Seattle Press on Line - A Fremont Original

A Fremont Original

By Sara Longley

Rodman Miller in his studio with some of his bird baths.

Jul 29, 1999 -- Fremont artist Rodman Miller is probably best known for his neon Rapunzel, the damsel who lets down her hair from the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge. Rapunzel and her companion neon piece in the northeast tower, Rudyard Kipling's Elephant's Child with his trunk being tugged long by the Crocodile, had quite a struggle getting onto the bridge, but now seem to have gained a solid foothold in the hearts of Fremonsters and Seattleites everywhere.

Miller described the lengthy process in his North Queen Anne home/studio. He had to get permission from five separate bodies to install his work on the bridge: the Seattle Arts Commission, the Landmarks Commission, the Seattle Engineering Department, the Fremont Arts Council and the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. The sculptures were created with help from a Neighborhood Matching Grant, and have now been in place for four years.

A self-taught glass artist, Miller came to Seattle ten years ago to escape the politics of academic life as a university professor. He spent two years as a research fellow at the University of Washington while learning his new trade. "As a researcher, I was studying membrane dynamics and it may seem strange, but the problems I am working with now are very similar, involving bubbles, surface tension and surface dynamics and mobility of the membrane under different conditions. When I was using an electron microscope and picking out images for publication, I was using artistic selection. Also, electron microscopy uses a vacuum system and so does neon." Now well established as an artist, he is a board member of the Fremont Arts Council.

Miller has developed a method of attaching glass to metal during the blowing process. The technique has enabled him to create a series of fanciful finials which have been popular on many fronts. Working through an agent, Pat Cole, has brought in commissions from retail art distributors and upscale merchants like Smith & Hawkins and Marshall Fields. Nordstrom, Nieman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue all have used Miller's brilliantly colored finials in display windows and floors. He is presently working on 265 bird baths ordered by Smith & Hawkins. "Most of them (customers) let me do what I want, except Smith & Hawkins. I made a sample, and they said 'great, make us 110 more just like it!' When they sold well, they wanted another 155...It can get boring doing 265 very similar pieces, but it pays bills."

Other current projects include a great many "dress forms," gracefully shaped vessels that mimic the rounded female body. Many wear angel wings or other added-on features. "Glass is a good medium for sensual shapes," Miller says. "A lot of well-known glass blowers show off their technical skill wherever they can. That's not my interest. The only things that are symmetrical in nature are things affected by gravity. In biology and human endeavors, we're living in a very asymmetrical world until machines came in." He also works with neon and does some local marketing of his original lighting designs to Fremont associates. Some of his art can be seen at the Edge of Glass gallery in Fremont and at Oh My Glass on Greenwood Avenue.

Mike Hale of Hale's Ales in Fremont recently commissioned Miller to make a second Rapunzel, which will hang in Hale's Brewpub. Hale's has already been using the image of Rapunzel to represent the brewery's Drawbridge Blonde Ale. Earlier this year Hale approached Miller with his marketing plans and asked permission to use Rapunzel for the beer. Miller agreed with one condition: that Hale contribute to a women's shelter to honor Rapunzel's story of abuse and confinement.

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Gordon Dean	Sep 16, 2002	Waterford, Connecticut	Flaneur
Viewing Rodman Miller's "Rapunzel" was a highlight of my recent trip to the Seattle area, second only to seeing Emil Vonton's massive "Lenin." These two sculptures rivaled nearly anything at SAM except for the Morris Graves and Do-Do Suh exhibits. Public art/sculpture adorning grounds and buildings of several of the King County Library System's branches were also a treat. That library system must be blessed with an enlightened administration.


BILL REAGAN	Jan 06, 2003	CLE ELUM, WA.	RETIRED ARTIST
IAM A BLACKSMITH/HORSESHOE ARTIST.I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN THE ART OF GLASS BLOWING/WORKING WITH GLASS.WOULD THERE BE ANY WAY YOU COULD GIVE ME ADVICE AS HOW TO GET INTO THIS MEDIUM.IAM WILLING ABLE TO TRAVEL TO SEATTLE AREA. THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN PASS ON. BILL REAGAN