Martha Miller

Fanning the Flames

2012-01-27T19:48:00.009-05:00

Been busy painting the walls of my new studio in preparation for my first private class which starts this coming Monday! It's an afterschool drawing class for kids age 8 - 12, and I have 6 students! Thought I'd liven up the place with a bit of paper fire...:^)

Barn's burnt down...now I can see the moon. ~ Masahide

Never Ever

2012-01-23T08:39:00.024-05:00

Lisbeth has bounced back once again, amazing woman/child.I took a video of Lisbeth dancing in my studio yesterday. After she left, I viewed it, and as I watched it this song happened to be playing on my CD player. It seemed to fit perfectly, so I went home and made it the soundtrack. I had no idea what the words meant, or at least I thought I didn't know. I did take a few years of French when I was in Jr. High and High School. Maybe it stayed with me more than I realize, because after I made this video I looked up the translation to the song...

Am I ever fragile? Do I really have a choice?
Do I ever gently grumble, maybe? Was I thinking of death?
To eventually stop... being so strong
Can I even cry?
No never, never ever
Look, am I trembling?
No never, I'd rather die
Than let life kill me
No never, ever, never ever...

Julien Bense

Barnfire Studio

2012-01-22T08:57:00.013-05:00

My four grandchildren, christening the drawing wall in my new studio!

Serve Somebody

2012-01-20T10:15:00.002-05:00

Look for Them...

2012-01-19T09:23:00.014-05:00

This little ice sculpture in a window box on Front Street stopped me in my tracks yesterday afternoon. I was taking a break from working in my studio, feeling traumatized and tired from the night before. I saw the hummingbird first...and took my camera out of my bag and snapped a few pictures. When downloading these images this morning, I saw the centaur...

I thought of last week's Promise...

I thought of the woman who checked us in at the ER Tuesday night...

She was wearing an enamel horse pin, and she told me about her business, Healing Horses, and invited me to bring Lisbeth out for a visit sometime soon. She said, "She doesn't have to get on a horse right away or even at all, if she doesn't want to. She can just enjoy being there with the horses - maybe help to feed and brush them. It does folks good just to be around the horses, out in the fresh air." I asked her if she has an all white horse, thinking that Lisbeth would love to see a horse that matches her kitty, Milkweed. She said, "Yes, in fact we do. He's an old Arabian that we rescued. His name is Trooper," and she gave me her card.

Yesterday morning I told Lisbeth's house manager that I would like to start taking Lisbeth to this horse farm.

Thoughts of guardians and angels...

When I open my eyes, when I pay attention, I see that they are all around me...

Guardians

2012-01-18T08:45:00.013-05:00

In a sad stroke of synchronicity yesterday, my phone rang while I was working on these pieces in my studio. It was Lisbeth's one-on-one helper calling to tell me that Lisbeth had just had another bad fall during a seizure. I quickly yanked off my painting apron and told them I'd meet them at the emergency room. Evidently Lis had one of her "no warning" grand mal seizures where she goes down like a felled tree. These are the worst - no bending at the knees, no initial crying out, just BOOM. Straight down. She and her helper were in the kitchen about to make some banana bread, when Lis crashed into the refrigerator door, face first.

She's banged up but OK. Breaks my heart what she endures.

After getting Lisbeth back home and comfortable, I headed back to my studio and worked on these paintings even more prayerfully.

Primer Prime Pics

2012-01-17T08:13:00.023-05:00

My daughter-in-law Tracey Miller took these stellar shots of my triptych, A Girl's Primer, on the last day of the exhibit at Aucocisco Gallery. Tracey has an excellent eye and a superb camera - you can really see the details and the surface texture in these images! I'm so grateful to her for travelling to Portland to document my triptych while it was still installed at Aucocisco, which is such a beautiful space.

This group show never did get a formal review, but I received many wonderful and insightful notes, comments and e-mails about A Girl's Primer. One of my favorite remark's came from independent curator and writer Britta Konau:

Saw the Aucocisco show and was really taken by your big drawings. The following names came to my mind while looking: Dix, Klimt, and Chagall. Not bad associations, right?

(Right!)

Light from Darkness

2012-01-16T07:30:00.020-05:00

Goya

Maya Bloch

Kathe Kollwitz

Guardians and angels are on my mind of late, and what it means to be a guardian. I'm one of my daughter Lisbeth's legal guardians, and she has many other sorts of guardians, celestial and terrestial. So do I. How do they show up? What do they look like? These are the thoughts I'm taking with me to the studio today...

