Fall 2025

132 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 5 Capturing Life on Canvas The Ar t of Kirk Miller and Sylvia Schaefer B Y B R E T T WI L BUR A rtist Kirk Miller and his future wife, Sylvia Schaefer, met in art class. At the time, Miller, the instructor, was already an established creative talent, who had worked for newspapers as an illustrator and as a portrait painter of subjects as diverse as state governors and California celebrities. He also ran his own art school, where Schaefer, who has a former career as a nurse practitioner, was a student. Miller’s skills are varied enough that his career as an artist has been a long-term success. “I was never a starving artist,” Miller says. “I’m almost apologetic about it, but I’ve had my own gallery and art school and have been sponsored to lecture around the country. My works have been turned into giclées. Nobody is immune to economic situations, but I’ve had steady work most of my life. If I have a pencil, I will draw and if I have a brush, I will paint.” Artists Kirk Miller and Sylvia Schaefer stand by Schaefer’s “Emergence,” a piece from her recent abstract ocean and Carmel River series. The couple each have their own signature styles and their own studios adjacent to their Carmel home. Photo: Kelli Uldall