Michael Milburn teaches watercolor and Japanese calligraphy at the New Art Center in Newton, Massachusetts and is Vice-president and co-founder of the Newton Watercolor Society. He has been drawing and painting for over 25 years and studying Japanese calligraphy since 1999. He has studied at the Rockport Art Association, the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and at the Kaji Aso Studio in Boston, and he has traveled and studied art in Japan. He is a member of the Newton Art Association in Massachusetts and the Lakes Region Art Association in New Hampshire, and he has studied with watercolorists David Millard, Mel Stabin, Charles Reid and Paul George.
Michael Milburn has been profiled in the Boston Globe and also in this Newton Tab article.
Artist's Statement
There are several influences on my work. I have always been drawn to the translucency of watercolor. It has an immediacy that other media cannot convey. In addition, through my study of Japanese culture and calligraphy, I have integrated an Asian aesthetic into my work, drawing on nature for inspiration.
I have continued to expand the subjects of my paintings, as my portfolio shows.
My paintings are filled with colorful koi, cranes, and bamboo. Complementing my watercolor painting, a central aspect of my calligraphy study has been haiku,
a Japanese poetic form in three short lines. The essence of haiku poetry is to be in nature in the moment, to capture the exquisite feeling of being alive
and connected to the world, and I try to convey this feeling in my paintings. I have built a Japanese-style garden, using bamboo, plum and cherry trees, and
wisteria to create a tranquil place of refuge, where I enjoy painting. My garden was featured in the 2009 Newton Organic Gardening Tour.
Artist’s Resumé
Awards and Honors
1st Place Landscape, Lakes Region Art Association, 2005
3rd Place Endowment Award, Newton Art Association, 2005
Faculty Position
New Art Center, Newtonville, MA--Watercolor and Japanese calligraphy
Solo Exhibitions
Wayland Public Library, Wayland, MA 2010
Newton Free Library, Newton, MA 2009
Oasis Gallery, Waltham, MA, 2007
Feng Shui Boston, Ipswich, MA, 2005
Gilford Public Library, Gilford, New Hampshire, 2003
Group Exhibitions
Chi-lin Asian Arts Gallery, Meredith, NH, 2009
Northshore Artists Labor Day Show, Marblehead Neck, Marblehead, MA, 2007
Kaji Aso Studio Calligraphy Show, 1999-2007
Lakes Region Art Association Annual Show, 2004-2006
Prudential Center Group Exhibition, 2003, 2005
Newton Open Studios 2000-2009
Selected Collectors:
Outpatient Acupuncture Clinic, Boston Children’s Hospital, Waltham, MA
Groton Dental Wellness Spa, Dr. Robert Evans, Groton, MA
Center for Change, Dr. Richard and Amanda Curtin, Cambridge, MA
Edward Chapman, M.D., Newton Lower Falls, MA
Marshall Cohen and Kathy Kraft, Newton, MA
Andrew Reed and Allison Kelley, Durham, NH
Rosemary DeWees, Waltham, MA
Publications
"Flow", sumi-e calligraphy on cover of The Flowing Bridge, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007.
"Newton artists display their love of nature: Paintings on display at West Newton Cinema gallery". Newton Tab, November 22, 2006, p. 17.
“Nara Pagoda”. Drawing in Dasoku, Spring 2005.
Milburn, M. A., Soudak, G., and Dellinger, L. (2003). Dissociation and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Visual Arts Research, 28, 53-60.
Affiliations
Kaji Aso Studio
Lakes Region Art Association
Newton Art Association
Those wishing to locate Michael Milburn's work in psychology can go to his webpage at UMass/Boston.