A Lisbeth Series

2012-01-13T08:35:00.020-05:00

This is the start of a new series of drawings of and about my daughter Lisbeth. I've wanted to do this series for a very long time, and I finally feel emotionally ready. Ever since I took this photo of Lisbeth in the ER last fall I have felt compelled to draw it. I've also been wanting to try working with acrylics and pastels on primed canvas instead of paper, so this week I bought some raw canvas and tacked it to the new homosote panels lining one wall of my studio, and gessoed it. I drew the image in first with charcoal, then worked into the drawing with acrylics and pastels, back and forth, back and forth. It's a new surface, with new challenges: I'm just getting used to it, and I'm enjoying it so far. I plan to work the hummingbirds into the piece this afternoon, either on this drawing of Lisbeth, or on smaller separate canvases that will circle this piece, like little angels...

A Promising Sign

2012-01-10T09:22:00.017-05:00

I walked into my kitchen to warm my coffee this morning and looked out back to see this!

Hello! Where did you come from??

An apple treat...

A runaway horse showed up at my back porch this morning! I grabbed my camera, threw on my boots and coat, and brought her out an apple. While she chewed, I asked her, Where did you come from, Beautiful? She polished off the apple, so I fetched another and was leading her to my neighbors' house (thinking they might know where she came from) when a flustered young woman came thrashing out of the woods into my yard, exclaiming, There you are! She phoned her husband who had been driving up and down the Middle Road for the past hour or so searching for their horse. Turns out they all live directly behind my son, who is right next door to us, but the horse had done a big circle through the woods to land to our yard!

Also turns out the horses' name is Promise, and when I told this story to a friend of mine, she said, Maybe it's a sign, a promise of a good year for you guys!

I like that...

Mondays with Lisbeth

2012-01-09T19:41:00.012-05:00

My daughter Lisbeth will be joining me in my studio on Monday mornings to "do art." Today she was not in the mood to make art, but wanted me to draw her. She sat for about half an hour. I have made several portraits of Lisbeth over the years. It's an intense experience, because she is so intense, and our bond and joint history is so intense. In a thirty minute period, Lisbeth can rapidly vacillate between giddiness, anxiety, anger, sadness...it's all there.

Couples Portrait Progress, Cont'd...

2012-01-07T11:23:00.006-05:00

Almost there. I still have to resolve the lower right hand corner - Pat's sweater and sleeve - and fine tune some areas of the whole piece. Pat and Tom sent me a few photos of a beach in Maine that they love, and I chose one to incorporate into the background...

Sisters Three

2012-01-06T08:51:00.009-05:00

Chris Beneman with her daughters Sarah, Kate, and Lisa.

Yesterday afternoon I had the great pleasure of drawing this beautiful trio of sisters, whose Mom wanted to catch them together while they were all home for the holidays, before the older two have to head back out of state and return to school. They sat for about an hour and a half as the sun went down. A triple treat to draw!!!

Couples Portrait Progress

2012-01-05T06:39:00.011-05:00

Worked in my new studio yesterday afternoon, using the photo references to furthur resolve this couples portrait. I still have a ways to go, but it's shaping up. I'm loving working in my new space!

A Couples Portrait

2012-01-04T08:44:00.018-05:00

I started this commissioned couples portrait last weekend. Old friends Pat and Tom Heslin were staying at their weekend home in southern Maine (they live in RI) and drove up the coast in an ice storm Saturday morning to be the first to sit for a portrait in my new studio! Unlike the recent marathon portraits, this piece will be more finished, and will require more time. Ahhh, the luxury of time! There is something freeing and fun about setting a time limit and working fast and furious, and there is something calming and satisfying about taking my time. Both ways of working are valid and yield different results.

Pat and Tom sat for 2 hours, and I took a bunch of pictures as references to work from. I've worked this way before, some examples: here, here, and here...and am becoming more comfortable with relying on my memory and the photos to resolve a portrait. I may ask them to sit one more time, we'll see.

Pat and Tom are going to send me some images to integrate into the portrait - possibly photos of the shore. I have started to sketch in a bouquet that is in my studio, and the horizon over the river out my studio window. This will most likely all get buried. It will all morph and change, and here I offer you a view of the beginnings.

Process, process...

A Fabulous New Book!

2012-01-02T15:17:00.007-05:00

I received this remarkable book about the early civil rights movement for Christmas. The author just happens to be my son, Eben Miller! (To say I feel proud is a huge understatement!!)
Born Along The Color Line is available for purchase in select bookstores, and on-line through Oxford University Press, and over at Amazon! Check it out!

