Never Before Seen Art on Display in Mills Retrospective

Fair Oaks resident artist, Patricia Mills remembers receiving a birthday present of colored pencils and paper every year throughout her childhood.

“My family has always encouraged me in my pursuit of art. I remember the first drawing I did when I was 5,” said Mills, 70. “I was sitting on my grandmother's porch in Kansas. I drew the interior of the house looking from the front porch through the living room. My family was so impressed that you could see the stove in the photo, which was in the back of the house; I wish I still had that drawing.”

This month Mills is exhibiting a collection of her own works titled “Retrospective and New Works” at her Fair Oaks establishment, Studio Tupos. The gallery officially kicks off Saturday, June 11 at 5 p.m.

She said there are about 10 pieces in the collection, a few new and a few old.

“Most of them are abstracted landscapes, and some of them are old because I have such a large collection that I wanted to show some of the ones that never made it to be shown,” Mills said.

There is a variety of media used in the exhibit, some acrylic on paper, and some acrylic on canvas, drawings and even monoprints – which is ink on paper.

After receiving her bachelor of fine arts from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and her master's in art studio from the University of California, Sacramento, Mills opened her own gallery.

“I opened my working studio about three years ago and when the space opened up next door I knew it would be perfect for my gallery,” Mills said.

Since the studio’s opening, Mills has held about eight exhibits. Some exhibited her art, some exhibited others’ art and some were a collaborative effort. Mills said she does not charge other artists to have their works up, but she does take a small commission of what they sell.

Mills said she has always had the techniques of artistic expression down, but has not always had a strong voice.

“When I got older and more mature I learned how to have my voice and be comfortable with what I had to say,” she said. “As a young artist I was more or less responding to things. I had the technique but not the voice.”

Mike Rowden, 57, met Mills during their graduate studies and is collaborating with Mills on her next exhibit. He said Mills is a dynamic and honest artist.

“I appreciate her work. It is straightforward and real. She's not trying to be pretentious. She's not trying to make it sound like something it's not. She's just direct with her work – simple and direct,” Rowden said.

In their collaborative exhibit, Mills said they would produce an 11-feet by 8-and-a-half feet pictorial.

“She is interesting because she works on large scale and for most people that's way out of their ball park,” Rowden said. “A lot of people don't bring the energy to the work that it takes to do large pieces. It takes a lot out of you to engage yourself to even a small canvas. You have to activate every inch of the canvas so with such big scale art it's more energy.”

On top of Mills' art pursuits, she worked with her husband to create the film “Running Brave” and they wrote “Lessons of Lakota,” a 12-step theory on how to be happy with native concepts.

When Mills is not managing her gallery she is traveling with a luxury cruise line to places like South Africa and Greece while teaching art lessons on board.

“Everyday at sea I teach an hour-long class. My husband is my assistant and there is paid accommodations for my assistant and I. Although,” Mills laughed, “other members of the family are now applying for the assistant position.”

Mills has also held exhibits in Chartreuse Muse, a gallery in Modesto, and at Coffeyville Art Center, a gallery in the Midwest and she has had paintings in the State Fair for three years running.

Mills has a permanent artwork on display at Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota and commissioned a painting for novelist Nicholas Sparks.

“It's hard to gauge an accomplishment in art because it's ongoing,” Mills said. “It's a constant accomplishment for me.”