An Artist's Life: Deborah Jane Milton, PhD

I continue painting with Connie Solera ( formerly Hozvicka ) in her course called DEEP, deepening my appreciation of how intuition guides my every move.

My first painting astonished me. Called Just This, we were to choose a long skinny piece to paint on and begin with our feet. How did our feet feel on the earth right now? Jump to the head with the same sort of intention: what is the relationship of my head to the space around it right now? Then, and only then, did we move to connecting head and feet with the middle. Quite a ride. Just This is acrylic on 300lb watercolor paper. approx. 24″ x  54″. It will be dry-mounted and framed but at this point in time is rolled up and waiting. Currently for sale as is at $1750/ $2750 after framing.

Then we painted one image for six weeks. The image morphs and changes – almost as dramatic a change as caterpillar to butterfly. Transformation from beginning to conclusion never ceases to amaze me. Painting truly is a process, just like living…one thing leads to another and trying to control outcomes wastes energy. Eventually I will make a video of the making of this painting but here is the finished piece, not for sale because she’s poster paint and acrylic on brown paper but reproductions are available. It’s called Handcestors.

After DEEP, acrylic and canvas pull forth imagery that delights me, mostly pieces 30” x 40” or larger. Here are a few of my favorites:

Salmon Mommy

Cracking Open

Michel’s Angel

These paintings all represent prayers for me. Painting prayers roots itself in me more deeply with every passing day. I paint to express my love and reverence for all that is, to bless this hurting world with beauty and wonder, to offer images that remind us humans to protect all the natural systems that support life on this planet, including our own. All the paintings above are SOLD.

Blessing Fukishima is another example. It went to an auction to support Standing Rock and did sell there.
Acrylic on 30″ x 40″ canvas, the painting has prayers on the back, written by global artists as well as local citizens to bless the waters.
The photo doesn’t do justice to the saturated colors of the original painting.

Mending the Web is another. It hasn’t been seen by many people because it sold almost as soon as it was hung.

And then there’s: Thread  When I finally achieved painting that bear, who turned out to be a cub not an adult as intended, in a way that suggested trust in the human, trust between them actually, as well as great nurturing love, nestled skin to fur, I burst into tears. No kidding! Experiencing how different life on earth would be if all creatures great and small knew their habitats were safe,
their food and water were pure and available,
that kinship mattered more than greed,
imagining that beauty of relationship and potential for all,
brought me to my proverbial knees.
If our storylines shifted by just a fraction,
imagine the variety, the creative joy and the fullness of our living.
Oh my. Let’s do it.

(Note the Red Thread spiraling throughout representing our Gaian interconnectedness. ) Thread is available. Acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 40″, $2250.

And now to the Fearless Sisters’ Oracle Deck. Such an amazing process. Called Awakening to your Divine Self, the oracle deck is the vision of Jill Chesrow and features 39 artists from 3 continents and 6 countries all of them painting intuitively and writing from their hearts. Thread and Cracking Open are two of the forty-four cards included in the deck. It costs $29.95 which includes shipping. BUT BE AWARE I HAVE ONLY ONE DECK LEFT AS OF THIS WRITING IN SEPTEMBER 2017. Contact me at Deborahmltn@gmail.com if you’d like it. You can send a check or use PayPal. You can read more about the deck from our website and learn more about my perspective here . I’ve also written a humorous post about my experience sharing the deck in a pub – well a friend pulled the deck out of her purse and she got us sharing…ENJOY!