We recently had the chance to connect with Pj Mills and have shared our conversation below.
Pj, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
There are three things I do where I can get true isolation and loose all sense of one’s self. Painting in my studio, fly fishing, and roadtrips. But I don’t find myself too often. Like a good road trip I find another road, learn a new fly to use, or create another painting. It is an on going journey to myself.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a painter. I have painted all my life and studied it in college. “I paint those things that resonate inside my head like a bad song and the only way to get them out is to paint them.” Is my elevator speech. I feel it futile to go any further into the discussion unless asked.
Certainly as a painter, the studio is my safe place. However, at the same time that place is a battle ground. Wars are fought. Some are won, many are lost. My success ratio is about 2:10. It’s a war in there in my studio. Battles are lost every day, but I believe I am winning the war. This is a daily brutal fight and I can’t get my butt kicked enough. LOL!
I have been represented but currently I am not. I have two one man exhibitions coming up in a year and a half at a nice university and another in three years at a nice museum in three years. Because of this I am in the process of updating my website with current work at: wwwpjmills.info or IG: pjmills101
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
No one ever directed me into the world of art. In fact I didn’t want to study it in school. I tried for three years to study something practical. Then… I simply gave in and haven’t looked back. LOL But when I got out of school, (which was a great experience) I did my very best to forget everything I learned there. It is a long and lonely road with the absolutely worst road signage. It leads into the a very corrupt and insane world. I held my breath a lot. A whole lot. It brought me here and I haven’t looked back.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I am not sure that I paint wounds. Although, I have a few more than my share. I try to stay focused on my work and make sure that it truly is what I want to say about the things that resonate with me and hopefully with others that see it. That is “hope” they get it. The work is personal. I get it if they don’t and that is alright. Paintings are an enigma to most. I won’t always be there to discuss them so I truly hope they stand up on their own.
For instance, the landscapes I have selected reflect thoughts I have about the stewardship of our planet. They also serve as reflections of the turbulent nations we create on the planet. Most importantly, the paintings point directly toward the fragile dynamics we have in the relationships between ourselves. Some will get, some won’t.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
LOL! The whole Art World is so vague, exclusive, alienating, and clandestine. Both in purpose and value. It is elusive and filled with popular culture. Everyone is either making, buying, holding, writing, theorizing, riding a wave, politicizing, and unfortunately few are even close to being correct. AND that’s the allure! That’s what is either powerful or completely over whelming. For most.
For me. I just make paintings about what is important to me. Being and artist is difficult because not are you the manufacturer, spokesperson, distributor, branding & advertising agency, shipping company, archivist, storage facility, and sales person and senior elbow rubber. That’s quite a few hats to wear. Each one you want to give away to someone to lighten the load comes at a cost.
As I said, I like to make it. Now after several years, like a child, it has started to take on a life of its own. Thank my lucky stars because my studio is full and so is the dumpster.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
The ratio of my finished work of 2:10 speaks for itself. The crazy thing about painting is that no one sees the brutal battle, they left with only with the sheets where love was made.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pjmills.info
- Instagram: pjmills101
Image Credits
All photos are courtesy of the artist.
