Please consider me in your search for a Visual Art Instructor I or II.

Making art has been a part of my entire adult life. After studying Commercial Art in high school, I enrolled in a BFA program at the U of A and then opted to complete an Art Education degree. Here’s a gallery of some of my early work and you’ll note that Bombus Terestris (1970), is adapted as the banner on my website. The annotation on the painting reads, “A colorful play on words emphasizing that the “bee” at the centre of our lives is, Being”, which references the spiritual nature of much of my work.

I continued to explore my interest in making art while teaching the subject internationally. Working in six different countries outside Canada, I taught art using the Irish Leaving Certificate (which included an art history component), IGCSE and International Baccalaureate PYP, MYP and Baccalaureate curricula to students as young as grade-four to adult.

While overseas, I taught basic pottery in Libya and Saudi Arabia. It’s been some time, but I’m comfortable with wedging, hand-building, firing and glazing. I’m not skilled on the pottery wheel. Other areas I feel comfortable instructing would be drawing, painting, fibre arts, wire-based sculptures using plaster of Paris infused fabric, turning basic household items into art, dying and embroidering overalls, and a strong interest in all things that glitter. Here’s an acrylic on paper, Nadia and Friend (2004), of two of my students in Libya.

Returning to Canada in 2012, I worked with a web designer to launch my WordPress website highlighting my creative abilities in writing, photography, art, music and video production. 

I have a basic knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator, which could be used as a basis for laser engravings, which I created at the Maker’s Lab, while living in Prince George. I would also like to propose a using wood as a media to carve using a laminate trimmer, something I have extensive experience with.

Moving to Prince George, I completed a major outdoor installation, The Spirit of Prince George, 2015 (2014) for Timberspan Wood Products. This project involved working with a variety of power tools and a team of Timberspan employees. I have had an avid interest in working with wood, since junior high school. TEACH ONLY LOVE, (2018) is another example.

The gallery that follows shows some of my most recent interests, including my “On the Ball” series where I take two-dimensional styles of artists, Mondrian for example, and imagine what that work would look projected onto a sphere. Other current projects include a large painting, Sleeping Madonna; revisiting my work, Bombus Terrestris, using color-shift paint; glitterizing an incense burner; and overalls referencing my belief in happiness, which can also be found in my Happy Face Series. Some samples of my work in wood are also included.

I have recently moved to Sherwood Park and have become a member of Gallery@501 and have applied for a solo show and to participate in the member’s show. I do not have current first-aid or CPR designations but have held them in the past and am confident I could recertify.

In conclusion, I believe I could be an effective Art Instructor for Strathcona County and suggest we meet to discuss that possibility.

Yours truly,

James Miller