Sunday, November 7, 2010

New Blog/Site

All future posts will be available at www.jamills.net

See you there!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Wedding Dress



My Grandmother's wedding dress, made by my great grandmother, Julia Brough.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

On Seeing.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/10/september.11.photo/index.html?hpt=C2


I am not prone to writing, or even commenting on 9/11. Yes, it had an impact on me. I was four days in to my freshman year at college. The towers were visible from my dorm room. Friendships formed fast. However , I never felt close enough to the tragedy to comment. This story struck me, emotionally, but also intellectually, as I am writing a lot about seeing these days. Why did the emergence of this photograph so profoundly effect this fire fighter's father? What does it say about sight and photography?
This story is about a father who lost his son. Although he was certain that his son, a firefighter, died in the events of 9/11, he was left with no evidence. No body, no phone call to say good bye. In short, it was if his son had disappeared. The father went on a mission to find evidence, and came upon the photograph above. The blurry, out of focus photograph shows a firefighter moving through cars. The determination on his face is evident, his focus is forward. This is but a moment, yet we can read so much into it. Like a soldier, he moves towards certain peril.
This photograph provides an end to Gary Box's life. Some would call it closure. I think perhaps it is more profound than that. The image provides a springboard for the mind.
In John Berger's The Sense of Sight, he speaks about the last drawing he made of his father. He says of this drawing "It works because from being a site of departure, it has become a site of arrival (151)" The photograph, while confirming the fate of the firefighter, also provides an outlet for the family. With each viewing, they will see something new. Perhaps something in the expression, or the slope of his shoulders. In short, the final glimpse of Box's life takes the family from darkness into possibility. The power of the image is so much more than what we see. It is what we project, and where the image leads us.


Saturday, September 4, 2010

Designer Christen Meindertsma's Aran Rug

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spr
ead the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

WB Yeats

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Friday, July 16, 2010

Wednesday, July 14, 2010





New experiments. First, I drew on knitted "flat" with dye marker
Next, I painted pastel on primed knitted flat, some of you may remember that red primer from my pastel glassblowers

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mind Numbing

Silver Point on panel

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Inspiration

From Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting Rules

In the end, the reason we fill our houses with it, visit it in yarn shops, speak of it in glowing terms, and hoard it with passion is that it is pure potential. Every ball or skein of yarn hold something inside it, and the great mystery of what it might be can be almost spiritual. These six balls of wool could be a shawl my mum puts around her shoulders when she's cold, or maybe it's a blanket a friend wraps her baby in. Maybe that baby takes a shine to it and it becomes his beloved companion blankie, comforting him for years. and years. Maybe it's a sweater that my daughter is wearing the day she gets her first kiss, and from then on my yarn is part of her memory of that day. Maybe, just maybe, those six balls are a scarf and hat that get tucked away for years and long after I'm gone someone pulls them out and says, "Remember how Grammy was with all the wool? Remember how she knit all the time?" fingering the soft wool and pondering who I was and what I did while I was here.
It's a mystery, each ball of yarn...and I don't know what each one is going to be or what life it will take when I finally set needles to it. But each one will be something I made with my own two hands. The yarn, then- my whole big sweeping stash- is the stuff of dreams.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

New Work



Embroidered version of my painting of Will, and a Plein air pastel painting done on a SUPER sunny hot day...poor model was melting!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Painting Cozy

Experimenting with knitted elements

Tuesday, April 20, 2010




Paintings

Top painting is in progress, you can see the underpainting in the left corner. Bottom painting still needs some work, this one has been about 2 sessions.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Will Update


Worked on this for 2 more sessions. The color is greyed out in the scan, it is MUCH more brilliant in life.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Fever induced Lucidity

As I was showering today I had a thought. I have been wrestling with how things tie together. I am a painter in oils, egg tempera, and ink. I make and use pastels. I draw with pencil and charcoal. I knit, sew, cook, and dye yarn. It is not just MAKING. It is decision making. I have an internal monologue when I work. "Make this color warmer, or add more white"...I am literally saying this in my head. When I knit, I think about how the pattern should look. I know the decrease should come at a certain point, and I mentally remind myself to check the fabric at the right moment. I am making decisions. These decisions decide whether a painting goes in a gallery or lingers in a closet. The decide if yarn becomes a garment or gets balled up a hidden in frustration. Sometimes I feel like it is "my gut", that I just feel a color is right. That is one of the reasons I like pastel, just for the thrill of choosing the exact right color.
I do not think it is just me. I am sure professional athletes do this. Our lives are a series of decisions, and perhaps, when you look at my paintings, you see my life.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Egg Tempera


First egg tempera painting

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Monday, March 8, 2010

Knitters


New Scanner!

The Knitting Project

Alright, so I am starting an art project about knitting. I am looking for knitters to answer the question "Why I knit". I also want you to send me a picture of you doing your craft (I need to be able to reproduce this picture). The third step is to send me a swatch (10 X 10 cm).

info can be sent to jamelch (at) hotmail (dot) com

After you send a picture I will send my information for shipping. I am looking for fiber artists from all walks of life! I will be posting finished drawings on my blog.

Thanks!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

messing around

Hitting A Wall


So I have been working on this piece: And I have hit a wall. I don't know if I should work on it again, larger. I kind of want to, but I haven't worked out the logistics (what kind of support to put it on. I don't know if this is a piece of something or if it is done.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Update


It's been really crazy with all the snow! This is a new composition on Wallis Paper 24X36. Unfinished. Again working with atmosphere and trying to obscure some things and make other things clear. Perhaps a study for a larger piece.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Little Painting


I have been thinking a LOT about atmosphere lately, so here is a 12X14 sketch focusing on atmosphere. I have been doing a bunch of tiny charcoal sketches and this is my first pastel in a while.


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Inspired by...

Sangram Majumdar

Oil on Linen
38X42