Jean Franz Miller is a local
artist at Harvest Gold Gallery whose beautiful paintings are featured on our
walls. Since Jean was a child, she has loved creating art and has never veered
from her love and desire to be an artist. Although she went to college in
Gettysburg as an English major, she also took whatever art courses were
available and took advantage of any opportunity to learn more. When Jean
finished college she got married and began teaching art in elementary schools.
Jean had to stop teaching in order to raise her four children, but slipped away
to whatever bedroom, basement, or studio that was available for her to paint or
make art in. Although Jean had loved being a teacher, she was driven to art
because to her it wasn't a hobby, but a compulsion. For her, art is an
absorbing passion and joy that nothing can replace. She couldn't help
herself but to find ways to paint even when times were rough.
Jean loves to learn more about
the world around her and likes to express the geology of the world through her
art. Jeans passion for painting followed her across the world as she traveled
to places such as Portugal, Italy, France, England, China, and eventually here
in the state of Maine. Jean came to Maine for the first time 59 years ago and
had her honeymoon on Kezar Lake. For 50 years Jean had been coming to Lovell as
guest until finally one day her son was offered the lot that they had been
visiting and they moved in. Jean now resides on the lake during the summers and
at her other home during the rest of the year.
Jean expresses
her love of the world and knowledge in her paintings with her vast range of
destinations and locations. Even though Jean has learned a lot from her
teachers in times past, Jean has come to believe that the bulk of learning derives
from the experience that takes place in ones own head. Jean believes that her trips
to museums around the world, art studies in books and magazines, as well as
many trials and failures have brought her have more expertise, maturity, and
eventually competence.
When Jean came to visit Harvest
Gold, she shared her love of art with me, but also helped me learn something
new. Jean has written in cursive her entire life, and when I explained to her
that the school curriculums no longer teach cursive she was baffled. In our
history, cursive had been developed into the form we use today in the early
17th century, and has been taught ever since until the 21st century.
So Jean sat down with me and explained how cursive works, and a few days later
dropped off a sheet that she made me with the alphabet and a phrase that I can
practice my cursive with. Jean has so much love and compassion and I
appreciated her taking the time to help me learn something that is very
important to her. I learned something new that day, and Jean got to share some
of her knowledge with me that I will now have forever. Jean will never stop
teaching and learning, and even more she will never stop her true absorbing
passion of creating beautiful art.
Please Contact Harvest
Gold Gallery for more info on Jean Franz Miller or any of our other artists, or
come visit us in Center Lovell, Maine.
Located on Route 5 in Center Lovell
Maine, Open Daily.
Contact us Phone: 925-6502 or
Email: harvestgold@fairpoint.net
No comments:
Post a Comment