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April 2016
Interview Meredith Milstead, Tucson |
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Meredith Milstead. Photo: Julie Holding
Meredith Milstead is a versatile and prolific Tucson artist who works in several media to create beautiful works portraying our desert bioregion. She is known both as a teacher of observational drawing, and as a plein air painter of the natural world. She teaches at the Drawing Studio in Tucson.
SAN: Meredith, biographical sources say you grew up abroad, and you were educated in Europe and in the U.S. How did you come to make your home in southern Arizona?
Meredith Milstead: Family ties.
SAN: You work in several media: pastel, oil, acrylic, and encaustic. How do you decide which media to use when you approach a particular subject?
SAN: Meredith, biographical sources say you grew up abroad, and you were educated in Europe and in the U.S. How did you come to make your home in southern Arizona?
Meredith Milstead: Family ties.
SAN: You work in several media: pastel, oil, acrylic, and encaustic. How do you decide which media to use when you approach a particular subject?
MMilstead_Pomegranites_encaustic
MM: Sometimes it's a sensory or physical need, other times it’s about emotional processing but lately, I think it just depends on the weather, specifically the sun. I actually use solar heat to melt the wax for encaustic work. If I can be outside all day, usually in the winter here, I'll use something portable like pastel or oil paint. During summer, I try to stay out of the sun. I work on a larger scale in the studio in oil or acrylic or other water based paint.
If I use the sun for wax then I'll often paint about what I'm seeing outside in my garden where I work, like fruits and flowers. If I'm outside in winter it'll be about the environs or whatever I'm observing or paying attention to. I love to travel and explore. In the studio I tend to go abstract or surreal because I'm in my mind.
If I use the sun for wax then I'll often paint about what I'm seeing outside in my garden where I work, like fruits and flowers. If I'm outside in winter it'll be about the environs or whatever I'm observing or paying attention to. I love to travel and explore. In the studio I tend to go abstract or surreal because I'm in my mind.
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SAN: You often paint plein air. Why does plein air painting appeal to you?
MM: Color! In natural light the eye and brain perceive more color and color effects. SAN: Your paintings often document the native flora of our bioregion. Do you have a favorite subject (saguaro? ocotillo? other?) [click on all images to enlarge] |
MMilstead_Dirt-Track Trees_oil
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MMilstead_Patagonia Headstone_
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MM: I am most likely attracted to whatever is most active or if I'm learning about some new geology, botany or biology. I also love to see a plant form which shows off the effects of gravity and growth; its growing parts and dying parts all at once. Forms with history, which have been shaped and moved by the elements of wind, heat, fire and water, are easier to empathize with and especially interesting to draw.
SAN: You and several other Tucson artists and writers seem to have a special relationship with Tumamoc Hill on the west side of Tucson. You contributed artwork to the book This Piece of Earth: Images and Words from Tumamoc Hill. In what way has Tumamoc Hill become an artistic muse for you?
MM: Tumamoc is a difficult place to be. It is steep, rocky, prickly, venomous, exposed and often windy. Most of the Hill is off-limits to the general public because of scientific exploration. I see it as a Sublime - beauty and danger- stage. It has attracted people for a long time. I get a sense of that when I'm working up there. It feels old and tragic, yet resilient...like Rome or Thebes or Delphi. A muse inspires and challenges the artist. Tumamoc does this for me.
SAN: You and several other Tucson artists and writers seem to have a special relationship with Tumamoc Hill on the west side of Tucson. You contributed artwork to the book This Piece of Earth: Images and Words from Tumamoc Hill. In what way has Tumamoc Hill become an artistic muse for you?
MM: Tumamoc is a difficult place to be. It is steep, rocky, prickly, venomous, exposed and often windy. Most of the Hill is off-limits to the general public because of scientific exploration. I see it as a Sublime - beauty and danger- stage. It has attracted people for a long time. I get a sense of that when I'm working up there. It feels old and tragic, yet resilient...like Rome or Thebes or Delphi. A muse inspires and challenges the artist. Tumamoc does this for me.
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SAN: Your most recent blog post describes the “chromatosphere” of Tumamoc.
Please explain the role of light on Tumamoc Hill in the evolution of your paintings. |
On Tumamoc Hill. Photo: Paul Mirocha
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MM: Tumamoc has a great long, deep view. I can observe the effects of the sun's light almost 360 degrees very far out. Because of this unique vantage point, I can make many more comparisons of light near and far and see more accurate contrasts and color.
I wrote a short article which appeared in The Journal of The Southwest called, "Tumamoc Hill: A Painter's Pigmentary Perspective" describing my process of figuring out a color scheme for spring in 2014. It involved painting a new painting every hour of one day using different complementary color relationships with different pigments for each hour from 6 am to 6 pm.
