Born the son of an artist and a jazz musician in Kalamazoo Michigan, Miles Standish was encouraged in every artistic endeavor he attempted. One of his earliest memories is of drawing and painting on big rolls of butcher paper on the kitchen floor. He says he always used both sides of the paper and to this day, can still picture the design pattern of the linoleum.
In high school he took on a heavy load of art classes, but beyond that claims to be essentially self taught. …
Born the son of an artist and a jazz musician in Kalamazoo Michigan, Miles Standish was encouraged in every artistic endeavor he attempted. One of his earliest memories is of drawing and painting on big rolls of butcher paper on the kitchen floor. He says he always used both sides of the paper and to this day, can still picture the design pattern of the linoleum.
In high school he took on a heavy load of art classes, but beyond that claims to be essentially self taught. Traveling west, he discovered the town of Jerome, Arizona, and it was there that he was first introduced to silver smithing. " I sometimes feel as though silver chose me; I did not choose it!"
He draws his inspirations from observing the natural world; the shapes of clouds, the curve of a leaf, the spread of a bird's wing, the texture and pattern on a beach shell. Miles Standish likens his efforts to those of any artist, whether it be the cave painters of pre-historic times or the first jewelrer who bored a hole in a rock and strung it on a piece of sinew to wear around his neck. His formal influences he attributes to a wide variety of movements, from the Egyptians, Byzantine and Etruscan artists to jewelry of the Arts and Crafts movements and Charles Lloloma.
He works in silver, gold and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones. The father of two grown daughters, Miles Standish lives in New Mexico with his wife Claudia.
