Tina Milisavljevich grew up in the beauty of Colorado, the breath-taking rugged mountains and wildlife served as a peaceful and inspirational backdrop. From an early age she acquired a love for art especially drawing. Soon after high school she took her work to various art shows across the West, and the journey of the life of an artist began. Her career took flight with her illustrations graphic work and T-shirt designs.
Since moving to Montana, She has had the pleasure to work with Jack Hanna who featured her wildlife drawings at numerous benefits.
She had always been fascinated with sculpture and always yearned to make a three-dimensional piece. She had an “aha moment” while walking the shores of Flathead Lake. She nearly stumbled over a half-buried root that happened to look exactly like a horse head profile. This ignited her imagination and she quickly gathered more driftwood. She took the pieces back to her studio and slowly “Rain Maker” came to life. She was hooked! One sculpture led to another and she has found the possibilities with this medium are unending. She absolutely loves working in three-dimensional space whether it is an animal sculpture or a functional piece of furniture.
To add interest, she searches for old automobile parts, hoods, fenders from the 1950s and ’60s. These are then cut into various shapes and added to each sculpture for strength and interest.
When on the beaches of the lake she is fascinated with every earthy polished piece of wood and has often wondered about its journey from the rivers to this lake and finally into her hands. The positive reaction that viewers share assures her that she should continue in this vein, and contribute her vision to the world.
“Somehow the connection between the driftwood and the bygone era of these mighty automobiles evokes a feeling of wonder and remembrance in us all. This is why I keep creating and following this passion I so deeply love.”
– Tina Milisavljevich
Statement
“Each sculpture contains a part of the past, present, and future; the old automobiles once polished and shined; the weathered wood, tumbling down mountain streams to the large powerful lake, now polished, tumbled, and bleaching from the weather. She finds a new composition to complement each one, looking to the future where it will be gracing someone’s home.” – Tina Milisavljevich