Dream comes true for local artist

September 3, 2014

By Bill Kilpatrick

On Saturday, Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. the Art Gallery of Bancroft held their opening reception for Anka Milligan’s various media show entitled Works in Time. This is Milligan’s third and most exciting show. What makes it so special is that it has been her dream to have a showing at the AGB.

After hearing about Bancroft’s designation as Ontario’s most talented town back in 2006, Milligan made it her goal to have a showing at the AGB, “It’s been my dream to show here and now that dream is my reality,” said Milligan. Milligan who currently resides in Boulter, has been coming up to this area since 2000, specifically Coe Hill, and in 2010 finally decided to move to Boulter.

Anka’s love for art began as a fluke when she was asked to go to an art class with a friend back in 2006.

“If someone would have told me ten years ago that you’re going to be an artist I would have said you have to be kidding me. I can’t even draw a stick figure,” said Milligan.

Looking at her pieces, no one could guess that she has been studying art for only eight years. Her talent encompasses a number of different mediums from charcoal, graphite, oil paint, photography, and most recently sculpting. In the short eight years that she has been exploring different mediums she has attended the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto and went on to study at the John Angel Academy of Art. Milligan also spent a year studying at the Accademia D’Arte Bianco Capello in Florence, Italy where she studied sculpting with Marco Biagini.

Milligan explained that her ability to manipulate charcoal and graphite was a direct result of her training in Italy. Milligan said that in order to complete the first level at art school Italian artists must complete four Bargue drawings in charcoal and graphite similar to the pieces on display.

“I loved the bargue’s so much because it trained my eye to see things that I would have never seen before.”

Clearly the training paid off as her charcoal and graphite sketches reflect an exceptional level of realism brought out by her extraordinary attention to detail.

Anka said that she draws much of her inspiration from the masters both new and old, nature, and from all of the traveling that she has done especially throughout Europe. Anka’s show runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 28 at the Art Gallery of Bancroft.