The process was exhilarating, exhausting and very informative. I've performed similar exercises in Colorado and California just to see the difference. It's huge! It's a subjective study, of course, but I like to think I can discover unique color schemes for places this way.
[Learn more about art on Tumamoc Hill at Tumamoc Sketchbook .
SAN: You have described teaching to be a vocation for you. How does teaching inform your art-making?
MM: if my students require me to know more about something, I do the research, which then influences my work. It's a spiral pattern. Teaching is integral to my growth as a person/painter/drawer. Teaching will help you understand more.
I wrote a short article which appeared in The Journal of The Southwest called, "Tumamoc Hill: A Painter's Pigmentary Perspective" describing my process of figuring out a color scheme for spring in 2014. It involved painting a new painting every hour of one day using different complementary color relationships with different pigments for each hour from 6 am to 6 pm.
The process was exhilarating, exhausting and very informative. I've performed similar exercises in Colorado and California just to see the difference. It's huge! It's a subjective study, of course, but I like to think I can discover unique color schemes for places this way.
[Learn more about art on Tumamoc Hill at Tumamoc Sketchbook .
SAN: You have described teaching to be a vocation for you. How does teaching inform your art-making?
MM: if my students require me to know more about something, I do the research, which then influences my work. It's a spiral pattern. Teaching is integral to my growth as a person/painter/drawer. Teaching will help you understand more.
Meredith Milstead at work. Photo: Paul Mirocha
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SAN: Do you belong to any art organizations? Do you go out with other artists in a group to do plein air painting?
MM: I am affiliated with some local art groups. Groups can encourage healthy competition, collaboration and learning opportunities. I am a member of Tucson Pastel Society and Tucson Plein Air Painters Society. These groups offer paint outs often, which is great to get you started and for general maintenance. Plein air painting is a personal experience for me but motivating myself to do it with regularity often requires a group outing. |
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SAN: You registered to be part of Heart of Tucson Art’s spring 2016 Open Studios tour? Why did you decide to go with this group, and what are your expectations for the spring studio tour? (learn more about Heart of Tucson Art's Spring Studio Tour here>) MM: Art Groups can be great for exposure. Thank you, HoTA. It feels like a good fit to me, and I qualified because I live in the Heart. I am really looking forward to meeting new people on the tour and welcoming students and friends into my studio. I think you can better understand and appreciate an artist when you see how they live and work, in their element. Being part of a larger group increases my feelings of accountability so I'm more likely to push myself to grow and, in turn, appreciate and contribute to the group. |
Meredith Milstead at work. Photo by Paul Mirocha
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MMilstead_pastel
SAN: Here’s a question which I ask all artists. What do you think would make life better for artists in southern Arizona?
MM: Life better? Better life. I think artists need to be fluid in their interactions with society and not expect to follow the beaten path. It behooves them to connect with a diversity of people to influence perception (and be influenced). Artists can use their uniqueness to enlighten people in unexpected ways. I think life is better for people who are more connected to each other through empathy.
MM: Life better? Better life. I think artists need to be fluid in their interactions with society and not expect to follow the beaten path. It behooves them to connect with a diversity of people to influence perception (and be influenced). Artists can use their uniqueness to enlighten people in unexpected ways. I think life is better for people who are more connected to each other through empathy.
MMilstead_Bird's Eye View_ pastel
SAN: Anything else you’d like to comment on?.
MM: I am working with sunlight more. I'm taking everything into the field, ala Monet. I’m integrating the plein air observational color focus with the surreal imagination from the studio out on site, in large format. This has been my dream goal for several years. Bigger paintings on a human scale are more difficult, physically, because you have to engage the entire body and mentally, because it takes a lot of problem solving. I’m learning to access more of what I know and intuit in order to get to something interesting. It's the best work because it’s so challenging on many levels, and I couldn't do it without the support of friends and peers.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas about art. It is a great privilege to be considered.
See more of Meredith Milstead’s work at: https://meredithmilstead.wordpress.com/
MM: I am working with sunlight more. I'm taking everything into the field, ala Monet. I’m integrating the plein air observational color focus with the surreal imagination from the studio out on site, in large format. This has been my dream goal for several years. Bigger paintings on a human scale are more difficult, physically, because you have to engage the entire body and mentally, because it takes a lot of problem solving. I’m learning to access more of what I know and intuit in order to get to something interesting. It's the best work because it’s so challenging on many levels, and I couldn't do it without the support of friends and peers.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas about art. It is a great privilege to be considered.
See more of Meredith Milstead’s work at: https://meredithmilstead.wordpress.com/
