Story Behind the Artist - Jules Miller
Details make the difference–a story of independence, curiosity, and a woman who loves to use both sides of her brain creating uniquely different designed art.
This is the story behind the artist, Jules Miller… A designer. A creative manager. A free spirit. A meticulous lover of details. (And one of the newest artists selling within the Made By Her Marketplace!)
It would seem the left and right brain would be at odds while trying to do everything. Somewhere in the middle is a talented artist, able to both create from her heart and plan with her brain, making her work that much more original.
“Details are ever so important, sometimes they aren’t thought of, or that they’re needed, but I know it’s How any successful project of any type - either business or creative, comes together. I believe it’s what makes my art different and uncommon-when I explain the little intricacies, people light up on getting let in on ‘the WIP secrets and my thought process’, that is when I always get, Oh, that’s so Cool!”
Her artistic journey began as a child, picking out the best rocks from the driveway to glue onto a board for the school science fair. “I was the kid eagerly awaiting her ‘Craft of the Month’ package to arrive in the mail so I could make whatever was in that box, and excited about the next one. Even now, I always have eleventy-99 projects going at once, which I go back and forth and back again, as the spirit moves me.”
Jules spent her childhood, an independent soul, riding the train, between her home in Minnesota and visiting relatives in North Dakota. She has fond memories where her ‘nature-bound’ roots were formed as she learned about farming, crops, how to sew and bake, read and do crosswords, garden and entertain, and how to help at harvest time, from her extended family. “I was driving far before I had a license, I even had my own horse!” Very exciting to a suburban kid ;)
Along with her natural artistic nature, she joined the high school newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazine staffs. “Literacy, books and libraries were important in my family, I am most certain it’s why I eventually, became a logical, thorough, poring over the details, creative project manager and agency proofreader. I was also in the Art studio, having ‘shows’, always making, and getting introduced to different mediums.” (Her right and left-brains started growing, being strengthened, each in their own way.)
Jules attended several colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin, gaining Art, Interior Design and Business degrees, with continuing education in Graphic Design and Entrepreneurship.
Jules first worked in the jewelry industry for 15 years. She had quite a colorful experience, meeting with “Smithsonian exhibit professionals, gemologists, jewelry designers, ruby, sapphire and emerald importers, miners, and even bandits!”
Next, another 15 years in graphic design, working on every kind of creative project-annual reports, company capabilities brochures, web sites, etc., where every detail is immensely important to the client and the agency.
Now as an entrepreneur and maker of jewelry and stained glass, because of her background and knowledge with fine jewelry, she enjoys working with semi-precious stones, minerals, and crystals-such as garnets, freshwater pearls, turquoise & onyx, and materials like silver, that are more affordable and natural. She loves incorporating the Feng Shui, energies and chakras of different stones, learning where they come from, along with the meanings and properties, to make each jewelry piece truly special and interesting.
When it comes to her art glass creations, with over 30+ years of experience, she prefers to keep those designs more organic feeling as well. “I don’t use traditional, pre-existing patterns, no ‘templates’ [or] pre-made kits, I just never cared for the traditional, conservative look I always saw, I want to make them have my own brand.”
“Dreaming up the item, and concepting is the best part!, hence the eleventy-99, I come up with a color palette, figure out the shapes, pick out the different types and textures of glass for the overall look and feel. This is all before ever getting to actually cutting the glass, to next go through the processes of different steps and techniques of glass making, there are quite a few, and it can be quite mathematical, to make it actually fit and hold together. It is a traditional process, with many production details; I then add my own rustic, yet modern, sometimes sometimes abstract or whimsical touches. I might draw a pattern, if I need to, but it’s also fun to have the freedom to just cut glass, and see where it takes me, sometimes it’s a surprise.”
“All who wander are not lost” – my personal Insta profile (@the_jules_miller) saying - “it’s been a rambley path to get where I’ve gotten for sure, navigating brambles and thorns along the way, but it’s the right path for me, and now I am even learning to grow roses! I might not be the fastest one to get to the finish line, and that is OK, but when I am done–it will be Right and that is what’s important to me.”
“My business Insta profile (@the_jeweled_window), my saying there, is about being “Perfectly imperfect” – both these 2 mantras are Totally ME ;)”
These days, she’s a “mix-n-match, boho/rustic artist, rural appreciator, nature-loving/nurturing earth mother, devoted pet Mom, detail queen, colorful/tie-dyed, eclectic being…and I am still picking up rocks! If I see a ‘good’ one while out ‘gravel traveling’, taking my country walks down my dirt road, I pick it up, and I will make a project out of it!”
And Embracing the details always.
**Editor’s note: This article was composed as a joint effort between the Made By Her staff and Jules herself. You can find her work listed in the online booth The Jeweled Window.