From the back of the book jacket:

"Eben Miller centers his terrific new book on a glorious estate in the Hudson River Valley at the height of summer 1933. In that unlikely spot, he uncovers a crossroad in the long, hard struggle for civil rights, a place where the movement pivoted. Born along the Color Line is a marvelous piece of historical recreation, original, engaging, and enlightening."-Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age

"In this creative and engaging account of a pivotal moment in the history of the NAACP, Eben Miller captures the organizational vibrancy and ideological diversity of the nation's leading civil rights organization. Through the biographies of the young black men and women who vigorously debated strategies for combating segregation and racial inequality at the NAACP's Amenia Conference, Born along the Color Line effectively recovers the diverse and often competing political currents informing civil rights activism prior to the rise of the modern civil rights movement."-Eric Arnesen, The George Washington University

"Eben Miller's well-researched and interpretively sound Born along the Color Line is a major contribution to 20th-century civil rights literature. This may not be the last word on the significance of the second Amenia Conference, but any further scholarship will begin with his."-David Levering Lewis, author of Du Bois: A Biography

"With his warm biographical portraits and finely honed interpretations Eben Miller has cast a new and valuable light on the generation of black activists and intellectuals who paved the way for the great legal and social victories of the 1950s and 60s. Born along the Color Line should be required reading for anyone who hopes to claim expertise in the history of the modern civil rights movement." -Jonathan Holloway, Yale University

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:00:00.012-05:00

Some funky corners of The Starlight Cafe in Bath, around the corner from my new studio!

Here's a Toast to a Happy, Healthy, Creative and Productive 2012!

A New Year and a New Studio!

2011-12-30T08:38:00.025-05:00

My first visitors - my daughter Kaitlyn and my son-in-law Cory. (They were good company, and also provided a nice human scale to show off the size of those windows! :^)

A little bit sad about the place you are leaving, a little bit glad about the place you are going,

I found myself thinking as I turned in the keys at my Portland studio yesterday afternoon, this well loved line from Robert McCloskey's childhood classic, Time of Wonder.

This certainly is a time of wonder, the turning of the year. A time for introspection, assessments, and resolutions. A time for new plans. I even pulled The Fool card for my day card today as I will be moving my art gear into my spacious new studio with the help of a couple of good friends this morning.

I will miss The Artist Studios and all the artists in that nurturing old building. But the time on the road (an hour door to door), and the expense of gas and parking was wearing me down physically and financially. Plus, I literally outgrew my space. After producing my last drawing series, my large triptych, dragging them out of that space onto the hall floors felt just as though I'd hatched from a chrysalis and had laid my big wings out to dry. And once hatched, there's no going back.

My big new studio is in downtown Bath, an 8 minute drive from home, at 72 Front Street, with a phenomenal second story view of the Kennebec River and the Carlton Bridge. There are several other artists in the building, as well as lawyers and yoga teachers - there's a lighthouse preservation office, and a dance studio, to name just a few of the diverse occupants under my new roof! I will be able to teach at this location, comfortably do portrait sittings, have a life drawing group, and make more giant drawings if I so choose!

I think I am more than just a little bit glad about the place I am going...

Holidaying

2011-12-29T07:18:00.028-05:00

Paintbrush Cookies...

Squash Pies...

Baskets of Goodies...

Santa's Helper...

Another Santa's Helper...

A New Old Banjo...

A Kaitlyn Duggan Seascape...

Kaitlyn Duggan Ponytail Holders...

A Cecilia Miller Original made special for Gramma (Me! :^)

A Handmade Checkerboard...

...and Handmade Checkers, crafted by Uncle Cory for Calvin...

Baked Stuffed Pumpkins...

A New Granddog...

A Christmas Day Snowstorm...A Smoking Turkey...

Neighbors...

A New Chimney...

Andrew the Red with Rhode Island Red...

My Favorite Tree.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!!!

More Marathoning...

2011-12-23T10:18:00.012-05:00

Twin brothers sitting for a portrait at Aucocisco...

Another set of brothers sitting for a portrait in my family room....

...while their mother graces us all with music from her gorgeous harp!

I am still offering gift certificates for one hour $100 dollar portraits until midnight tomorrow, December 24th! These can be redeemed at any time. Contact me at mmiller@meca.edu if you would like to order one, and I will e-mail it to you, pronto!

Happy Holidays, All!

Portrait Marathon, Cont'd...

2011-12-19T07:57:00.014-05:00

Another Saturday afternoon spent making on the spot portraits at Aucocisco Galleries. This beautiful father and son were my second subjects of the day. I drew twin brothers for my first appointment. Their Mom took some pictures and promised to send me some, so I can post about that sitting soon.

Whew! I try to get as much information as possible in under an hour...it's a challenge! I always want to hang onto the drawings and work more on them, but the speed and seeing what unfolds is part of the fun.

Mad About Maya

2011-12-15T06:56:00.011-05:00

Maya Bloch. Her work brings to mind R.B. Kitaj, Kiki Smith, Paula Rego, De Kooning...

