Lisa Miller Uses Ceramics to Lift People’s Spirits

By: Amy Carpenter
A&E Editor

Green River College’s Lisa Miller is an artist who loves to create art out of life’s everyday beauty.

Miller enjoys playing with many different styles of art, having done ceramics, drawing, oil painting, photography, and watercolor through Green River’s art classes. She loves to create her art about her family and her goal is that her work will be able to lift her viewers’ spirits.

“My favorite pieces and projects are the ones directly inspired by some of my favorite people, sculptures that celebrate my children and siblings, a drawing of my mom, and a watercolor of my husband,” Miller said.

Growing up Miller’s biggest inspiration was her mother. She and her siblings grew up in a house filled with creativity. The art that she watched her mother create has helped to inspire her to create her own.

“My mother was always making something beautiful out of the ordinary,” Miller said. “We grew up with very little in the way of funds; she told me often that not having money was just a chance to be creative.”

She also had a high school art teacher who helped inspire her to create beautiful art. He always found a way to use whatever resources he had in order to make sure that his students had a beneficial experience.

“Mr. Gerdes made sure that we, kids growing up “out in the sticks” got to try almost every medium,” Miller said.

Miller is very glad to have found similar support from her teachers here at Green River College. Taking one of Green River’s art classes is an experience she has enjoyed and would recommend, as it has helped give her soul room to breathe.

Having grown up with inspiring art teachers her whole life Miller now wants to become an art teacher at a Jr high or high school. Her dream is to create a classroom like the one her teachers have created for her, to inspire the next generation of artists.

“The teachers and the techs in every department are themselves amazing artists and share their magical gifts with us,” Miller said.

The support of her family has given her the support she needs here at Green River. She loves to do daily art challenges with her daughter where they draw or paint something different each day.

Many members of her family came to see her work at the Sin Titulo Exhibit in the Holman Library. She also loves to give the gifts of her art often in the form of a coffee mug she made. The creativity she sees in her family inspires her every day.

Despite creating amazing artwork Miller says that she doubts herself every single time she starts a new project.

“Art takes patience and practice and failing and starting again, but the whole process is beautiful and I’m learning more about finding joy in the process, not just the finished piece,” Miller said.

The experiences Miller has had with her family and her art teachers will help her as she goes into her future to become an amazing art teacher in her own right.

Photo Cred: Lisa Miller