Neighbor Featured Artist #1: Barbara Miller

There are several unique things about our East Tennessee mountains that artists find spellbinding. Their beauty as the subject matter for visual images is an obvious feature. But as inspiration, the enchantment of the Appalachians goes deeper. Talent seems to spring up from the earth here. Running water sings to creative spirits; the hills breed quiet that allows artists space to imagine. The folks that settled the area liked for their closest neighbor to be a couple of miles away. Because of that tradition, we have a bigger responsibility to get to know the neighbors we have.
Barbara Miller is a perfect subject to initiate this column. She was born and bred in Greene County, which makes her a product of the region’s innate gifts and talents. Her art is touched with magic; she can paint a watercolor that will make you think you’ve never seen a flower before, or an acrylic mountain scene that’ll make you swear you’re flying.
Miller has memories of growing up in the community that many Greene Countians can share. These memories are echoed in the artwork she creates today. She fondly remembers her visits to the goldfish pond at the old Takoma Hospital, where she was born. She recalls the drawing that convinced her parents (still among her biggest fans and supporters) that art was going to be an important part of their daughter’s life. “It was a picture of President Kennedy,” she says. “Even at age 5 I drew him from the shoulders up, complete with nostrils and eyeballs.” The artist attended 1st grade in the last year the Roby School was open to elementary students (and wryly expressed the hope that her attendance there had nothing to do with the decision to close it). She recalls that one of her teachers gave her the first practical hint about composition in art – learn how to fill up the sheet. Another strong memory is of living downtown in Greeneville. “We lived in Mr. Rhea’s rental house, which had been Valentine Sevier’s slave quarters. The Big Spring was right in our backyard!” Art was a continuing presence as Miller grew up, and included the eight art credits she received in high school, as well as the informal lessons she gave to her fellow students. A love of draftsmanship, which led to studies in architecture after graduating, is part of the foundation of her creative output today. “I’m obsessed with pens, pencils, and paper quality,” she says. “To me, a clean sheet of paper is heaven.”
Miller has worked professionally for American Calendar and the Diamond G art department. Her work as a commercial/graphic artist has been invaluable to her fine art pieces. “What commercial art may lack in creativity it more than makes up for in improving technical shills,” she says. Technical skill has been a godsend to her fine art, giving her the confidence to work in watercolor – which she describes as the most difficult of the painting media to master – and in both acrylics and oils. Among them, Miller enjoys the “look” of watercolor the most but has a more spontaneous feeling with acrylics and oils. “With acrylics and oils, you paint ‘what is’. In other words the painting is experienced as you create it. Watercolor requires more careful planning.” Acquisition of new techniques is also part of Miller’s work, which has lead to recent forays into pastels.
Miller’s artistry has not gone unnoticed outside her native Greene County. She recently exhibited at the Madison Wise Gallery in New York’s SoHo district in a show called “Natural Instincts”, and one of her original pieces was purchased by the Amica Mutual Insurance Company of Rhode Island for their annual Thanksgiving card. Currently her professional work still influences her fine art creations and keeps her technical skills sharpened for their creation. She works for Package Express as a graphic artist handling marketing and newsletters. To feed her soul and keep in touch with the inner child, she serves as the coordinator of children’s ministry at Asbury United Methodist Church. Her sense of humor gets a yearly boost from her work as a writer and performer in the annual Kiwanis Kapers.
For Barbara Miller, art is as much a part of herself as breathing. That she has been able to practice it both as a profession and as a form of personal expression is truly a blessing, although sometimes a mixed one. “There are times when my graphic work has been so intense that I can’t even think of touching brush to canvas,” she admits. “But God gave me many talents and the spirit to explore them. Everything I do is God’s gift.” Miller’s fine art pieces are available and proudly displayed locally at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center.