I appreciate every artist with all of their creativity. I always wanted to be good at it but failed miserably to the point that my high school art teacher found side projects so that I would be able to pass art class.

I remember seeing this cool label for a Hwy 14 Brewing Co. beer. I loved the style and needed to find out who created the label. I found out it was a local person from Albion named Michelle Olson.

It is so fun to meet creative people in this industry, and I am so glad Michelle was willing to share her story!

So here are my questions for Michelle to find out just how she has become involved in the craft beer industry!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? For instance, are you a Nebraska Native?

I was born in Mexico while my parents visited my mom’s family. Mexico is where my mom is originally from. I lived in a small town in Missouri for a bit of my childhood before moving to Omaha, which is where I consider to be my hometown.

I graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with my bachelor’s degree in Public Health and a minor in Communications. While I didn’t have an exact career in mind, I have always known that I wanted to help people. In my junior year in college, my little brother passed away at the age of 16. It completely changed the way that I viewed life and further drove the desire in me to want to use my life to help others. 

I moved to Albion in 2016 with my now husband, who is originally from Albion. In 2017, I started my position in economic development as the Executive Director of the Boone County Development Agency. I was part of many great community projects and enjoyed playing an essential part in getting new businesses started and helping existing businesses grow. I also served as the Northeast Nebraska Network co-chair and a board member of the Nebraska Economic Development Association. I resigned as director of BCDA this year (2022) but still work for the organization on a contract basis. I will soon serve on the BCDA Board of Directors, so I can continue to be involved with economic development efforts in Boone County and Northeast Nebraska. My time in this position allowed me to help others and our community as a whole and has been a tremendously rewarding experience.

In 2019, my husband’s grandpa, Ray Olson, passed away. Ray played an instrumental part in Nate’s life, and they traveled all over the US together in Ray’s semi. He was also best friends with our dog, Jack, and they went everywhere together and got into a lot of trouble together too. Picture Ray and Jack cruising down the road in an old ford, and a 98 lb black lab jumps out of the truck window and chases a turkey or the time Jack got himself stuck in a tree trunk amongst many other adventures. After Ray’s passing, I felt like drawing something in his memory, but it had been several years since I picked up a sketchbook and pencil, that day, it just came back.
I drew a picture of Ray and Jack in his old pickup and gave it to Nate that day, and he loved it and wanted to get it framed to put on our wall. It was in this moment that I realized how much capturing feelings, emotions, memories, and personality in a piece of art could impact someone during a difficult time in their life. I then started creating more memorable art pieces for others, which has now turned into my own art business, and I get to continue helping people like I had always set out to do.

Also, through my art business, I have been able to create a program called the Gentle Giant Program in honor of my brother. The program donates a piece of artwork to a child that has experienced a loss in their family, with the goal of providing them with something they can cherish, and hopefully, it brings a bit of joy during a difficult time in their life.

How did you get involved in art? Is it just a hobby?

I grew up drawing cartoons, doodles, and making up my own characters just for fun. I didn’t pick up a pencil one day and start drawing awesome pieces, I would say that I probably always had the talent and creativity within me, but I had to practice a lot to turn it into a real skill.

It wasn’t until high school art class that I noticed that maybe I was good at drawing and pushed my creativity during those years. My art teacher would assign a project, and I always took it to the extreme of trying to make my work fit the assignment but also trying to push the limits.  

I started M. Art just offering custom graphite drawings mostly of people and animals and adding in details such as signatures, quotes, dates, etc. to make the piece a reflection of memories and that person’s story. Eventually, people started asking if I did any digital designs like logos or t-shirt designs. I had never drawn anything digital until 2020, but I knew if I could draw with a pencil, then I would have the foundation necessary to get into digital drawing and design work. I started practicing on my iPad, taking online classes, and taking on new projects, and since then, I’ve created several logos, graphics, t-shirt designs, and character designs.  

What has your experience been like working with Hwy 14?

Greg and Mandy reached out to me to draw a graphite portrait of their dear friend that passed away. After drawing that artwork, they reached out inquiring if I would be interested in drawing some designs for their beer labels. This was when digital design was still fairly new to me, so I told them I would give the first one a shot and see how it goes, which became the label for Dirty Herbie.
Six custom labels later, and it’s still as fun as the first one. The labels are all different yet still all align with the overall brand. For the first couple of labels, I always hesitated to show them initial concepts because I thought, “oh man, they are going to think I’m weird for even thinking of this.” (lol), but I think they appreciate the creativity. It sets a good foundation for the three of us to build on the concept to get the perfect end design.

Working with Greg and Mandy has been nothing short of an amazing experience. They could’ve easily gone with a different artist with more experience, but they gave me a chance, and it has truly been one of the most rewarding and fun experiences I’ve had as an artist.

How did the Dirty Herbie design come about? Can you describe your experience with this?

This was the first design, and the idea came from the beer’s name, color, and flavor. I met with Greg and Mandy, and we discussed a few ideas and ultimately decided on Dirty Herbie. It is a strawberry wheat beer, and what better way to represent that than to turn Husker Herbie into a strawberry, with wheat coming from his mouth, and have him holding a Hwy 14 beer.
After the meeting, I went into the sketch phase, sketching out the character using markers. The character went through a few different design phases before we eventually reached what Dirty Herbie is now.

Beer can art is booming. Do you see designing more in the future?

I hope so! There are so many different types of label designs that you see on beer cans, and I hope to continue down the lane of developing character art that reflects what consumers can expect from the beer and connect an image with the beer they love.  

I plan to continue with all the different art mediums and styles that I and others can enjoy. Whether that is a graphite memorial piece of a loved one, a logo for a new business, or beer can labels, it’s all art, and I’m fortunate to be able to share mine with others.

What an interview! Thanks so much Michelle!