Today we’d like to introduce you to Treg Miller.
Hi Treg, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My story in becoming an artist started long ago but I did not fully comprehend the extent to which it would weave a circuitous path for me and my family along the way. After 12 years as a successful PGA golf professional and teacher, I found myself at a crossroads seeking an increased desire to bring more beauty into the world around me. In 2005, my wife and I decided to move our family from sunny Southern California to the mountains of Montana. With an uncertain future ahead, the fear inside was real. Six months had passed and I was still without work. One day, I was invited to attend a men’s Bible study that met every Friday at a local bar. After meeting a few men, I was introduced to someone who heard I was looking for employment. He asked me if I knew how to paint and I said, “Yes, sir!” Little did he know while playing golf in college I was also an art major. This gentleman owned a residential and commercial painting business. After a friendly conversation, he offered me a job. For one year, I worked on painting houses, sanding and staining wooden decks, wood siding, and log houses. This was a major shift in my career. However, it allowed me some very serious and much-needed soul-searching during this time in my life.
10 years had passed since I held a paintbrush in my hand in college but this job lit a fire in my heart. I knew I wanted to become a full-time artist. I strapped on my new cowboy boots and dug right into the local art scene. That summer, the small town of Bigfork, Montana held an art show at the local library. I decided to enter the art show having zero art supplies and absolutely no idea what I was going to paint. I ended up painting a large floral piece that covered up pretty much the entire 36“square canvas. Using big, bold, and brightly colored brushstrokes, my flower came to life. For three months my painting would be displayed for the public to see. After the art show was over, I received a phone call from the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce telling me my painting won first place “People’s Choice Award”. I won a $100 gift certificate to the best steakhouse in Bigfork. During that special dinner, I leaned over the table and told my wife I wanted to be an artist. As of 2006, I ended my work painting houses to focus solely on my art. I never looked back. Since, I have devoted my time honing my talent, skill, and personal technique to become a thriving working artist.
The next four years my art career thrust me into the art fair scene, traveling all throughout the Northwest. After living in Montana for 12 years, I knew I had to move on as a working artist. Next stop, McKinney, Texas. Our family wanted to try a new path which led us to Texas. Here I am able to experience a different art scene, a new way of life, and to expand my art career. Some may call it a crazy path, but I live for my art and my family.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I imagine for most; the road is not always an easy ride. The best part about all the bumps along the way is learning and growing from them. The one thing I have learned from all my personal struggles in life is you’ve got to do what it takes to get what you want. The life of an artist is truly a roller coaster ride. The ups and downs are tough. My work is very personal. In my early years of traveling and participating in art shows, I learned you must sell enough art just to make up for the booth fee. You also have to listen to people make comments about your work. Those years rendered me some very thick skin. My takeaway from my past struggles is that we all must believe in our own work and ourselves because the moment we start second-guessing what we are doing it all comes tumbling down. In the end, those struggles can lead you to create some extraordinary new pieces. In art as in life, we grow.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a child, I knew I saw things through a different lens. In order to comprehend our chaotic and complicated world, I would see the simplest to complex things in varying shapes, forms, lines, and colors. As an artist, I try to emulate my view of the world in my work. My work is all about bringing these shapes and colors together on canvas, wood boards, papier-mâché, or mixed media. My vision of the world recognizes the hidden beauty found in all things, including humans. I believe everyone is unique. I see structures, nature, and even people as representations of different shapes, forms, lines, and colors. In my work, I want to bring art and humanity together in a way that helps define our universe and our existence.
I have sold almost every piece I have created. Many have been custom artworks. However, I am most proud of a public art piece I completed last year. In 2021, I along with my co-artist, Angela Pitts, was chosen and selected as the winners of the McKinney, Texas art mural contest. Together we collaborated on a full-size building mural located on the side of the historic “WOW” building in downtown McKinney. The mural covers the 45’ high x 100’ long building in full. It is in the world for the public to see.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tregmiller.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tregmiller/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8pUc862Qm_xpI3YWakb9rA/featured
