Deborah J Milton, Artist in Residence

I paint and write to illustrate the world in which I want to live: a world where love guides all decision-making and we experience belonging to the web of life, a world in which we live in wonder for the diversity and mysteries of our living planet spinning in the cosmos, a world in which we know that OUR flourishing depends on EVERYTHING ELSE flourishing, too. 

Life’s Journey
As a kid, I thought I was an artist, and assumed I would continue to be that as an adult. But life interfered with that assumption. It took college, marriage, the birth of four children, a major move from Pennsylvania to Montana, divorce, and a PhD in Human Development before I remembered how I was really meant to spend my lifetime. In 1992, I took myself away from all things familiar and spent two months in solitude to transform my identity from psychotherapist to artist. 

New Paths Beckon
After moving to Bainbridge Island in 2009, I made Gaia painting “my thing,” and published a book which includes many Gaia paintings: Ode to Gaia – Calling Forth our Imaginal Selves. Every image begins by painting the cosmos first using imagination, intuition, and spontaneity. After the cosmos is painted, I study the image, I wait, I gaze some more until I begin to see our human presence in the form of Gaia. Without the billions of years that came before us, without the emergence of our galaxy, our big hot star, our small cool moon, our planet couldn’t support life! We humans are embedded in that long, long story. 

Along comes BPAA
One day walking in Battle Point Park, I discovered the observatory and was welcomed by its friendly Chief Astronomer. I became a member that day. When I opened those huge observatory doors for the first time, I was struck by the plainness of the lobby. I quickly observed how everyone associated with BPAA wanted to share with the community, wanted to raise awareness of the mysteries of science and the miracles of space, wanted to engage the community and inspire anyone interested, no matter how old. I hesitantly offered to “muralize” the lobby to make it more colorful and inviting and to my delight, BPAA said, “Yes” and a few short months later I was named BPAA’s first Artist in Residence.  

From my point of view, BPAA builds bridges: science and awe, the rational and the spiritual, intuition and intellect, human creativity with the creativity of the universe. I look forward to contributing as much creativity as I can to BPAA’s mission to engage and inspire the community.