Anita Mills
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“Rare Bird,” wearable neckpiece; sterling silver and turquoise beads with strips of batik fabric.
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“Precarious Nest,” stoneware vessel with silver encaustic surface, twigs and quartz egg; 25cm tall x 25cm diameter.
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“Poison Ring,” bronze clay, brass catch, and pale lavender CZ.
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“Poison Ring,” bronze clay, brass catch, and pale lavender CZ.
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Beaded Ceramic Vessel
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Lapwork Bead - Roller Ring
RESIDENT ARTIST
October 2025
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A native of West Texas, Anita holds a BFA in Ceramics and Printmaking, from Texas Tech University, and an MFA in Printmaking and Art History from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught art and art history at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota for 12 years. A resident of North Carolina since 1989, Anita currently lives near Hillsborough where she maintains her home and studio. She is a full-time artist and itinerant teacher of art/design/craft; teaching adults and young adults through workshops and courses offered in community education settings.
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My Residency
“My six weeks at Mulranny Arts as Artist in Residence afforded me a terrific variety of meaningful experiences. Though I was there to create visual art, Virginia Woolf’s famous line, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” kept coming to mind. I thought money alone could never buy the enrichment I felt from the creative people I met, and the astounding conversations we enjoyed. The studio “room of my own” was well-equipped and substantial. On days it barely contained the excitement of a busy community studio. On others it provided a cozy stillness that allowed absolute concentration when I was there alone.
Additionally “my room” included the whole expanse of nature—the weather, the sea, the tides, the rocky shore, the seaweed (501 varieties identified in Ireland), the lichen (more than 1200 varieties have been recorded there), the flora, and the fauna (especially the Old Irish Goats).
I didn’t realize at the beginning of this concentrated period of work at Mulranny Arts that I would be able to conceive and create some much larger, more complicated designs in metal clay than I had ever attempted before.
These required multi-step processes. The use of a kiln (three times the size of the one in my home studio), allowed me to fire all the components of the larger designs at once, rather than piecemeal. This guaranteed that each component had the very same post-fired qualities of sintered density, shrinkage and strength—important for the components to join together as a whole.
These inspirations and creative processes have returned home with me to be incorporated in my daily studio practice.
It is often said that Mulranny Arts is a magical place. Yes, the glorious natural surroundings and the well-appointed studios contribute to the magic. However, it is Mulranny Arts’ staff who are responsible for the greater portion of the “magic”—their welcoming generosity of spirit, wealth of information, anticipation of one’s needs, and their heartfelt desires to make their guests feel as family are unprecedented in my experience. My sincerest thanks to one and all for an unforgettable and productive experience there.”
Anita Mills. - November 14, 2025
