Milan Miklos

The FBVillage is very fortunate to have caught the eye of some artists of formidable talent, who have shown their support either directly through the donation of their work, or indirectly through the donation of moneys raised by the sale of their work. We are so very appreciative of the generosity and compassion of these artists, not just on behalf of our rescue dogs but for other rescues as well, and we are delighted to be able to showcase them in our newest section - Art with a Heart!

We are pleased to feature Milan Miklos, a wonderful digital artist/printmaker from Crossville, Tennessee…

I was born in Czechoslovakia (today’s Czech Republic) where, starting in preschool, the children were and still are systematically exposed to the visual arts and music. We spent two hours weekly learning to draw and paint and and another one hour weekly we sang. I did pretty well in both areas, I have played the violin since the age of 5 years and the trumpet since 14 years of age. I started playing jazz semi-professionally when I was 17.

At about age of 14, I started preferring to draw to my music, and I began doing pieces in washed inks and pencils. I did a great many portraits and nude studies for my friends.

My wife Yana and I escaped from Czechoslovakia in 1969 and did not see our homeland again until the Communism was defeated. I did not create any art for some fifteen years after our escape, and by then Yana herself had started painting. Occasionally, I helped her with faces and sometimes offered free advice (sometimes not too appreciated!), but mostly I made frames for her pieces, constructing and carving the frame moldings myself.

I finally got back into art via Photoshop on my computer, making photo compositions and reconstructing them to look like paintings. I did some nice ones, but I never tried to sell any. At that time we were showing Bull Terriers, and every year, I donated two or three pieces to be auctioned at the Silverwood Show. Working with Photoshop brought back to me the ability to “feel” form and to draw.

But using Photoshop alone was not satisfying enough to me, and I wanted to start using a more traditional approach again. The problem was that when we moved from our very large house in Cary, North Carolina to the smaller house in Tennessee where we now live, I did not have the space for a studio. Unfortunately, my hand is so damaged that I have difficulty using a brush.

My solution was Digital Art, using Painter X software, Digital Tablet and Stylus. After I learned to look at the computer monitor instead of watching my hand, I really learned to enjoy using this medium, which is the medium I still use now. It has many advantages over traditional approaches. For example, I am continuously saving my work in progress, which allows me, if I find that I am more satisfied with the intermediate results, to go back to a previous step instead of starting all over. I truly believe that using digital means brings better results than traditional means.

My style is Realism; this simply is the way my brain is wired. I dislike Abstract styles such as Cubism, Tubism, Orphism, Suprematism, Plasticism, Synchromism, etc.

I am always trying to add meaning to my pieces, making people think about the picture. Take, for example, the Tennessee Walking Dogs, with its clones, and odd one out. The odd one out could be me (I was transferred by IBM four times), full of energy and ideas. Everybody can create and complete their own interpretation of the scene. This piece was made using both Painter X software and Photoshop. I love Charley Harper’s work (minimal realism), and Photoshop allowed me to emulate him, to put humor into this piece by making (absolutely exact) clones and the frog in two sizes and to “pour” color onto the painting to simulate solid color areas.

For eighteen years, my wife and I bred and exhibited Bull Terriers, but the breed became too strong for us to handle in the ring, and we no longer breed Bull Terriers. Today, the Lionheart kennel name graces another strong (but much smaller!) breed. Now I am creating Frenchie art, inspired by the beautiful French Bulldogs with whom we share our home, and I still enjoy donating my pieces to the National Specialties held by the French Bulldog Club of America, and to the rescue groups who provide a safety net for the less fortunate members of our breed.

Milan Miklos

You can find out more about Milan Miklos’ art at lionhearthome.com/art.html.