Sitting on the shores of Kahului Bay is Seaside Art Gallery, a haven for art aficionados, friends, visitors, and private collectors alike. Here, Rosemary Miller, artist and owner of the oceanfront gallery and studio, can often be found talking story with those who stop in while strolling down Ali’i Drive. Representing a broad scope of styles and media that uplift the spirit, her work celebrates culture and nature from Hawai’i to Asia, but her artistic journey began on the East Coast.
Born in Washington, D.C., Rosemary received a degree from the University of Maryland before moving to Italy. While in the homeland of the Renaissance artists, a desire to paint moved her to study art history. Inspired by Italy, Rosemary returned home to study art and art history at the American University and the George Washington University and painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She then brought her artistic fervor to the National Gallery of Art, where she worked as a docent before marrying Frank Miller and moving to Florida, where she raised three daughters.
“We first visited the Big Island for a course at the University of the Nations. After that, Frank begged me to move here,” says Rosemary, who has called Hawaiʻi home for the past 30 years. “We bought the cottage next door to the gallery, even though it was in dire need of renovations.”
Hawai’i proved to be the perfect soil for artistic growth. “I started with pastels and oil, then watercolors and collage,” says Rosemary, who founded Seaside Art Gallery in 2004 to share her global experiences and vibrant expressions of love for Hawai’i with the world. A lifelong student, she continued to take classes in encaustics and block prints at Donkey Mill Art Center.
“I found myself immersed in creating kapa cloth paintings based on classic Hawaiian designs,” Rosemary says. “One day, some native Hawaiians came to the gallery and said my kapa prints had meaning to them, bringing out long-held cultural values and characteristics of the Hawaiian people!” This encounter led to the publication of Rosemary’s book “Hawaiian Kapa Cloth Pictures,” which she dedicated to the people of Hawai’i “who long to bring back their culture and others who love art and learning about Hawaiian culture.”
In 2010, Rosemary led artists from Tonga, Fiji, Hawai’i, Samoa, and New Zealand in collaborating on “Polynesian Tapa Cloth,” which they presented to the University of the Nations in celebration of its 50th Anniversary. In addition to kapa, Rosemary now implements 12 mediums in her work, including hand-dyed silk wearables featuring over 50 colors that she makes by mixing her own procreant dyes.
With the Pacific as her backyard and lush foliage just steps away, it’s no wonder that mesmerizing seascapes and floral images often surface in her Tropical Collection. What’s more, Rosemary goes deeper into the island's heart, with the power of Hawaiʻi’s volcanoes giving glass pieces a fiery glow and erupting from collages of Kīlauea so powerful that you can almost feel the lava’s heat.
“I can’t just go make them, though. I have to be inspired. Some days, I wake up and can’t wait to break glass!” Rosemary exclaims, referring to her Fused Glass collection, which requires an exacting method that produces a poetic result. On other days, she is inspired to focus on her Green Designs, crafted of natural fibers and materials, including handmade paper, woven raffia, bamboo, grass cloth, pressed flowers, and feathers. “All the elements are from the ʻaina,” says Rosemary, pointing to “Memories of Polynesia,” a piece born of her travels in the South Pacific, where she collected conch shells and Tahitian pearls.
Rosemary has ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and is most thankful for opportunities to create art with her family. “My daughter, granddaughter, and I collaborated on a two-panel acrylic painting, each of us painting a rose.”
Rosemary’s pieces can be found in Germany, India, South America, and around the globe. On Hawai’i Island, her artwork has been displayed in private home collections and exhibitions at Hualalai Four Seasons, the Mauna Lani Resort, and the Fairmont Orchid. While Rosemary may be an internationally recognized artist, around town, local runners and regular walkers are grateful for the water fountain outside her cottage. “I want my gallery to reflect Hawaiian hospitality,” she explains.
No matter the art medium used, Rosemary’s love for Hawaiʻi and its people is evident. “The flowers, the land, the waves, the culture, it’s all part of me. Even if it's not always conscious until it comes out in my art! I feel the Hawaiians' closeness to nature and reverence for the Earth. I want my work to express my own gratitude for all the wonder of God’s creation.”
Learn more at SeasideArtGallery.com.
One day, some native Hawaiians came to the gallery and said my kapa prints had meaning to them.
The flowers, the land, the waves, the culture, it’s all part of me. Even if it's not always conscious until it comes out in my art!