Mother Mary Comes to Me

2011-12-13T08:11:00.023-05:00

Muhammed Arzani

Alice Neel

Egon Schiele
Anne Harris

Gustav Klimt

Lucien Freud

Otto Dix

Van Gogh

Joseph Bueys

Jade Beall

Portrait Marathon at Aucociso

2011-12-11T08:49:00.015-05:00

A busy afternoon @ Aucocisco Galleries yesterday! I'll be doing this again next Saturday, the 17th! Thirty minute portraits for $100, $150 for couples or a family of three. Gift certificates availble at this sale price until the 24th, redeemable at any time. E-mail me at mmiller@meca.edu.

A Real Steal December Deal!

2011-12-09T09:51:00.009-05:00

Tomorrow, December 10th, and next Saturday, the 17th, I will be doing on the spot portraits @ Aucocisco in Portland from noon - 5pm. A great gift idea! $100 for a 30 minute sitting, $150 for a couple or family of three, and you get a 22" x 30" mixed media drawing on Rives BFK, ready to frame or hang as is. Gift certificates also available until December 24th. E-mail me at mmiller@meca.edu for an appointment!

Aucocisco Group Show

2011-12-07T07:21:00.023-05:00

Rachael Eastman’s recent paintings explore a merger of memory, visceral awareness, and an empathetic response to the coastal Maine landscape. Influenced by color field painting, Japanese aesthetics, and Zen concepts alike, her colored abstractions reference nature as condensed for reflection.

Judy O'Donnell's bronze works are inspired by the transformative energies of nature. Daily walks in the woods provide an infinite variety of settings, symbols, textures and elements, such as twisted roots and the filigree of lichen from which to evolve self-portraits and other depictions of man's primitive inter-connectedness to his environment.

My mother’s loss of memory due to the ravages of Alzheimer’s and her recent death prompted me to create this series of drawings, a triptych populated by three major spirits: my mother, my father, and my maternal grandmother. A Girl’s Primer speaks of love, loss, dreams, desire, memory and experience, and the early forces that shaped me.

Tanya Fletcher’s figurative paintings are predominantly oil on birch panel. The artist uses the figure as a metaphor, creating psychological and/or philosophical images.

Michele A. Caron’s current body of work is an exploration of repetitive structure and geometry in pigment-rich industrial enamels. Her work is a progression of drawing techniques with an underlining influence of commercial graphics, show card lettering and automotive pin striping.

All photos courtesy of Aucocisco Galleries.

I Saw Her Today at the Reception...

2011-12-05T14:03:00.013-05:00

Sure wish I knew what he was saying! (Maybe he could tell me what it's about! :^)

Above pics courtesy Michele Caron.

Me in front of A Girl's Primer with my brother Ken and sister Deb.

Terrific photo by

my daughter-in-law, Tracey Miller.

Some pics from yesterday's reception at Aucocisco. What a fantastic turnout!

Delivered and Installed!

2011-12-04T11:37:00.008-05:00

Opening reception @ Aucociso today from 2 - 5 p.m.!

I'll blog more about it all later - wish me luck!

Shipping Out!

2011-12-02T21:10:00.020-05:00

My drawing wall is blank again. Now there's almost an echo in my studio...

I took my three drawings out into the hall at my studio building...

It's the first time they've left my space...

(I'm tempted to show them upside down!)

I velcro-ed a hanging bar on the top back of each...

Then covered them in newsprint and rolled them up...

Tomorrow they head to Aucocisco Gallery where we'll be hanging our show!

Nine months of drawing (a full gestation!) all wrapped up and ready for delivery...

A Girl's Primer

2011-11-27T09:38:00.023-05:00

I have been working on this trio of drawings for 9 months and I'm finally ready to march these ghosts out of my studio. My triptych, A Girl's Primer, will be in a group show at Aucocisco Gallery in Portland for the month of December. I'm thrilled to be invited to show at Aucocisco with four other artists: Michele Caron, Rachael Eastman, Tanya Fletcher, and Judy O'Donnell. I'm just about finished, still doing a bit of fine tuning, and I need to make the hanging mechanisms. They will hang unframed, and I'm planning to string wire to three boards and attach each drawing to its respective board with velcro. They will then simply hang on picture hangers. Theyre not heavy, but they're big, at 4' x 8' each.

Here is my working artist statement which still needs a tweak or two. I don't want to say too much - just a sort of lead in...

Greta with Dark Self

2011-11-03T08:56:00.011-04:00

Greta in front of her self-portrait.

Greta with Dark Self, in progress. Painting on the left by Greta...

My second sitter in the portrait project, Portland artist Greta Bank. These portraits feel more like my self-portraits, and probably because I am making them for me. What I mean by that is I'm not out to please or flatter or truly render my sitters. I'm looking for something else...

