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Gerhard C. F. Miller’s long life earned him recognition as the Door Peninsula’s oldest artist.

And the prolific artist’s paintings in egg tempera and watercolor have been collected worldwide and admired by his students, visitors to the Miller Art Museum and oh, so many others he touched during his long life.

Miller died of natural causes shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 2003 in his Sturgeon Bay home. He was 100 years old.
The family has announced that the artist’s Sturgeon Bay gallery will remain open summers through 2006.

The artist’s inspiration
Miller, who grew up in Sturgeon Bay and began painting when he was 13 years old, found inspiration in the Peninsula’s history and beauty. And although he saw tremendous growth and change, he believed the Peninsula, at its core, remains untouched.

“It’s not spoiled. You just have to be sensitive. Some become insensitive,” he said in an interview just prior to his 100th birthday April 12. “All you have to do is start from one end of the Peninsula to the other, and you will find more inspiration than you can possibly handle.”

Miller’s work, called “imaginative realism” by art reviewers, often showcased the Peninsula’s natural areas and maritime history. For example, in a painting called “Big Toe” he described how tugboat owners, in route from Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay, pulled sailing vessels through a canal.

The well-traveled artist sold paintings in watercolor and egg tempera –a mixture of egg yolk and water –depicting areas all over the world. He recalled spending nine months in Jerusalem in the 1960s and painting the light on steps leading to a church manger.

“Pictures I paint have to have a meaning, you should be able to look at it, and it has to tell a story,” he said.

An admired teacher
Miller took time away from his own art to apprentice many students throughout his life, most recently James Sargent of Fish Creek and Sally Mortonson of Manitowoc.

Sargent admired his teacher’s techniques. “This guy had an unbelievable number of techniques to execute what he wanted to execute. Anything from a knife to a piece of Kleenex was used to manipulate the medium,” he said.

Miller looked for these qualities in artists:

• Color sense comparable to perfect pitch in music
• Fertile imagination
• Persistence

A writer, too
Miller, together with his late wife, Ruth, who died in 2001 at age 99, wrote books about art, travel and spirituality.

“The Thrill of Castle Hunting” takes armchair travelers on a tour of castles, visited by the Millers during European vacations over 11 years.

“A Spiritual Guide to the Scientific 21st Century” and “Levels—Mental, Physical, Spiritual” share Miller’s advice on letting God take control of one’s life. Other titles are: “Miller: His Life, Painting, Philosophy and Poetry” and “The Other Side of Door.” He published “Philosophical Truisms” just prior to his death.

Finding his work
Miller’s art and books can be viewed and purchased at his gallery, 4239 N. Bay Shore Rd., Sturgeon Bay, summers through 2006. What is left of his original art is limited, according to family members, who plan to release high quality prints of his work not previously available.

You can also learn more about Miller, purchase his books and view his work at the Miller Art Museum, 107 S. Fourth Ave. adjacent to the Door County Library, Sturgeon Bay. The Millers established this public gallery in 1975.

Donna Marie Pocius is an Egg Harbor, Wisc.- based freelance writer.

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