From teaching art classes to creating abstract art, art teacher Dr. Milan Jilka also makes sourdough bread in his free time. Motivation is Jilka’s main factor in sparking his imagination to create all of his art pieces. Jilka doesn’t only have a passion for art, but he has a passion for music. 

“I have always been inspired to make things whether it is making my own furniture, making my own pizza, or making my own bread,” Jilka said. 

When Jilka makes his famous homemade sourdough bread, he likes to add patterning to it to make it unique. He uses a blade or razor to add the little pattern designs. Usually, other people just make a regular cut into bread to give it a nice rise when baking; however, Jilka slices intricate patterns into the bread to let it rise. 

“I am the type of person that works with what I have in front of me,” Jilka said. “So I will work as that process goes along and I will change ideas.” 

Creating abstract art is also one of Jilka’s other hobbies. He starts his art with a very minimal idea of what he wants to create. 

“Right now, I am really into patterning, and learning how to create different types of patterns and overlaying them with other things and then abstracting those things,” Jilka said. 

For Jilka, motivation is what fuels his creativity when it comes to creating his art pieces. Jilka not only bakes sourdough bread and makes abstract art, but he also builds furniture and makes pizza. He doesn’t necessarily have a favorite art form to make, yet he frequently gets into new art trends to try. 

“Like this last year, I was really into creating intricate patterns and layering,” Jilka said. “Before that, it was slightly different, but I have always been into something.” 

Playing the guitar is another hobby that Jilka has picked up again throughout the years. He never learned the proper technique to learn the chords, so he just tried to pick it up and play it by ear. About a year ago, he motivated himself to try to learn how to play chords correctly with practice. 

“It’s all through practice, right, the process is just like making art, so I am just into music,” Jilka said. 

According to Jilka, he doesn’t have a favorite art piece; however, he throws away or paints over artwork that he isn’t fond of. 

“It’s all about being continually motivated that sparks my imagination and therefore creativity,” Jilka said.