Jaya Miller
About Jaya Miller
My introduction to art was from my father and grandmother on the other side. I grew up being an artist. I would rather call it 'making art'. I am making art, I find making art the vehicle for meditation, a way to be in the flow and to learn the truth of being. Currently in these fast moving times the gesture of mark making feels appropriate. The use of Natural Dyes sets up an entry to trials of color making. Testing colors turns into art making without fear of the white paper. Allowing a natural flow gets easier with each piece, so I'm doing a lot of pieces. I'm new to Tucson, but not new to the southwest. There are a lot of new plants to make dyes from. I'm investigating pomegranate, local cochineal, tannin from various plants, and growing the native indigo of the Sonoran Desert. It may be some time before the Safflower plants I'm growing will make it into a dye. There is always more to learn. I love to work in solitude, but I also like to share my excitement with my work with dyes that goes back to my younger years. Dyes on yarns and fabrics are also my specialty. I'm even more interested in sharing the spirit of creating!
http://jayamiller.com
Finer Matter Projecting to Space
Radiating the Center
Crucible
Open Studio Tour
About the Process
I've started this new body of work by using a variety of sketchbooks. I always tell people who are starting a new process to dabble for a month and toss everything if you feel like it. I look at my sketches six months later to see if anything was good. Then I toss some. Sometimes there are just pages of color samples or color wheels, these are ways to get used to painting and using the brush and paper without the fear. Slip into new work softly. Get comfortable with being in the mode of working/playing. Use really good paper once in a while to see the difference of the texture and color. Mix colors on a clean sheet of paper, and maybe it will come into being a piece you like. This is my process these days. I collect local materials. Yesterday I found ripe black olives that rubbed purple onto the sidewalk. I collected a small bag and cooked it, adding various powders like tannin or guar gum to thicken it and to make it more permanent. I also make color variations by modifying the pH. In my toolbox I keep historically famous dyes from around the world as well. In my younger years I dyed wool yarns to use in tapestries that I sold in New Mexico. I've learned to dye bast fibers now too
How to Purchase
Please browse and contact me through any method you like. On instagram I am Scry8888. There is a collection of my dye paintings there. I’m working on showing more of them there as well as on my website JayaMiller.com. Most of the website work is larger. I’m also #jayamiller on insta too. There’s also the address jaya@jayamiller.com connected to the website. But call or email if you like, I’m pretty chattable these days and I text too. Cheers to you! I hope to meet you when the time is right. I may do some outdoor art events soon that are not really scheduled yet. Eyes and ears OPEN! And please share with me what YOU know about dyes too. Can we include dance and meditation in the workshops? Hey, What’s App me!
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