Luxe Dallas Issue 7 : Page 165
L U X E L I F E INSTINCTIVE PAINTER A G ALLERY O WNER C APTURES LIFE IN 3-D WRITTEN BY DANIELLA BRODSKY PHOTOGRAPHY BY TERRI GLANGER Dallas painter and gallery proprietor, JD Miller will never forget the moment he discovered his trademark painting technique: “I wanted to bring out color in 3-D, and I happened to notice that mounds of oil on a palette looked similar to colored clay.” Miller grabbed for an old knife and hit the canvas with “a big old glob.” It left a shape, and as he pulled the knife away, created his first crude replica of a 3-D flower. Over the next ten years, Miller perfected the technique—which he describes as a natural progression from the Impressionist movement, a way to capture not only the “envelope of light,” but of life itself—with a number of organic shapes. Though the discovery was simple enough, Miller’s journey toward that moment is more complex. Encouraged to explore his creativity through childhood, Miller was predisposed to funnel life in and reinterpret it out—through drawing and coloring he did just that with the perspective he gained from living in places like San Diego, Texas and Virginia. In his studies, Miller gravitated toward music, and cultivated a thriving production business—but only after casting music aside for a stint as a potter and sculptor. Now this is where things get really interesting: Miller married a painter, and he would translate her colors into music while she worked. “I always saw color when I played music, and so I would suggest which color might work, which is a little like being a back seat driver, and so one night she turned to me and said, ‘Honey, why don’t you try it?’” She gave him the canvas and oils, instructing him to use a little turpentine. “The first color was French Ultra Marine Blue, and when it hit the canvas I felt for the first time that the skies opened and here was my destiny.” And “JD?” Well, that stands for Jay Donald. “I used to go by Jay, but when I realized my dream of becoming a full-time professional painter, I went back to my childhood name—JD. It was like declaring, ‘This is it.’” If you stumble upon a signed “J Miller” from the old days, you’d better bring it in for appraisal; their value is up and rising. LU X E 125
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