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Oil painter, Charlie Miller was born February 21, 1936 in Vista, Manitoba. Miller grew up on the family farm, and was one of Jack and Isabel Miller’s ten children. Miller was the recipient of a Millwright, Welder, Heavy Duty Mechanic and a 3rd year Machinist ticket. Miller owned his own business, called Miller’s Industrial Maintenance Ltd, and throughout his career he completed maintenance at nickel mines, coalmines, and pulp and papermills. Charlie and his wife, Ethel moved from Calgary to Hinton, Alberta in 1965. Miller took up art after he retired in 1990. Prior to retirement, Miller and his wife spent their vacation each year travelling on horseback in the mountains of Jasper National Park and Willmore Wilderness Park. Both of the Miller’s were interested in photography, and it would be the photographs that they took on their trips that would serve as the inspiration for many of Miller’s oil paintings. Miller’s collection can be classified as folk art, primarily because he had a very unique and individualistic way of bending perspective. To learn the skills required to master oil paints, Miller enrolled in painting classes instructed by local artists, Alicia Nielsen and Linda Wadley. Miller’s talent was quickly recognized, and in 1991 he enrolled in the Alberta Community Art Clubs Association, Northern Juried Art Show and won the Beginner’s Award for his painting titled Campin’ At Brewster Wall. In 1993 and 1996, Miller received the Lillian Nunn Scholarship. One of the paintings that earned him this award, The Frank Slide, resides in the Alberta Foundation for the Arts permanent collection. In 1994, The Frank Slide also won Miller the Martha Houston Scholarship for painting. Miller was also an active member of the Hinton Art Club. He passed away April 18, 2007, in Hinton, Alberta.
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