UNCOMMONWORK: telling a story through art

Let me introduce myself. I am Shane Miller and am selling my art under the name UNCOMMONWORK. From my studio/barn loft in Port Townsend, WA, I create jewelry, narrative boxes, boats and reproduction prints. I am motivated by a love of storytelling, an appreciation of biology and the natural world, vintage photographs, an aptitude for tools and by the beauty of a dark patina on metal.

I am drawn to texture and pattern ... whether that be found in the collective round holes of a wasp nest ... the steel grid on a manhole cover ... the white dots against black on a guinea feather ... or the designs found inside a security envelope. Through the process of photo etching I am able to translate these patterns, and many others, on to sterling silver, brass, copper and nickel.

I am a storyteller at heart ... being raised in the south that tendency is almost a prerequisite. Most of my art has a narrative running through it. My goal is to tell a subtle story...not too overly obvious ... leaving room for individual interpretation.

It was a love of sea kayaking that brought me to the Pacific Northwest and a love of art that eventually brought me to my home in Port Townsend, WA ... where I have put down the deep tap root and planted bulbs (a sign in my family of staying put). Landing in Port Townsend has been such a blessing. It's the first time I have no need to look for a greener pasture somewhere else. I live on an acre just 7 minutes from town with a 1952 Farmall Cub tractor named, Bliss, and a 1952 Dodge pickup named Baladeuce.