Clockwise, from top left corner: Pacific N.W. Painting 78x104", $18k, and Artist, Paton Miller; Edge of Town 48x55", sold; (left) Medieval Painting 68x75", $10k; (right) Joshua Tree 78x104", sold; Pat In The Box 50x55", $6k; Panorama of a Recent Gallery Show; Canoe 60x70", 10k; Detail, Farmer 60x72", 10k; All works featured are Oil on Canvas. photography by Daniel Gonzalez
“Making paintings is easier then writing about them, I think this has to do with the intangible parts of a painting, and there is much of that. The process for myself starts with the events that shape my life. When I was a little boy, I drew caricatures of my family. There was never a dull moment so there was much to lampoon. I began to travel and paint the places I visited and the people I met. This is something I still do. I jokingly refer to these pieces as my “National Geographic” work.
As I got older and started to have axes to grind, I found that being an artist is tailor made for axe grinding. At this very specific moment in time, my axes have been ground out. I’m sure there will be more to come and I am content in painting my greatest adventure yet: my family, and our adventures and travels around the neighborhood and the world.
The ideas and events that are the reasons for making the paintings are only half of the story. The other half is the physical nature of the work. I can tell you that the idea is one thing and the surface is another. As a young traveler in Asia and Europe, I was struck by the power of the centuries old frescos and how the patina of time made them even stronger and more curious. My experience working with dynamite and construction added another appreciation for how things look when they have been ‘worked’. This ‘working’ of the paintings is as personal as the way I talk or walk and equally as hard to explain.” — Paton Miller, Artist
Southampton, New York
patonmiller.com