New Portrait Project

2011-11-01T07:23:00.016-04:00

Rachael with a Hockney as The Hanged Man, 2011
mixed media on Stonehenge, 30" x 50"

After a three month break from blogging, I'm back. I needed time off from most things digital this summer, to tend my garden, tend my house, and tend & mend myself. Fall and winter bring introspection and more time spent indoors, so here I be.

I've started a new portrait project of Maine artists and people involved in the art community. My first sitter was painter Rachael Eastman. She is pictured here posing in my Portland studio. Stay tuned for sitter number two...

Renee with Turban

2011-07-29T09:26:00.003-04:00

Renee with Turban, 2011
mixed media on paper, 22" x 30"

The stunning Renee Johnson modeling for my Mixed Media Portraiture class.

A Leo Moon

2011-07-26T08:18:00.006-04:00

Henri Rousseau
The Sleeping Gypsy

It's high summer and we have fully entered the sign of Leo the Lion. Love this painting because I happen to have a Leo Moon...

Imprinting

2011-07-24T08:35:00.025-04:00

A student of mine happily at work at Pickwick Independent Press.

The Girls, I, monoprint

The Girls, II, monoprint (ghost)

A July bouquet brought from my garden to the print studio...

Adding a second layer of information to the monoprint plate...

The Girls, III, monoprint

The Girls, IV, monoprint (ghost)

The Girls, V, monoprint with colored ink and pastel

The Girls, VI, monoprint (ghost)

I'm back in a printshop again! After graduating from MECA with a degree in Printmaking in '06, I have not done very much of it! That's about to change since I've recently joined Pickwick Independent Press and have started teaching there as well.

Here are some of my recent monoprint experiments - a series about sisters - specifically, me and my sister Sue. Susan and I are one year apart - almost but not quite Irish twins, and we certainly have many of the characteristics of true twins. We were dressed alike and were inseparable, and were referred to simply as The Girls in our family of six for quite a few years. This series begins to speak about issues of identity, symbiosis, codependence, interdependence, independence, and love...

The Noon Hour

2011-07-23T09:17:00.018-04:00

The Noon Hour, etching
Isabel Bishop, 1935

While on my lunchbreak at work yesterday, I looked out the printshop window and saw this beautiful woman on the sidewalk below talking to her friends. It was 100+ degrees on the street, yet she looked so fresh and animated as she spoke that she practically danced as the hot wind blew her dress all about. She looked as though she'd stepped directly out of an Isabel Bishop painting, and indeed, I felt like I was channeling Isabel while observing her from my fourth floor perch.

(I actually know this woman - her name is Renee Johnson, and she is a professional model, an actress, and a dancer. Seeing her in her 30's inspired outfit on this record breaking scorcher of a day was like a cool breeze!)

Summer Break

2011-07-11T19:45:00.003-04:00

I haven't been posting regularly, but I'll be back. Right now I've got alot on my mind...

Farnsworth Friday

2011-07-01T19:27:00.007-04:00

Jo I, detail

Jo III

Jo II

Jo I

Three of my drawings from today's Life Drawing class at the Farnsworth. Ink, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic on heavy paper, each 29" x 41". Heading out of state for a week's vacation - see you back here next Friday! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

An Anniversary

2011-06-27T10:49:00.006-04:00

Garry and me, and my son Eben, the summer of 1975, when Garry and I first met and were dating.
Our 35th wedding anniversary was yesterday. Remembering the sweet magic of those early moments of our relationship as I picked our first peony of the summer this morning. Time does fly.

More Maho

2011-06-25T13:36:00.011-04:00

Maho III, 2011

oil, oil pastel, pastel, charcoal, and acrylic on paper, 29" x 41"

detail

Maho IV, 2011

oil, pastel, charcoal, and acrylic on paper, 29" x 41"

detail

My drawings from yesterday's Life Drawing class at The Farnsworth with Maho modeling again. She's so terrific!

Friday's Muse

2011-06-24T09:42:00.012-04:00

Maho II, 2011

oil, acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel, and pastel on paper, 29" x 41"

Maho I, 2011

oil, acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel, and pastel on paper, 22" x 30"

Worked alongside my students at my Life Drawing class last Friday afternoon at The Farnsworth in Rockland. We'll have this same beautiful model again today...

Amazing Muse

2011-06-23T08:33:00.014-04:00

Scenes from my summer Mixed Media Portraiture class yesterday morning at MECA, starring Robert SanGiovanni; imaginative, spontaneous model extraordinaire! We're off to a fun start...

Leap Into Summer

2011-06-20T09:39:00.009-04:00

(But first, let us spray! :^)

Happy Summer Solstice Eve!

