Pierce Milholland, 69, made his life a canvas of creativity

Up until three weeks ago, Pierce Milholland was busy creating art in the kitchen of his small North Capitol Hill home, even though he was not in the best of health and had suffered several heart attacks and light strokes over the last seven years.

His focus was never on failing health. It was on oil paintings, the landscapes and figures and townscapes that had gained him a loyal following in the Northwest and beyond since his full-time art career had replaced architecture two decades ago.

Inspiration came in his kitchen, which he seldom used for dining, said his daughter, Charlotte Milholland of Redding, Conn. It also came in his travels. There was no telling where he'd be off to next or what would catch his eye, his daughter said.

Mr. Milholland, who was a longtime smoker, became ill three weeks ago and was hospitalized. He died May 13 at age 69.

His works live on — he died the day after the opening of his current show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Kirkland. A memorial service is planned at the gallery, 118 Central Way, at 6 p.m. June 6, the day the show will close.

"Contemporary impressionism was his forte," said gallery owner Patricia Rovzar, who had represented Mr. Milholland for the past decade. "His panache was in interpreting the Northwest's many landscapes.

"He had a fondness for the Skagit Valley region. He also had a real connection with migrant workers, and painted them with dignity," she said. "His work was really about color, and he was a brilliant colorist."

Mr. Milholland's works commanded prices in the $3,000 range and up, and Rovzar said their appeal spans generations.

"His works would strike a chord in many people for many different reasons," she said. His annual shows at Rovzar's gallery were virtual sell-outs.

"Eccentric" is one way his daughter, an architect who now focuses on writing young-adult fiction, describes her father.

"He'd stay up all night painting, until 6 [in the morning]. He'd have breakfast in the afternoon at a Greek restaurant in the University District. He was fond of sitting in restaurants and sketching people's faces. He was seldom far from a sketchbook."

Neighbors frequently found him sitting in the garden behind his home with a cup of coffee. "He'd teach some how to paint. And he'd have these deep philosophical talks."

Born in Philadelphia, the second child and only son of noted interior designer Frederick Milholland, he was raised in the Princeton, N.J., area and attended boarding schools, his daughter said. "He really came from an upper-crust New England background, proper and straight."

Mr. Milholland studied architecture at Trinity College in Connecticut and at Yale, and completed graduate work in architecture at the University of Washington.

For two decades, Mr. Milholland had his own architectural firm here, specializing in high-end homes. At one time he resided in Medina.

After deciding to become a full-time artist, he rented space in a downtown Seattle storefront for his first show, in the mid-1980s. The show sold out. By the next year, he was represented by a Pioneer Square gallery.

"He had a passion [for art] that was just infectious," his daughter said. "And in life he followed his own path."

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his son, Thatcher Milholland of San Francisco; one grandson; and his sister, Jean Shriver of Portuguese Bend, Calif.

Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206