About
Milbert Whitley"s Life
ARTIST’S RECIPE LEAVES, BARK, AND a dish of Spices!
The Life of the artist, Milbert Whitley
Milbert Whitley served in the Army for 28 years in which 35 months of the that time was served in Vietnam in which he was awarded 2 Bronze Stars, he has spent time in Egypt in 1982 on a peace keeping mission. He has also spent time in Germany in different times and various states in the United States of America. Now the retired, disable veteran spends time with nature, creating three-dimensional artwork using tree bark, twigs, leaves, grass, and kitchen cooking items, such as grits, oatmeal, potato flakes, and spices.
Milbert Whitley calls his art “therapy.” It helps him “relax.” Whitley has had some brushes with death, including the Vietnam War, a heart attack, by pass surgery, a brain aneurysm with surgery, abdominal aneurysm with surgery, most recently bladder cancer with surgery in which he has been CANcer free for over one year. “If I am feeling good, I can finish one piece of artwork in les than six hours, “but some have taken two or more days, sometimes even longer than that to complete, “Whitley says.
Most recently, Whitley has added a new found talent to is artwork collection, during his battle with cancer, he was sitting in the house with nothing to do but think of what he was facing and he decided to try and make a bowl out of pecans. He tried it and out of this brainstorm, these beautiful baskets were born. These baskets are made from real pecans and some are even bleached. Whitley always jokes with people and tell them if they get hungry they can always eat their baskets. They are beautiful pieces of artwork and everyone should have one in their home. Whitley arranges pieces of bark on a piece of cardboard or luan, then adds other items such as leaves, pressed flowers, moss pebbles, cotton, etc. Then adds other items such as leaves, pressed flowers, moss, pebbles, cotton, etc. Then to add color, he uses cooking seasonings, such as red pepper, sage, etc.
About Nature's Palette
With Whitley working with Natures' gifts, its only natural that he named is artwork collection: Nature's Palette: Unique are rooted in Nature.
Whitley arranges pieces of bark on a piece of cardboard or luan, then adds other items such as leaves, pressed flowers, moss pebbles, cotton, etc. Then adds other items such as leaves, pressed flowers, moss, pebbles, cotton, etc. Then to add color, he uses cooking seasonings, such as red pepper, sage, etc.
Whitley does not start out with a set plan; he simply does what he feels. “I don’t think about it, I just look at it and see what I want to add,” he said. “The work takes time and patience and no two pieces are alike,” Whitley says. He involves his audience with one question: “What do you see in this picture? “I like watching people’s faces when they look at my artwork, because everybody sees something different.” Whitley brings the needed items in his home to work with. His hobby has taken over his home, Whitley acknowledges. “I am work watching TV, but I can’t talk with someone while working on my artwork,” he said.