Dig It

2011-06-16T09:47:00.009-04:00

After a month of digging in the dirt, I'm back in my studio, and I am digging into panels two and three...

June's Tune

2011-06-14T09:30:00.018-04:00

Whether the day be sunny or gray, all grows green and lush.

Job Shadow

2011-06-06T08:13:00.014-04:00

Still gardening like mad. Will get back to my indoor studio this week!

Taking a Break

2011-06-01T10:53:00.003-04:00

I've been busy planting flowers and veggies with my husband all week - he's taking some time off from work. So I've been neglecting my blog and all things computer. A Cyber Sabbath is a good thing. I'll be popping back in here in a few days. Happy June!

This Moment

2011-05-27T07:14:00.006-04:00

A la SouleMama: a single picture, no words, capturing an extraordinary moment from the week.

We Need The Eggs

2011-05-26T07:30:00.010-04:00

One of our new laying hens, Jewel, sunbathing in the pansy patch.

A robin's nest on a shelf in my son's work trailor.

Colors of May

2011-05-25T08:59:00.020-04:00

A cool palette - it's been a wet month! New colors today, though - the sun has returned! I'm off to mow the lawn! Happy Hump Day, all!

Deepening Details

2011-05-19T08:58:00.024-04:00

Rain rain and more rain, so lots of time in the studio this week. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Detailing

2011-05-15T08:45:00.015-04:00

Primer: any book of elementary principles.

I've been fine tuning the first panel in my Primer series, adding small details. This feels like embroidering on a large woven tapestry. I had a studio visit with a fellow artist in my building last week, and she encouraged me to really amp up the details so that the work is as satisfying to view up close as it is from afar. If I go overboard, I can always cover some of it. The beauty of mixed media! But it sure is fun. A rainy week ahead here in Maine, so I'm sure that I will be in my studio alot again this week! I'll keep you posted...

The Draw Down

2011-05-09T07:44:00.009-04:00

1959

1969

1998

2010

I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing. Vincent Van Gogh

I'm about to purchase my next three big sheets of paper to start another trio of oversized drawings. Sometimes I think I ought to be painting on canvas, but I so love to draw. As you can see, I've been doing it since the git-go! Happy Monday, all! Here's to a creative week ahead!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T12:00:00.001-04:00

Working Walls

2011-05-06T08:08:00.022-04:00

After being holed up in my studio working on this for the past three months, it was hugely fun to be invited to work on this...

My studio neighbor, John Knight, invited the artists in our building to paint on his wall! Here we are, happily obliging! If you are doing the Artwalk tonight in Portland, do drop in for Open Studios!

Breathing Room

2011-05-05T10:01:00.016-04:00

Yesterday I cleaned my studio and rehung my new drawings so they have some space between them. They are very different from each other, so I'm not sure that I will call this trio of drawings a triptych after all! They will be shown together, so I guess I'd call them part of a series... I guess this is a matter of semantics...

I've titled the series Primers, and I'm still working on them. The Artist Studio building where I have my space will be participating in First Friday Artwalk Open Studios tomorrow night, so they will be on view. If you are in the area, c'mon downtown!

P.S. I am realllly frustrated with the spacing issue I'm having with my posts here on Blogger. I need to consult an expert!!

May Magic

2011-05-03T07:45:00.008-04:00

I hung my hummingbird feeder yesterday, then looked up and saw this...

A hummingbird cloud! Typically I don't see a hummingbird at my feeder until Mother's Day, but I always hang the feeder early just in case.

I went inside to eat my lunch and to my delight, there was Mr. Man! He always arrives first. Three females - his hummie harem - will be close on his heels. (Do hummingbirds have heels??)

Magic!!!

Most Eggscellent!

2011-05-02T11:24:00.016-04:00

We have six new residents here on Miller Mountain! Just arrived yesterday - three big beautiful Ameraucanas (they lay those gorgeous blue/green eggs!) and three Black Sex Links (that sounds kinky, doesn't it?)! They are all enjoying their new abode and have already produced the promised four eggs a day. Job well done, ladies! My husband has wanted laying hens for years - he had a coop started in our old barn that burned down nine years ago - so he is quite happy to have this dream realized! I wrote The Coop on a piece of birch bark with some of the charcoal from that fire - there are still piles of it around the barn foundation. And the rooster on the front of the coop survived the fire - it was part of the weathervane! So here's to eggs and new life and the merry merry month of May!

Imaging Imogen

2011-04-30T08:19:00.016-04:00

Judy Dater
Imogen Cunningham and Twinka

Henry Swift
Portrait of Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham

Self-portrait, 1932

Imogen Cunningham

Self-portrait, 1974

Imogen Cunningham

Self-portrait, 1974

Another artist to add to my Who I Want to be When I Grow Up list...

