Len Miller to Show Collection of Fables

Len Miller’s passion for illustration is just beginning to blossom.

Only recently did Miller begin to think about his craft as a more serious endeavor. Before, it was just an after hours hobby.

Now the businessman of three decades has made his passion, his business. During 2010, Miller’s first calendar year as a fulltime artist, his work was featured at a handful of local businesses, which included featured shows at the 2010 Art Walk in downtown Kalispell, MT and at the Soucie & Soucie Christmas extravaganza, both highly attended events.

“The local response has been very positive and I am excited to share my passion with more people, Miller said.”

Miller started drawing and painting at a young age, selling his first piece of work to his second grade teacher. But it was the lessons he learned from his parents about hard work that led him to where he is today, creating art on his terms.

“My parents were hard working with little interest in the visual arts,” he said. “However this taught me that my art wasn’t aimed at pleasing everyone but that I needed to do it for myself.”

To view a piece of Len Miller’s artwork is to step into an introspective space somewhere between reality and fairytale, mystery and realization. It’s the place where Miller finds solace. Largely self-taught, Miller’s collections of fables and women have become his calling card, embodying what he says is an often-avoided subject: The truth.

As a creator, he relishes in the reaction.

“I’ve always enjoyed getting a reaction from my pictures,” Miller said. “Whether a laugh, gasp, smile, or “what were you thinking?”

From owner operator of a successful truss company in a booming housing market to transitioning fulltime artist, Len Miller is a professional through and through. If you were to ask him what he does, he might sing the praises of his daughter, or tell you about the long hard hours needed to run a successful business. But somewhere between his passion and humble ways lies the true story, the one he is telling one picture at a time.

-local flo arts