My boss occasionally asks me, “Are you a vegan?” Which is always followed by me replying, “No, I’m a Miller.” However, both statements are accurate. Now I can say I’m a vegan Miller. If only more of my family would follow suit, we’d have less health problems in the family.

I’m not a member of PETA. The only thing I’ve killed myself for my own consumption has been fish. I’ve only seen a hog and lamb killed for meals that I’ve partaken in. Conversely, I have eaten a lot of meat products throughout my life. It wasn’t until recently that I started questioning where the meat came from, or how the animal was handled. Nor did I consider the implications that consuming these things would have on my health and well being. Growing up, it seemed natural to eat animals. Comically, it was unnatural to avoid meat products! And now that I’m grown up, I’ve realized that this is all for the benefit of industry. Conspiracy, I greatly reject that notion. The USDA is clearly in favor of the corporation, not the local farmer, or our children’s health.

Put aside the notion of the animal, where it comes from, how it got there, and the process of getting that to your plate. The truth is, plant based foods provide everything one needs to be healthy and lead a healthy life. Rice, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables can all be provided from non-processed means without laboratory enhanced chemicals. That is what will help me fend off doctors and medicine – ten, twenty, and thirty years from now. It’s what we do now that effects later, so why not do it right? Why not grow our own gardens? Why not buy only from locally produced companies? Why doesn’t the majority of the human population question what is in their food and where it comes from?! “Be the change you want to see in the world …”

I’m documenting this change here (with recipes): http://livingwholefoods.blogspot.com/

Lonzo | 16"x16" | Acrylic on Panel

Lonzo | 16"x16" | Acrylic on Panel (closeup)

A History of Visual Art in Sarasota

Sarasota’s distinction today as a vibrant capital of culture springs from the calculated ambition of a handful of early residents–celebrities who spearheaded the city’s destiny. Their vision and resources transformed a quaint fishing village on the Gulf coast of Florida into a glamorous resort town and international art center–a story told here, with full-color photographs, for the first time.

In this book, three well-known Sarasota residents trace the origins of the city’s cultural identity to the arrival of circus impresario John Ringling, railroad executive Ralph Caples, and socialite Bertha Palmer, all of whom showcased impressive art collections in their homes. With establishment of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Ringling School of Art, the city became known as a center of visual arts, and the cadre of professional artists who appreciated Sarasota’s magnificent tropical light and landscape set up studios and stayed. Helen Sawyer and Jerry Farnsworth are acknowledged as the founders of the earliest art colony, which grew to include such artists as John Chamberlain and Richard Anuszkiewicz.

Art openings and beaux arts charity balls provided much of the town’s early magic, and the flourishing creative community soon included illustrators, cartoonists, and writers such as Evan Hunter and John D. MacDonald. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Winter Quarters attracted thousands of visitors, including Ernest Hemingway, Bette Davis, Cecil B. DeMille, and Prince Rainier. In the 1960s, Alfred Barr, former director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, inspired the founding of a Fine Arts Institute at New College with Philip Guston, Larry Rivers, and Conrad Marca-Relli among the instructors.

A colorful canvas of historical background and biographical information, this history documents the way visual art influenced the growth of the city and continues to define the character of Sarasota today.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
This is one of my mother’s favorite places in town. Her and I spend hours walking around the gardens, enjoying time together, and viewing amazing plants. This garden is world renown and is a respected center for research and education.

The John and Mable Museum of Art
The Museum of Art, built by John Ringling to house his personal collection of masterpieces, today features paintings and sculptures by the great Old Masters including Rubens, van Dyck, Velázquez, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, El Greco, Gainsborough and more. I am a fan of the rotating exhibitions as well. It’s the closest museum to me, literally down the street.

The Sarasota Film Festival
Held annually in Sarasota, FL., The Sarasota Film Festival emphasizes the best in cinema alongside exciting programs and events, with more than 180 films screened each year including features, documentaries, shorts, and kid-friendly picks. I’m a big film buff, and this membership ensures I get to see the films I want without missing anything.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe
Founded in December 1999, as a not-for-profit organization, their mission is to produce shows that promote and celebrate the African-American experience, attract diverse audiences, support and develop African-American artists, and build the self-esteem of African-American youth. I just love these shows! If you’re in town, you must be witness to the great talent from this group.

It is my belief that we get what we give (at least I hope that’s the case). The more we all participate in our community, the greater it becomes.

Tim saw a need for such a resource. When he approached me about being his partner, we were in our second year with SARTQ. It reminded me of the intent we had for Porch Magazine ten years prior. However, this project didn’t involve printing expenses, and I now have the knowledge I didn’t have then to create a business properly, without having to learn from my mistakes.

