About the artist

Nathaniel Miller

Born 1948 in Arlington, Virginia. Lives and works in Collettsville, North Carolina.

Nathaniel Miller creates a celebration of the wonders in the natural world. His paintings capture the intricacies, the magic and beauty of living things — as he puts it, “in hopes of inspiring others to preserve these wonders, not destroy them.”

Nat has exhibited in Washington, D.C.–area galleries, and has long chosen to live in the country — in West Virginia and North Carolina, and now in Collettsville — in an environment that, in his words, “I relate to and that affords me the quiet that I need to work.”

His awareness of what is going on under a leaf, behind that rock or around the next corner has compelled him to create work that integrates the natural world in fascinating and unusual forms. Within a given piece he will peel back layers, offer additional dimensions, and open new windows of intrigue. Twisting realities and fluorescent colors add to the unexpected ways we can view this world.

Nat is a gentle man of few words who prefers to communicate through his work. Through his vision he tells you of a different place, a world of enchantment. And it’s our world… or it should be.

“I have a very strong connection with the natural world and feel most at home when I am surrounded by it. I believe that all living things are connected like a huge complex puzzle. My work involves making use of these pieces. I am aware of the life that is swirling around our heads and under our feet.”

— Quoted in The Washington Post

Contactnathanielmillerart@gmail.com

Self Portrait, 1996: the artist in mirrored sunglasses reflecting a forest, creatures pouring from an open skull, a lizard at his collar. — Self Portrait, 1996

Home

Art has always been integrated into Nat’s living spaces. Below are some examples of those house-sized works of art over the years.

A small house painted purple and blue, with murals of fruit and vines along its foundation. — Westmoreland, VA II

A pale grey house with a large violet and orange sunburst painted across its side wall. — Westmoreland, VA III

A turquoise porch with carved brackets in fluorescent pink and orange framing the front door. — Weston, WV

A turquoise house with bright blue porch columns and carved brackets along the eaves.

A cabin with a green-trimmed porch; a blue sculpted form and a painted sign stand among tall ornamental grasses in front. — Lenoir, NC

A blue sculpted form, like an open leaf, rising from tall grasses in front of the porch.

A purple side door with a teal frame and an octagonal window, blue swirls painted at its base, at the top of wooden steps. — Collettsville, NC

Two carved and painted geckos face each other on a green leaf cutout, flanked by a pink and an orange leaping animal, on a wood-paneled wall between two windows.

A moth with eye-spotted wings painted on blue siding over the shadows of large frogs.

A yellow side door painted with a flowing blue river, birds, and a spider in its web.

Enter the gallery Sculpture Shows