Meet Douglas Miley | Oil Painter and Instructor specializing in the Grand Canyon and Southwest

We had the good fortune of connecting with Douglas Miley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Douglas, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I credit my early rural life in Ohio for instilling me for a lasting love and fascination with nature. At age 4, I began drawing with colored pencils, switching to oils by my 8th birthday. My parents were highly involved in creative arts as my mother was an artist and my father was a musician and they both encouraged me. For two years I was an illustrator with the U.S. Army followed by 11 years as an illustrator for Campbell Soup Company. However, the chance discovery of an Arizona Highways magazine led me to pack up my easel and move to Prescott, AZ in 1977. I am a self-taught artist who paints not to please but to involve the viewer in the beauty of the southwest. I prefer not to simply paint the scenery, but create a mystical scene from nature, a sort of poetry in color by working meticulously with light. I create a brilliance and luminosity found in the influence of the Hudson River School. In addition, I spent nearly five years as a restorer of old masterpieces painted by artists such as Remington and Russell. My paintings of the Grand Canyon and the Sedona area have introduced me to romantic interpretations of the Southwest. Not only do I produce original works in oils, but I have produced five limited numbered prints and three giclees. In 1993, I met my wife, Lilly, who is also an artist and she encouraged me to enter different shows and exhibitions. In 2001, I received first place in oils in National Veteran Creative Art Festivals and have participated in the yearly. Then in 2005 and 2006, I placed in the top 100 in the National Arts for the Parks competition. In 2009, I was invited to participate in the first Grand Canyon Modern Masters Invitational, which was a delight.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
One of the lessons we’ve learned is that we must participate in outdoor art shows, special shows at the different galleries, and becoming friends with those who purchase our paintings. In three consecutive years, (2006, 2007 and 2008), while displaying my art at the Phippen Memorial Art Show in Prescott, I received the People’s Choice Award, which I felt was a special honor. It is a delight that I have been a recipient of numerous state and national awards and that my paintings are treasured in the US. Canada, Ireland and England. Several collectors have our works in their “Miley Room”. Doug was most excited and honored that he was commissioned by Sacred Heart Catholic Church to paint 14 stations of the cross in an 18×24″ size, which adorns their walls. The frames were made from the existing pews by the Frame and I, putting the new with the old. Although not a Catholic, these paintings will be displayed for 100 years or longer.

Lilly was one of 9 brothers and sisters, and it was her teachers who helped develop her love for the cultural aspects of education. Persistence along the way and encouragement at the art shows, and with one another, was necessary and so meaningful. There are very few marriages in which both husband and wife are artists. Between Doug and Lilly, they have a combined painting and selling of paintings with over a hundred years of doing so!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Prescott, AZ has a lot to offer including magnificent pine trees, four beautiful lakes, Thumb Butte and Granite Mountain for hiking, bird-watching, and photographing. When the weather is wonderful, it is so much fun to camp out or pick up sandwiches or pizza and sit outside and enjoy nature. Montezuma Street is full of galleries, and if this friend comes during Christmas time, he or she will be amazed at the spectacular Courthouse and Tree Lighting. People come from all over the state to see this, and take part in a weekend of art galleries and music called Acker weekend. We will also have cooked some of their favorite meals to enjoy at home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife, Lilly, started painting at age 48, when she had a severe heart attack. God provided this time in both of our lives as an opportunity to pursue oil painting. Her love of flowers, missions, and Indian pots have been part of her repertoire with lots of bold color. Lilly’s specialty was studying and taking workshops from various teachers, such as Barbara Bond, Bonnie Casey and Leslie DeMille. These instructors were fantastic and so encouraging!

As avid walkers, we are amazed by the beauty of the changing seasons, the varying colors that God has produced and most people do not even recognize. We visit the Grand Canyon every year to see what beauty we have not yet captured in photographs.

We both belong to various art associations and continue to do so with the Mountain Artists Guild, Prescott Center for the Arts Association, and the annual Veterans Art Festival, Sharlot Hall Museum, and the Phippen Museum. While participating in these shows, it was great meeting other artists who offered support and lots of encouragement. Both Lilly and I have donated many art works to People Who Care, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Teen Challenge, and various churches and 501(c)3 organizations. We both feel that we are blessed and want to pass those blessings on to others in need. By teaching young students, we are thrilled to watch them develop their artistic ability.

Website: DouglasMileyArt.com

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