Matthew Miller likes to say he was born with a pencil in his hand, and that’s not too far from the truth. From his earliest memories, he was sketching, drawing, and doodling, and he’s taken what isn’t just a passion, but an intrinsic part of who he is and created a career filled with inspiration and creativity. “I've just always been drawing on part of who I am whether I want it to be or not. And thankfully, I love it, so I don't hate my destiny,” he says.
Raised in Michigan, Miller tried two different schools before deciding he already had the tools and skills to advance in his artistic career. “I was gonna learn whatever I wanted to learn anyway; I just had the passion, and I wanted to learn what it meant to be an artist in the world,” he says.
Known for his intricate paintings of watches and menswear, using a combination of ink watercolor and ink wash, Miller is perhaps one of 10 artists anywhere doing this type of work. The result is the perfect blend of fashion and art, and his work highlights the details of each piece, whether it be a watch or a finely made suit. For Miller, every item he studies and paints tells a story.
When asked where his inspiration comes from, Miller says that he loves the story behind the object he’s painting. “I'm a detail person but very much an expressionist. The work is about the process, the brushstrokes, the emotion behind the image. And in a way I'm subverting the expectation of photographic realism with apparent brushstrokes in an illusionistic expression,” he explains.
When a client buys one of Miller’s paintings, he’s looking for that emotional reaction. “A lot of people love their watches, and they have a lot of emotions invested. And when they can see these paintings that you know, like, I'll spend 20 to 30 hours on, people can see that and react emotionally because it reminds them of this thing they love so much,” Millers says.
Miller has built an impressive career. He works with companies to create illustrative materials for watches that are ready to be sold, and, on the fine arts side, private collectors will commission a piece to add to their collection for an artistic take on the watches they covet.
Fort Worth’s fashion and art community is a tight-knit group, and Miller works closely with menswear designer Franklin Moss and shopowner Austin Roberson. He also collaborates with The Watch Preserve, a new brick-and-mortar store located on Magnolia Avenue in Fort Worth. Owner Nick Libby has been working with watches since childhood and went to school in Germany to study the art of watchmaking and repairs. You can even find Miller there on most Saturdays, painting watches.
How do sunflowers tie into all of this? Sunflowerman is a shout-out to a core childhood memory for Miller, and that’s where you’ll find his impressive portfolio, either @sunflowerman on Instagram or on his website sunflowerman.com.