Artist, John Miller

Master Ceramic Artist, John G Miller, is a gifted individual with an eye for realism and exact detail in each ceramic piece he creates. 

Since 1975, he has been honing his skills in the ceramic arts and takes extraordinary care to produce only the the highest quality pieces.
Featuring the painting techniques of dry-brushing, glazing, glaze layering and using a variety of low-fire paints and glazes, he achieves such amazing features that many folks have to touch the piece to realize it is ceramic!

John has been featured in Car and Driver, in an article on enameling old car badges.
He has also has a degree in Ceramic Engineering and uses this in the business of ceramic arts.  

The concept for Fifth Avenue Designs stems from John's desire to bring this excellence into adding beauty and enjoyment of ceramic artware design to everyday life.   Each piece he creates is made with the intention of  lighting up the world of those who choose to acquire it.   

As a member of the Pottery Guild, he shares techniques, ideas, and the love of the ceramic arts with others with the same enthusiasm.
He also lends his technical expertise in the ceramic artware field, to others as consultant and specialist.
 

Hand-Made Ceramic Artware

Fifth Avenue Designs high definition ceramic artware is created at our Water's Edge ceramic studio in the heart of North Carolina pottery country.  
Each Fifth Avenue Designs ceramic piece is formed, detailed by hand, and hand-painted by Master Ceramic Artist, John Miller.

The Ceramic Arts
At Fifth Avenue Designs, we believe that ceramics is an art. 

Imagination, fantasy, creativity, romance, love, dreams, and vision make up each piece we create.

There is also a belief that every talent is a gift and how we utilize our gifts says a lot about ourselves and our company.

There is a feeling of joy with the completion of each ceramic piece. 

When you have seen a Fifth Avenue Designs ceramic creation, you know you have seen something special.

We strive for excellence in all we do and it is our mission to continue to produce on the highest quality ceramic artware.

Artistic Process Statement

John Miller, Fifth Avenue Designs, Ceramic Dry-brush

Most items I make are finished in a dry-brush technique, a few are glazed.

I use regular, plaster, ceramic molds made in the USA.  Mold is strapped together and then cast by hand.  It is cast with liquid clay (slip.)  Once the mold is cast and clay particles have aligned to the proper thickness, the mold is then drained of excess slip.  The cast piece then dries in the mold until the proper amount of water in the cast piece (greenware) is removed and the mold will then release itself.  The casting is then removed and pieces (additional clay parts, i.e.. Heads, arms, wings, etc.) are slipped together if need be.  The piece then finishes drying.

Once dry, the greenware is then cleaned.  Seams and defects are removed.  Detail is then carved by hand back into the greenware.  The piece is then ready to be fired.

Greenware is fired to 1950 deg F (cone 04 minimum) by my standards in our electric kilns.  Average input firing time is 5 hours.  Cooling time 8 to 12 hours.  Depending upon density of the load being fired.  Once fired and cooled, the greenware is now called bisque.  The bisque is now ready to be painted.  The paint and brushes used are made solely for the purpose of dry-brushing and staining of ceramic bisque manufactured by ceramic paint companies.   Craft store products are never used.

To start the dry-brush process, a base coat is applied to the bisque in a darker shade of color.  Once the base coat is dry, the dry-brush is lightly loaded with paint with most of the paint then stippled off.  After the delicate balance of paint is applied to the brush, it is then lightly brushed over the bisque piece perpendicular to the detail of the piece to begin to highlight the detail and add the layers, upon layers, upon layers of powder-like color to achieve the realistic effects our pieces exhibit.  The look should be soft and fine; not a water-color look.  When the piece is finished, a spray sealer is used to seal the piece for easy cleaning.  The sealer used is also made especially for ceramic artware.  It is not ordinary varnish. 

When the piece is complete it looks real.  If you are familiar with dry-brushing, you will notice the quality of the pieces.  If you are not familiar with our dry-brushing of ceramics, you will think you are looking at a piece of cloth ,or metal, or stone, or fur, etc.

The above process is performed in my studio, all by my hand from beginning to end.   Pouring, attention to detail cleaning, firing to correct temperatures, and meticulous painting.

Visit my showroom display at South Hills Emporium-Raleigh, and at our Studio on S. Franklin Drive-Sanford.

Thank you for visiting Fifth Avenue Designs.