TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Dedication Is Rewarded

ADVERTISEMENT

By SARAH ROTHWELL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 5, 2007

NEW TAMPA - Looking back on her life growing up in Plant City, Dee Youmans Miller can't remember a time when she loved anything more than art.

'I've been an artist since I was little,' she said. 'It's a passion. It's like a part of me.'

Today, Youmans Miller, 49, makes her living as a graphic designer and spends her free time painting acrylic pieces. She recently was chosen as the September Artist of the Month by the North Tampa Arts League. Her art will be on display through September at the New Tampa Regional Library. Paintings range in price from $60 to $450.

'Dee's art is very original,' said arts league Vice President Mary-Ellen Bitner. 'I love the way she always puts some collage in it, and I think she's very good technically.'
Youmans Miller began her formal art training in the 1970s at Tampa Bay Technical High School. She traveled daily from Plant City to attend the school's highly selective art program. While attending, she learned how to translate her ideas into computer-generated art and experimented with different mediums.

After graduating, she moved to Tampa and studied art at the University of South Florida. There, she received a bachelor's degree in art history and a master's degree in art education. She taught at Remington College, a private Tampa college, and worked for the Tampa Museum of Art.

She and her husband, Craig Miller, now own Full Throttle Intermedia, a media company.

'She's able to express what's inside of her in a visual way,' Miller said. 'She brings a lot of free-form creativity to the business.'

Full Throttle offers a variety of services, including video production, animation, motion graphics and architectural renderings. Recently, the company completed work on an architectural rendering for a developer in New Orleans. The project required a three-dimensional visual presentation of buildings along the waterfront.

'We created an idea of what the complex will look like when it's built,' Youmans Miller said.

A love for graphic design is evident in Youmans Miller's work. She often combines and layers images, creating a collage of paintings on one canvas. Because she works during the day, she paints mostly at night and on the weekends.

'It usually takes two to three weeks to do one painting,' she said.

Many of Youmans Miller's paintings are of children's faces. She recently started a program called Love the Art, Love a Child. She paints images of children from all over the world who are struggling with poverty and disease. The proceeds from the paintings go back to the areas where the children are from.

'Her portraits' Youmans Miller calls them faces are very lifelike,' Bitner said. 'They're very colorful also.'
Youmans Miller joined the North Tampa Arts League earlier this year and is excited to spend more time with fellow artists. 'I love the group,' she said. 'We're supportive of each other.'

In addition to painting for league shows, Youmans Miller is working on a special project. She recently was chosen as the 2007 award artist for the Tampa Bay Business Committee for the Arts. In October, the committee will award her paintings to nine businesses that had a significant impact on the arts in 2007. For the project, Youmans Miller sent in a DVD proposal describing her idea for the paintings.

'I used blues and greens to represent the land and the sea in Tampa Bay,' she said. 'It's a conceptual project.'

When Youmans Miller talks about art, she smiles. She wakes up every morning ready to create something new.

'It's something I have to do,' she said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Dee Youmans Miller art exhibit

WHERE: New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd.

WHEN: From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and 12:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday, through Sept. 30

INFORMATION: Call (813) 971-8486 or visit www.dee youmans.com.

Sarah Rothwell can be reached at (813) 865-4845 or srothwell @tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT