Jessel Miller: Giving back and paying it forward

Giving it back and PAYING IT FORWARD

The COVID-19 pandemic inspired Napa artist Jessel Miller to new creative heights

“What is charity? Charity is the act of giving help to those in need of it. It is a humanitarian act. It involves giving money, goods, or time and effort to those who need it.” – Jessel Miller

The year 2020 is gone, and suffice it to say, no one is unhappy about that. Here in the Napa Valley, 2020 hit harder than in other places because not only did a pandemic require

LAYNE RANDOLPH

the closure and restriction of businesses, but two of the biggest and most destructive wildfires in Napa history ravaged the area. To say that the people of Napa Valley are resilient would be an understatement.

There were also cultural upheavals in 2020 that battered and bruised many communities adding to the chaos. We watched natural disasters threaten wildlife worldwide; we witnessed millions of animals suffering and dying in the Australian outback, thousands of fish washing up on shores around the world, and birds falling from the sky. It was a year.

And the pandemic added an element that the world has not seen since World War II—a global crisis that indirectly pulled the planet

together. One local woman, the iconic Jessel Miller of The Jessel Gallery, acutely felt the impact of these issues and did something about it.

“Throughout my history in the Napa Valley, I have celebrated the area’s exquisite beauty, painting images that spotlight the unique tapestry woven into the countryside,” Jessel explained. “This valley has supported me and my gallery and artists for years, and I want to give back to the community.”

Jessel started her career as a portrait artist, and in 1982, she had her first major exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. That exhibit focused on the faces of 25 well-known Bay Area personalities. She painted Maya Angelou, Herb Caen, and Dianne Feinstein, to name a few. Then she put portraiture away and opened the Jessel Gallery in 1984.

On top of running and maintaining the oldest gallery in the Napa Valley for over 35 years, Jessel has thrown herself into many charitable causes. Perhaps best known as the artist behind “The Mustard Festival” artwork used on posters, brochures, and websites, Jessel worked with the festival for almost a decade and was instrumental in its success.

The festival organizers first commissioned and highlighted her artwork for its branding in 1998. Then Jessel was inspired to write and illustrate a coordinating children’s book, “Mustard: A Story About Soft Love and Strong Values.” Over the next two years, she remained the artist behind the festival, and she conjured two additional whimsical and spiritual stories illustrated with her colorful, imaginative custom artwork: “Mustard: A Journey to Love,” and “Mustard: Lessons from Old Souls.”

Later, she wrote three books on her own, including “Angels in the Vineyards,” which won the 2002 American Book Award for Excellence in Literature from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Speaking specifically of “Angels in the Vineyards,” Jessel maintained, “It takes all the loving hands of our field workers to produce the crop we are famous for. We rarely take a moment to thank those who labor in the fields in hot and cold weather to bring us the fruit of the vines.”

Writing this book was the beginning of her deep affinity for the local Hispanic community, a cause she remains committed to today. Jessel then donated thousands of these books to nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and Toys for Tots.

Over the years, Jessel’s artwork has graced marketing materials for a litany of causes and nonprofit events: Hands Across the Valley, The V Foundation, The American Cancer

Jessel Miller

Noble One Horse Lover, by Jessel Miller

Jessel Miller

The Spirits are Speaking, by Jessel Miller

Foundation, Napa Valley Land Trust, Relay for Life, The Humane Society, Napa Valley Library, and the Lincoln Theatre, to name an illustrious few.

And then 2020 turned her artistic direction upside down.

“Something came over me. I began painting scenes and people from cultures around the world,” she said. “The new direction I took was a culmination of all my styles throughout my years as an artist. Faces, forms, abstraction, and color overtook my soul. Although I worked exclusively in watercolor over my career, I felt called to work in acrylics, which opened the creative floodgates.

“I dove face-first into what has become the most productive year of my artistic life. I completed over 350 pieces of art in 2020. In past years, if I finished 10 pieces, I was thrilled.”

She was “being guided,” as she put it, “to paint current events with love, passion, hope, and truth.” She brought her artistic journey full circle and combined it with what was going on around us. And although she did not know it while painting, she created a series of works that align perfectly with the causes that need help right now.

Jessel painted several series focused on wildlife and the environment, including painting an abstract elephant with the phrase “PLEASE SAVE US.” She began a series of abstract portraits with a series called “Honored Souls,” with paintings of Kamala Harris, John McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kobe and Gianna Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, and Michelle Obama.

She drew inspiration from a nurse on the news pleading with viewers to please treat the virus seriously and wear a mask. Jessel created a painting of a woman wearing a mask, titled “The Spirits Are Speaking,” dedicated to nurses and essential workers.

Jessel’s most recent collaboration supports The ALS CURE Project, founded by Mike Piscotty and his son, Stephen Piscotty, right fielder for the Oakland Athletics. The father-son team established the organization following the ALS-related passing of the family’s matriarch, Gretchen Piscotty. The project raises funds to support vital cure research to determine the cause of ALS, and the group has tasked Jessel with creating an image to promote this mission.

But the Napa artist’s lightbulb moment occurred when she came across display frames that she had painted decades ago to exhibit the artwork from The Mustard Trilogy at an exhibition at the Culinary Institute of Arts.

“I had hand painted frames for 66 paintings that represented the pages of the three books. Clearing out the barn on my property, I discovered some of the frames we didn’t use and decided to rework them to fit my newest paintings. I hung them in the gallery filled with these new works, and it all came together—past and present,” Jessel explained.

She realized that the hundreds of inspired pieces she painted this past year had a purpose. She could offer them to nonprofits and charities to promote their causes. Her works had helped raise funds for The Mustard Festival and so many other organizations, and they could help other groups looking for a visual to support and enhance their causes today.

“I’ ve been doing this work for 50 years, and who would have guessed that I would have an explosion of creativity at this point? But it has all come together, and it fills my heart to think that my work could help nonprofits raise funds for their needs. This is what my spirit is calling me to do now. This is the next phase of my creative journey.”