Laguna Beach is a sea side town where the sun shines 300 days a year and art flourishes 365. It’s also a place artist Jesse Miller calls home. Marching to his own beat, Jesse tends to live the day on his terms and that can often mean ending the day with a 4 hour painting session to 3am. When he’s not painting you might be able to find him at his family wood shop in Santa Ana cutting, carving, sanding, surfacing….you name it. It is also at the shop where Jesse cuts and binds his stain-glass creations for his multimedia exhibits. You can’t catch Miller; you can only hope to contain him.
His artwork can’t be contained either. Be it the forms themselves or an accurate description of them, his combination of wood, paint and glass inhabiting his larger works manage a sacred subjectivity. Everyone sees something different. Miller also performs graphic duties for events and concerts adding a psychedelic flare to all. A multi-talented artist who likes to practice all his skills and use all the tools in the tool box.
Born and raised in Southern California, Jesse has grown up in an artistic family. His father is a master craftsman, running Miller & Pidskalny for over 40 years. Jesse started to exercise his artistic ambitions at an early age like most naturally gifted artists do. When he entered high school he started creating graphics for local surf companies like Quicksilver, Billabong and Gotcha. Miller brought a classic ’70’s vibe to all his works at this young age. He’s an old soul.
Miller launched The Green Sun project with a partner in the ’90’s. Green Sun was a psychedelic circus in Orange County that had a warehouse full of artists, surfers, skaters, musicians; anyone creative at the time would find their way in the orbit of Green Sun. Jesse’s artwork was a cornerstone that drove the brand. Many Green Sun items are considered very collectable today.
Miller takes on different commissions that best exhibit his styles while producing a constant assortment of fine art original works. His love for screen printing from the Green Sun days still finds it’s way onto his wooden postcards, a signature Jesse Miller creation. Everyone likes that they can enjoy a little Miller with these hand-crafted pieces.
Jesse has started to engage bigger works and canvas’s by collaborating with design/build projects and architecture works. His hand carved posts at the Garden in Newport Beach define a newly renovated center that houses the amazing Cest Si Bon Bakery. He has found the same guiding principles in his fine art work expand in wonderful ways in the built space, and most agree.