Photo by Scott Simock.
The Long Beach Open Studio Tour is back, spanning the weekend of October 13th and 14th, with 26 artists participating, and music performances by the Bobby Benson Band, Caledonia, Brenda Carsey, and the beloved Long Beach Ukulele Club. Artists are clustered, geographically, in three main areas: Wrigley, Bixby Knolls and Belmont Heights. The artists are a mixed bag of successful professional and emerging artists. Some, like David Early, Dorte Christjansen, Monica Fleming and Susan Erikson Hawkins, have participated in the past, but there are new faces as well.
One of the new participants is Jeff McMillan. He’s a successful fine art painter whose work mixes the real and the fantastic with breathtaking detail. He’s got a long list of impressive corporate clients as well, including Nike, Disney and Mountain Dew. He has also worked for many high profile magazines.
McMillan believes that opening one’s studio allows the public to connect with an artist and the work in a way that might not happen in a gallery setting.
“I think you get a good insight into how someone works, in their own space with all their stuff around them. In a gallery all you get is a the end result, which is great, but I’ve always enjoyed seeing how other artists work, and what their studios looked liked,” he says. “You get a lot out of seeing an artist’s home studio. It’s more personal that way. I think we’re all collectors to some degree, and getting to see what inspires other artists in the workspace is a really interesting thing to see.”
Jeff’s fanciful work developed through a process of creating pieces for themed group shows.
“I had the chance to really flex my ideas and try to wrap them around the theme of the show. I think characters, little creatures, and symbols and things started to show up again and again.
“As an artist, you get to choose what you paint and try to tackle your own subject matter as best as you can. Blending them can be a challenge but seeing it visually work out is the best part.”
His work seems to draw on Tibetan visual themes and iconography, juxtaposed with elements of modern Western life.
“It’s something I’ve always been drawn towards for some reason or another. Mountains inspire me. The art of that part of the world is so rich to me, so incredibly honest and free. I love the imagery and myths of the yeti in ancient mountain ranges terrorizing poor climbers and explorers. It’s an ancient, beautiful and uncharted part of the world to me. Also, I like how humans turn themselves into the poor victims when it comes to wild encounters.”
One of his paintings, Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings, does something I really love: It reveals things in dribs and drabs. There’s the main figure of the huge tree, with various beautifully rendered birds perched in it. On the ground there’s a great blue heron, some quail, squirrels, and a rather innocent looking cat. There’s this amazing swirl, almost a cloud, of birds flying behind the tree then, in the distance, a football player scare crow covered in crows. Behind him, what looks to be a disused water ride and, to the right, dinosaurs. The painting was created specifically for last year’s Art Auction fundraiser for the Long Beach Museum of Art.
“Ron Nelson [Executive Director of the LBMA] and I kind of came up with a loose idea for the painting: A tree of birds, all northern American birds. I wanted this tree to be anywhere in America. Probably somewhere in the middle I guess, but no place in particular. I started putting all these little ‘easter eggs’ [hidden treats] in it to give it more life and, maybe, to make it more bizarre.
“The dinosaurs and the broken down water park gave it this feeling where this could be anywhere and in any time. Maybe post human. You have relics left behind from man. The football jersey scarecrow was Brett Farve’s old Green Bay jersey. He happened to be in the news when I was painting this. The whole ‘texting his private parts to that other girl’ scandal was going on. I usually like to put something like that in there, so I can remember when exactly I did the painting.
“The painting was kind of like the tree of life, a self sustaining organism that feeds itself. You have the hierarchy of the bird kingdom going on in the tree, down to the predators, prey and scavengers in the tree and all around it. It is a perfect life cycle that exist without humans. It turned into a way more involved piece than I first imagined, but it was a blast from start to finish.”
Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings – detail
Ron Nelson had this to say about Jeff, and the painting.
“I was first introduced to Jeff’s work through a donation he made to the Long Beach Museum of Art biennial art auction,” Nelson said. “His work was impeccably executed and his use of materials and subject matter was his very own. At that time his work was a rather dark cabinet of curiosities. I found it very intriguing and I kept coming back to it and wanting to see more and know more about Jeff.
“Shortly after that I made contact with Jeff and we were able to meet in person. I found him to be self effacing, smart, and appreciative of any praise he, in my mind, deserved. Over the period of the following year I purchased a couple pieces of Jeff’s work and added them to my collection. I love living with them.
“When the Museum’s fundraising affiliate, Phoenix, began to plan the next art auction I felt the event needed a signature image to brand the event and I wanted Jeff to be that artist. I was thrilled because Jeff was thrilled to paint a significant work specifically for the event and thus Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings was hatched, and the idea took flight. The painting was sold for a very significant amount, and one more person was thrilled.”
Jeff was thrilled, too.
“It was the main piece for the Auction,” McMillan said, “so it got a lot of attention. The experience, alone, was great. I got to meet all kinds of good people, and now I’m working with the museum on a couple shows down the road.”
Jeff’s participation with the museum was, in a way, a culmination of his move to Long Beach back in 2008.
“I loved Long Beach right from the get-go. I moved to L.A. in 2001, and met my wife in Irvine. She works at UCI. We wanted something in the middle. We tried OC, but Long Beach was a much better fit for us. We could afford to buy something here and, since we’ve been here, we’ve seen the city grow and better and better. There’s a lot going on here: A lot of culture, art, and food. Also, it seems like a good place to raise a kid. We felt like it was a good place to start. Plus, Long Beach is central to everything for us, but we’re not in the thick of anything. I love that.
“I wanted to be involved anyway I could. As an artist and and observer. I do a lot of freelance and gallery work, I teach, and take on whatever I can do. I usually have a full plate. Last year was the first year that it came together. Working with the museum was big for me. It meant a lot more to me because Long Beach is where I live now. I feel like I’m giving back to some degree.”
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This Saturday, As Issued, in Costa Mesa’s anti-mall, The Lab, is hosting an opening reception for “Keep It Simple,” a group art show that includes work by Jeff. The reception is from 6 – 10 PM.
To learn more about Jeff, see his work, and purchase prints, visit JeffMcMillan.com.
Find out about all 26 participating artists at http://lbopenstudiotour.com/.