: You answer it all the time and say a very specific answer.

Mia: I do?

Dajahnae: Yes, that nails allows you to be more creative.

Mia: Yes, but makeup is my first baby. You cant neglect the first child.

Dajahnae: You just said the oldest is ignored, my girl.

Mia: Yea, but you cant neglect it at the end of the day. I ignored it, yes [laughs] but I cant neglect it. You’re still my first born.

Dajahnae: What brings you joy?

Mia: Life.

Dajahnae: Amen!

Mia: Life.

Dajahnae: [laughs] Amen.

Mia: Uhhhh. If I had to pick one thing.. Life.

Dajahnae: [both laugh] Amen.

Mia: Every day I choose life.

Watch Mia’s Renaissance Visual here and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. If you enjoy her content, show her some love on her page and share with a friend or two.

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