(My apologies about the spacing - I edit it, and then when I publish the post, it's all wacked. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you fix it??)

Remembering Dear Old Dad

2011-04-28T10:08:00.009-04:00

George Simmons
Singing Self Times Four (my title for his self-portrait, made before digital cameras :^)

My Dad died thirteen years ago today. How he would have enjoyed Photoshop, and Julien Neel! I grew up hearing this tune...

Checking In

2011-04-26T09:17:00.006-04:00

The medium I've grown to like best is leisure and doing nothing. ~ Morris Graves
photo by Imogen Cunningham

I hermitted away most of last week due to a stomach flu. I'm much better and will give a report from the studio soon!

Happy Earth Day!

2011-04-22T20:25:00.006-04:00

My grandson Wyeth, running to go find a good marshmallow stick.

Happy Weekend, All!

Trippin' With Beckmann

2011-04-18T07:07:00.019-04:00

A few of Max Beckmann's rich, beautiful and disturbing triptychs. So visually satisfying. So powerful. (Wouldn't his iconic figures make an incredible Tarot deck!)

I hardly need to abstract things, for each object is unreal enough already, so unreal that I can only make it real by means of painting. Max Beckmann

Miraculous Spring

2011-04-15T09:09:00.007-04:00

It's really really here.

A Long Strange Triptych

2011-04-14T07:21:00.028-04:00

A Vivid Dream.

White Chalk Lessons on Black.

Music.

A Garden. Lovers.

A Picket Fence.

An Ocean.

Houses with Rooms.

Ghosts.

A Bulkhead. A Bed. A Piano.

Keys.

A Grave.

Babies.

Tangled Trees.

A Clawfoot Tub.

A Mother. A Father.

A Grandmother.

A Growing Girl.

Cats. Kittens. Curtains.

A Foghorn.

Fur.

Sex.

A Veil.

Seagulls. Jellyfish. Crabs.

Winter Squash. Zinnias.

Breasts.

Milk.

Fire.

And Beach Roses.

Back to the studio today to work it further....

Mail Head Marathon

2011-04-12T10:08:00.029-04:00

Heading out into the world...

Petticoats and Red Peppers

Spring Has Sprung!

Seed Head

Woven

Chiquita

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's VELVEETA!

Hairstyles and Attitudes

Secrets of a Satisfied Blonde

Blue Red Dancing Head

Cinderella

Raphael and The Abstract Expressionists

Rite of Spring

Op Head

Cranking 'em out for Mailart 365. I'll post soon about all the cool and groovy mailart that I've been receiving!

Martha Mariah

2011-04-09T14:56:00.011-04:00

More changes, and my studio's a mess to show for it. (But that's what a studio is for, isn't it? And I get to close the door on it and go home). Spent the last two days there, juggling imagery. Finally getting over to the third panel (top pic).

My grandmother was always singing some funny old rhyme...

Martha Mariah spit in the fire,

The fire was too hot, so she spit on the pot,

The pot was too round, so she spit on the ground,

The ground was too flat, so sho spit on the cat,

And the cat ran away with the spit on its back!

April in Maine

2011-04-08T07:56:00.010-04:00

It's all about the light. The snow is receding as swiftly as a balding man's hairline...

Under Cover

2011-04-07T08:31:00.009-04:00

Self in Kitchen, 1990, pastel and pencil on Rives BFK, 22" x 30," private collection.I was approached recently by a poet who is having her first book of poems published, and has asked to use my drawing Self in Kitchen for her book cover. I won't reveal the poet or the book title just yet, but just let me say that this a powerful and beautiful collection of poetry, having to do primarily with the complex mother/daughter relationship. I am excited and honored that my self portrait will be gracing the cover of this new book, which will be available in 2012.

Triptych Update

2011-04-05T13:12:00.018-04:00

Kittens and zinnias, kitchen curtains made of dotted swiss, barnacles, crabs, ghosts of old loves, and a house on fire...

Some of the images emerging in my triptych.

Heading Out

2011-04-01T10:34:00.017-04:00

Arancini Head

Martha & Pablo

Gotcha!

Cabin Fever

More Mail Heads from my Mailart 365 series. The bottom one is particularly apropos for today - we're getting a foot of snow! And that's no April Fool's!
Enjoy your weekend, whatever the weather!
(If you'd like a mail head, e-mail your address to mmiller@meca.edu
And remember, if you receive you must send! :^)

Still I'm Gonna Miss You

2011-03-30T10:03:00.029-04:00

Judy O'Donnell

Norman Proulx

Janet Steeves

Chris Beneman

Jean Wyman

Peggy Murray

Cheslye Ventimiglia

Jean McQuaid

Mary Longley

Monica Aaskov

I completed my six week teaching gig with the Falmouth painting group last Tuesday, and really missed seeing them all yesterday! Here are their pieces from the last class. The assignment was Steal That Painting, self portraits created by pirating a famous or not so famous work. Some of the sources are obvious, some more obscure. (How many can you identify?)

