Billy-Jack Milligan

Cedar's Perch




Honourable Mention

14x9
Acrylic
$2200

Ontario is so colourful in the summer. Cedar Waxwings can be seen everywhere. I have always loved the showy mountain ash. Picking a bird that was as showy to enhance the berries that they are known to eat.



Red Tailed Hawk in Sugar Maple




24x56
Acrylic
$12,500

In the mid 90's I worked as a courier. I had the opportunity to explore many landscapes in the Burlington Area. I always admired a Sugar Maple that lead into Hidden Lake Golf Course. In this painting I put the tree in the centre. I balanced it with a cluster of branches on the left and the hawk on the right. I had to slope the ground upwards to make the painting balance well. Going back to this spot to admire the tree it has changed. Many around it are gone. This tree has now grown thick heavy branches, and the dogwood that was seeded in the middle is a very large bush now. I also tried to echo the colours of the dripping rotting wood from the crease of the tree with the red tail that lands. The Hawk looks for a prey "death" as it is mimicked in the rotting wood




Billy-Jack Miiligan was born and raised in Hamilton Ontario and currently works at Arcelor Mittal as a millwright. He always had a natural gift of drawing, but in 2009 he wanted to try his hands at painting. Raising a family, working fulltime and building an art career has been a challenging balancing act so Milligan feels the need to involve his children in every aspect of his art. He paints his small pieces on his lunch breaks at work and devotes a minimum of one day a week to his larger pieces at home. His mother gave him his first Bateman book when he was 15 and has always been avid fan of the crocodile hunter's ability to entertain children while educating them about wildlife. Every painting is an experience of its own. Both in terms of the natural world and within the art process itself. He strives to convey both these aspects to his viewers. Using Acrylic paints on masonite he layers paint to create a mood and feeling. He changes his mind often while painting but will not stop until he achieves his vision".

The subject matter is usually nature based and the ideas are from his experiences he enjoys with his family, that he wants to share with others. "Both art and nature teaches many values and lessons for both the young and old and sharing what I learn on this journey is expressed through my work".





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