Tess Lee Miller
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I was raised in the home of a Southern Baptist minister and blessed with a loving, nurturing family. God’s blessings have been in evidence my entire life and it is His grace through Christ Jesus that has provided the abilities I have. I began drawing at a very early age and drew my first portraits in junior high school. My mother remembers me as “always having a pencil in her hand”.
After high school, I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mississippi University for Women, moved to California in 1987 and over time volunteered as the art teacher for several Southern California parochial schools. Due to economic issues, I joined the work force and worked in Human Resources for the next 10 years or so and earned a masters degree in Human Resources. Needing a creative outlet, I discovered the versatility and portability offered by colored pencils. They became my main medium for doing portraits, starting with portraits of my family as well as co-workers’ families. In 2007 I discovered PanPastels and came to realize how well they worked with colored pencils. Since then, I’ve branched out into landscapes and now do hand-colored photography as well, using photographs that I take myself I have won 2 consecutive Honorable Mentions in an international online competition for colored pencil artists, have had 3 local showings and my portraits hang in private collections throughout the United States.I am also a member of the Portrait Society of America. I was honored with the first place award for the portrait 'Jonathan' and an honorable mention for 'Young Math Enthusiast' in the annual Associated Artists of the Inland Empire's juried show, Pastel/Drawing division, September 2010. I am currently the treasurer for the Associated Artists of the Inland Empire and will be the exhibiting member for the September 2011 meeting. The piece Dreadin' was entered in the AAIE's 2011 Juried show, Pastel/Drawing division and received a second place ribbon. Texas Morning also received an honorable mention in the same show. www.tess-miller.artistwebsites.com |