ANNE RYAN MILLER continued from 27 cleaning and burnishing the glass. She then cuts the intricate designs into the copper foil with an X-Acto knife, and finally builds up texture on the copper design with solder and a soldering iron. It is an exacting process.
These copper designs, sometimes placed on both sides of a unique opalescent piece, make for stunning finished pieces.
It’ s an unusual technique she pioneered, which has since been tried by others.
She’ s been working in stained glass since 1976, but her journey in the medium has not been a direct route. Miller attended the University of Michigan’ s school of natural resources and got a degree in environmental education, followed by an internship in alternative education through Indiana University, and wound up in Bloomington. An artist friend gave her a stained glass project to work on, and Anne took over from there, teaching herself. She was part of a glass cooperative gallery in Bloomington before moving to Brown County.
“ Life just leads you places,” she said. In 1981, it led her to Brown County, and to marriage with architect Steve Miller, grandson of famed
Willows and egrets commissioned for a couple’ s bathroom.
28 Our Brown County March / April 2021 artist Dale Bessire. They live in a house on a hill above Nashville once owned by Bessire, and Anne’ s studio was remodeled from Bessire’ s old cow barn.
“ As an artist, I have found that Brown County is just one of the most beautiful, gentle and spiritual spots in the world,” she says as part of a biography on her website.“ The soft, misty, hazy air, the rolling hills and the sweet, loving people, many of whom I include as friends, have all contributed to … decades of my landscape and glass art.”
Here, she soaks in the most important inspiration for her work.
“ Many people have chosen to give low priority to nature, but we are all of this world and we all live together.
“ My biggest goal is just to be aware and alive and appreciate and be impacted by the beauty of the world we live in,” she said.“ I’ m really not trying to say anything, just‘ isn’ t this beautiful?’”
You can find Miller’ s work at Hoosier Artist Gallery and at < anneryanmillerglassstudio. com >. •