January 30, 1986 Jacksonville Register
Jacksonville artist Steve Mills
By Priscilla Craven
Jacksonville is lucky to have an excellent artist named Steve Mills a part of its community. Mr. Mills grew up on Martha's Vineyard Mass. where he produced many paintings of the island and ha.' become a well-known and well respected artist. He is a realist painter whose works depict an in intimate knowledge of the island. Mr. Mills moved to Jacksonville in 1982, but spends all his summer at Martha's Vineyard. He now paints a wide variety of subject matter and has a unique ability to capture any scene at any moment. His accomplishments are many and he is only 26 years old. Mr. Mills got his liberal arts education at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He loved studying Impressionism and other styles, but has always been a realist, admiring artists such as An. drew Wyeth and Richard Estes. Since 1983 he has had three consecutive shows during the summers at the Granary Gallery of the Red Barn Emporium at Martha's Vineyard, all of which have been extremely successful, and this summer he will have his fourth solo show there.
In Jacksonville, Mills does all of his work in his studio which is in his apartment at Confederate Point. He does most of his work at night and is usually working on three or four paintings at a time. Mills says he works from three things: photographs, on sight and imagination. He has always worked with both oils and acrylics, but now works entirely in oils. He knows the water very well from his years at Martha's Vineyard and depicts excellent play of light on water. He loves light and dark contrast, has meticulous brush-stroke, and puts color to full use. His paintings include incredible detail and some are almost photo-realistic. He will work on a commission basis if you want your own boat's portrait done. Mills is very well-known on Martha's Vineyard. In fact, he is almost a celebrity. After viewing his first show, an article in the Boston Globe quoted people as saying,"a star is born."
At his first show, in 1983, his paintings averaged a price of $450. By the third show the price had tripled due to the popularity and quality of his work, yet he had a total sell-out...selling 22 paintings within a matter of minutes. Now his works will average about $2,000.
A sample of his paintings are now showing at Kaldi's in Ortega. His next show will be at the Coconut Grove Expo Center in Miami Feb. 21-23, and he will have another show at Martha's Vineyard this August.
Steve Mills is an extremely accomplished young artist. His technique continually becomes more polished and uniform. He believes in what he is doing and therefore people believe in him. We are glad to have him aboard as a member of our waterside city. Go see his work soon and make up your mind. If you love boats and water scenes, don't pass up a chance to see this work.