JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A featured artist at the First Wednesday Art Walk in Downtown Jacksonville is a Ukrainian American whose feelings about the war poured out onto her canvas in a powerful way.
When First Coast News went to talk with Anna Miller, she had the news on and was typing away at multiple messages to friends in Ukraine. She showed First Coast News pictures of her friends hiding in subway stations and cellars.
"It's never somebody else's war," Miller said. "It will affect all of us in one way or the other."
Inside Miller's home, you hear the news and the clicking of her phone and keyboard as she checks in again with two dozen friends in her hometown, Kyiv.
"I can't sleep," Miller said. "It's hard to concentrate on basic daily tasks. All you can think about what is happening on the ground right now."
The photos she receives from her friends now are much different than the ones she takes out of photo albums.
"Svetlana and her daughter right now are hiding in the cellar," she said, laying out pictures of her friend in happier times.
All of what Miller and other Ukrainians are feeling right now translated into a painting you can go see and talk with her about at the MOCA Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. It's part of the Art Walk, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m.
What you see inside Miller's home is how she expresses all of this. Her newest painting about Ukraine is dark blue, showing a woman with striking eyes, red fists, a broken red necklace and yellow crown stepping out of a blue background in determination. A lighter blue is painted behind her in the shape of a cross, which Miller says represents a truce.
"This painting expresses the pain for Ukraine and expresses strength," Miller said. "It's a young girl representing democracy."
The woman in the painting appears ready to fight.
"She's calling out for help to everybody," Miller said. "'Please, unite and rally behind me, please.'"
It fits with the war series Miller started, painting the pain of mothers in the Middle East. She says she'll restart it. Now, the conflict on the canvas will be of her home, brushstrokes bringing its message into yours.
"I live in St. Johns County, very safe area," Miller said. "We think that it's not going to touch us it will touch us. We can't just stand by just because we're in a safe spot right now. We need to all rally around Ukraine against bullies."
See the Tweet below with where to donate to help people in Ukraine.