Most of what I’m doing with Sarasota Visual Art are things that I had hoped to be able to do with SARTQ. I had thought that working with a large group of like minded individuals would make the concepts be achieved much easier and more efficiently. I have been proven wrong. The work we’ve done since September has been extremely successful, greatly admired, and taken extremely well. Local businesses are advertising with us, and expressing great interest and support. Our online readership, subscription base, and analytic data is exceeding our expectations. There is a local buzz about what we are doing. Most importantly, we are bringing the community together by showing what great artists and an art community we have here in this small city.

Check it out and subscribe: http://sarasotavisualart.com

Daniel Miller, like [Joseph] Arnegger, revisits the recent past of art history to hold a mirror up to the present. But for Miller it is the recent past of video art. His “untitled” continuous video loop has the feel of the early days of this medium. The quiet, Zen like simplicity of works by Terry Fox and the Neo-Dada video antics of Vito Acconci from the 1970’s come to mind. Miller has a grasp on the grainy off kilter hand-held auteur tradition that Fox and Acconci personify. Miller’s video is a montage of two related events: a man’s hand nervously fingering a table top or ballet bar and a male and female dancer at times leaping or moving through a blocking out of a pas de deux. The work has a feeling rather than a clear narrative in the commercial sense of film. There is no sound and the large scale of the projected image as well as its imagery absorbs the viewer, as would a romantic 19Th century painting. The silence underscores the careful pace of the work and acuity of the artist coming to terms with (for him) a new medium of expression.

The show will be up until January 7, 2012 http://bit.ly/tcr8Xa

The new year brings in new opportunity. My new short term goals entail learning how to speak French, work in the art studio for at least one hour every day, physical exercise more than what I do now, continue to find new ways of increasing profits over last year, put the new business in a position to pay regularly for artistic services (such as photography and video contractors), and to learn how to play my newly gifted ukulele. I am very excited about these new goals.

Since resigning from SARTQ, I have had the benefit of focusing my time on what I want for myself as an individual artist. This is something that was sacrificed for the benefit of the group at large. A lot of my personal time went into the promotion of others, which left little energy for my own endeavors. In the coming months, I will be able to expose my progress. Until then, I have paintings and drawings to attend to.

Within my absence, please spend some time at Sarasota Visual Art.

With the creation of a solid label, an award winning website, a memorable, interchangeable and effective logo, a portfolio of posters, and videos specifically created for the exposure of the collective as a whole and individually per artist. The work I have successfully crafted for the purpose of one thing; promoting and exposing SARTQ as a fully functional, history making, artist collective: a business that operates for the purpose of education and exposure of local contemporary artists.

I positioned myself as the Visual & Interactive Communications Director, as well as one of the visual artists. Everything I made was not for sale, and for the benefit of the group.

Review by Charles Kovacs:

“As a video artist, Miller’s work is perhaps the most ephemeral in that it captures documents the other members’ creative processes … electronically. His camerawork, close-ups, and editing effectively reflect aspects of the modes and techniques within the creative process for each of the exhibited artists. Moreover, Miller is responsible for the outstanding website of the group providing critical and necessary Internet presence. Finally, his documentary gives rare glimpses into other works by the artists in the exhibition that are not currently on display.”  (April, 2010)

Most of my career with the group was spent in the background. As a graphic artist, and one not selling work exhibited, I was mostly in the shadows. Friends and peers would commend my designs, but the general audience took this work for granted. Countless hours (an average of 20 hours per week) went unknown. September 2011 became a turning point, when a ‘conflict of interest’ arose between Tim Jaeger, myself and the Board of Directors within SARTQ. After the creation of Sarasota Visual Art, we were kicked off the Board of Directors in fear of legal repercussions.

My decision to leave the group is multifaceted. The group lacks a cohesive ideology, with the exception of the obvious, for the individual to sell their artwork. I joined an art collective to do everything but sell my artwork. It also lacks community involvement and education. This is something we had in our mission statement, but failed miserably in achieving. The group is inclusive of only itself and does not embrace others outside itself. Its management lacks direction and vision. Workload is greatly unbalanced.

These thoughts are made public not to demean the prospects of something I have worked so hard on, and given so much of my personal time to help succeed, but to express my desire to continue to support and help enhance the group for its benefit and the benefit of those involved. I will continue to be a friend of the cause, and maintain my loyalty to its artists and future endeavors.

Thank you to the Sarasota community for supporting my endeavors and my time while with this project.

So far this year, Sarasota Visual Art has gotten international accolades and its not even two months old. The beginning of something great for the West coast of Florida, and the Sarasota art community.

With another successful year, SARTQ has initiated four new artists to join the collective. The upcoming exhibit will be the introduction showing personal work of all the involved.

This post was written through the WordPress App in the 1st generation iPad with a wireless keyboard.