Artist Patrick John Mills has been given a second chance at life.
In 2020, Mills was diagnosed with three forms of cancer. In 2022, he underwent chemotherapy, and what followed was a rapid and devastating decline. He spent months in and out of the ICU, was placed in a coma for 52 days, remained on life support for 67 days, and was hospitalized for a total of 99 days. Throughout it all, his wife, Tanja Kisslinger, remained at his bedside for 12 to 14 hours a day. There are no words that adequately describe this chapter of their lives.
Out of survival came clarity.
“One breath, one step, one kiss,” Mills says. “Life is a gift.”
To celebrate that gift, Patrick and Tanja made a bold decision: they went to live in Barcelona for seven weeks. What followed became the most prolific and intense creative period of Mills’s 34-year career. The result is The Flood: 40 Days + 40 Nights in Barcelona, a solo exhibition featuring more than 300 new works.
Mills describes painting as “putting my fingers into an electric socket — creative current surging through my body and soul, expressing everything all at once.” Inspiration arrived like a tidal wave. He painted and drew on location throughout the city, including in front of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família, which he describes as “being inside the heart of a genius, having a conversation with God.”
Barcelona itself became his studio. Inspiration flowed through visits to the Moco Museum, the Picasso Museum, the Miró Foundation, Macba, the Antoni Tàpies Museum, and the Keith Haring mural. It appeared in graffiti-lined streets and in quiet moments — like seeing a young woman walking her dog early in the morning, wearing heart-covered pink pyjamas. Inspiration, he says, was everywhere.
What distinguishes The Flood from Mills’s previous exhibitions is the breadth and freedom of the work itself. Unlike many artists, Mills does not confine himself to a single image, style, or visual language. He allows himself complete creative freedom, following intuition wherever it leads. As a result, his bodies of work evolve dramatically over time — sometimes focused on flowers, sometimes on sculptural heads and faces; at times uplifting and lyrical, at others raw and challenging.
In The Flood, that freedom is fully embraced. Barcelona became both subject and catalyst. The paintings reflect the city’s contradictions and abundance: sacred and profane, monumental and every day. There are religious and crucifixion-inspired images drawn from the overwhelming presence of Gaudí’s Sagrada Família. There are graffiti-based abstract works influenced by the street art of local artists. There are paintings inspired by a man who blows bubbles each day near the Arc de Triomf, delighting children with fleeting moments of joy. And there is an intimate series of abstract figurative works centred on Tanja — observations of love, presence, and survival.
Mills also expanded his use of materials, working not only on canvas but on paper and found local ephemera such as leaflets, often combining acrylic paint with charcoal and spray paint. Visitors are encouraged to arrive without expectations and to experience The Flood exactly as it presents itself: diverse, immersive, and unapologetically alive.
Patrick John Mills is an international award-winning artist whose work has been collected worldwide. Beyond his studio practice, he is also the founder and owner of Art Factory in Renfrew — a 10,384-square-foot art centre that includes a gallery, art supply store, classes, and event space. When fully completed, Art Factory will be the largest independently owned, privately funded, non-government, non-grant-funded art centre in Canada. Phases 1 and 2 are complete, with Phase 3 currently under construction.
At a time when many businesses are struggling, Art Factory continues to expand. It now operates satellite art supply locations at Conscious Canvas Gallery (Perth), Arts Carleton Place, The Artist Loft at White Pine Books (Arnprior), Art Gallery of Bancroft, and Arts Space Peterborough.
Mills is an intense individual, and his mantra — Live Love Art — is not spoken casually. He lives and breathes art. “My blood is red, my eyes are blue, and my smile is sunshine yellow,” he says. He believes deeply that every individual has the ability to make a difference, and his passion for art is both unstoppable and infectious. As an artist himself, he understands what artists need and is committed to offering the lowest possible prices, making creativity accessible to all. In his own words, “When you truly love something, you want to share it with everyone.”
The Flood, Patrick John Mills’ solo exhibition of 300 new works, runs until May 2 at the Art Factory, located at 11 Bridge Street in Renfrew. Meet the artist at a reception on Saturday, March 7 from 10am to 5pm, or visit Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free, and more details can be found at LiveLoveArtFactory.com.