Thursday Night

2011-03-29T13:15:00.034-04:00

Michael Welch Self Portrait with Super Moon, pastel on paper (homework assignment) Robert SanGiovanni

For four color exercises, I had the students first do a warm study,

and a cool,

then a dark,

and a bright. (figure studies by Michael Welch)

Pics from last week's Thursday night Life Drawing class at MECA, featuring the drawings of one of my students, Michael Welch. That's his self-portrait in the top pic - fabulous, eh?

How We Spell Relief

2011-03-27T10:11:00.020-04:00

Man Flying Over Destroyed City

Wednesday afternoon arts and crafts class at my granddaughter Cecilia's house! The past two weeks we've been making relief prints with Soft Kut and water based inks. Terrific group of kids - great fun!

This Moment

2011-03-25T10:43:00.007-04:00

A la Soulemama:
A Friday ritual. A single moment - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.

Happy Weekend!

The Fight with White

2011-03-23T14:03:00.005-04:00

Added a bunch more white to the first panel of my triptych yesterday. Trying to layer the flowing veil and curtains, covering some things and exposing others...argh...feels like a struggle! I'll be back at it tomorrow. My cards are telling me to trust my intuition and that I may need to make some drastic changes!

There Are Only Two Seasons In Maine...

2011-03-22T07:56:00.009-04:00

Winter! And the Fourth of July!

Outdoors and indoors at my house early this morning. Springtime in Maine!

A Sunday School Sultan

2011-03-21T10:13:00.020-04:00

Robert SanGiovanni

Chris Beneman

Jean McQuaid

Peggy Murray

Cheslye Ventimiglia

Monica Aaskov

Janet Steeves

Jean Wyman

My Tuesday Mixed Media Portraiture class created these fantastic collages last Tuesday, with inspiration provided by our free sprited model and muse, Robert SanGiovanni.

Happy Spring, and Happy Monday, All! Here's to a creative week ahead!

The Super Moon

2011-03-21T09:28:00.010-04:00

My husband and I walked over the Carlton Bridge at sunset to catch the Super Moon rising Saturday night. It was a big beautiful tangerine colored moon - what a spectacular way to herald the first day of spring! We still have lots of white stuff on the ground, but signs of spring are everywhere - robins, a red winged blackbird, a barred owl's mating call, melting snow, a purple crocus, and great chunks of ice heading down river...

The Devil's in The Details

2011-03-19T12:12:00.015-04:00

My most recent progress on the Primaries triptych - I think that's what I will title it. Primaries.

A Birthday

2011-03-17T10:38:00.016-04:00

Turned 57 yesterday. (Doesn't sound too bad does it? It was a good year for Chevy's...)

Did my birthday Tarot reading for the year ahead with a new deck of cards that I purchased to go in my new pouch sent to me from my sister, Sweet Sue, in CA. My card for the year ahead is the Nine of Cups. A traditional meaning for this card is, "You'll get your wish." Nice. I'll take that...

Then, what I most need to look at, is The Sun. (Boy, I couldn't agree more, after this long Maine winter! I am vitamin D deprived!) But, not so literally, The Sun speaks about Jung's Bright Shadow - our unrealized potentials. So, yes I will look at this.

And the challenge in what lies ahead is, the Knight of Cups. Hmmmm....how I read this is, to keep using my feelings and intuition, especially in my art, and keep carrying them forward - and stay on that horse and don't fall off!

Next, what will help, is the Three of Swords. Three. My triptychs. The best vehicle to express these emotions, the painful and the sweet.

And the last card, what I might be overlooking, is the Ten of Pentacles. This is a card of abundance, contentment, achievment, and a happy home. A reminder, perhaps, to count my blessings, and not take these things for granted!

Happy Saint Patty's Day, All!

Third Panel Progress

2011-03-15T20:24:00.007-04:00

Worked on the third panel yesterday. I had to stand on a table in the corner of my studio and put my camera near the ceiling to get all three panels into the picture. More additions and changes. Starting to pay more attention to the larger shapes that are forming and connecting the three panels...

Head Count

2011-03-14T09:42:00.019-04:00

Red Head

Fabled Love

Bad Cakes and Exploding Doughnuts

Egg Head

Smoke and Mirrors

Before and After

Is It True Blondes Have More Fun?

The latest mailheads in my Mailart 365 series...

Happy creative Monday!