Larry Joe Miller, Hollywood, FL
I have always seen the light: The light of the sun, the moon, the stars; the shadows of the light and the darkside of the light. After years of merely observing the light, now I strive to recreate it; to portray it in a way that others may enjoy its reflection through my eyes. I have always endeavored to capture form, reducing it to the simplest lines to depict its beauty and grace. Today I constantly seek to freeze an image in time so that one can absorb the feeling of both light and form – and make it become part of their own personal vision.
Artist Bio
Larry Joe Miller has been an artist and musician since 1960. He has fronted many bands, including The Thingies, the Rockabilly Rockets and currently, The Delusions. Larry Joe studied art at the University of Nebraska in the ‘60’s and subsequently went into the commercial art field. At Northern Natural Gas in Omaha, he worked as the art project manager for the Board of Directors. After completing design projects at NNG, he moved to the Fort Worth area to work on the special arts team at Grumman Aircraft in Arlington, Texas.
After several years in the commercial art arena, Larry Joe realized that it was not fulfilling his desire to create art from his heart. So he packed his bags and moved to Manitou Springs, Colorado, where he opened an artists’ venue called “A Touch of the Bizarre”. This unique gallery featured Larry’s sculpture, painting, and jewelry, along with the work of other regional artists. In 1975, he moved away from the cold weather to Ft. Lauderdale, participating in local art shows and teaching jewelry classes at Nova High School and Broward Community College.
Larry opened “Quicksilver Jewelry” in Himmarshee Village in 1978, where he showcased his original art, metal sculpture, and jewelry designs. It was one of the most successful galleries in the early days of the burgeoning downtown Fort Lauderdale art scene. In 1982, Larry decided to close Quicksilver and go back on the road with his rockabilly band. He traveled extensively throughout the east coast of America, playing gigs at colleges and clubs like the now-defunct CBGB. But after several years on the road, Larry knew it was time to come home to Florida and settle down.
Larry Joe has been an active member of the Broward Art Guild since 2001; he served as a Board Member and chairman of the Exhibition Committee. He was President of the Broward Art Guild in 2007-2008 and is the current President of the Hollywood Art Guild. His work and his passion are promoting the arts in South Florida. Larry leads a local Plein Air painting group and has sponsored several Quick Draw outdoor art competitions and auctions. He often presents one-of-a-kind linoleum printing demonstrations at city and county events. You can watch Larry Joe create linocuts every day at the Studio 18 in Pembroke Pines.
We are all both blessed and cursed to see the world exclusively through our own eyes. My goal in painting, woodcut, and linocut is to reveal a different perspective; hopefully, viewers will share with me in that vision. How many ways can we see the minutiae of the simplest domestic scene, or the sprawling details of a rustic panorama? Whether at home in the studio or printing outside en plein air, I illuminate this viewpoint via time-tested, traditional techniques. Modern tools and shortcuts simply cannot depict the purity of light, form, line and color with such exquisite clarity. I want to observe the observers, and to know my objective is truly accomplished when they smile and say, “I see it, I get it, and I feel it.”
