Fall 2025

C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 5 135 “If I can make the piece look like a client’s daughter or their dog and they are thrilled, it’s so satisfying,” he says. Some of the works are more challenging, but Miller invests in capturing as many details as possible to portray his sub- jects as realistically as possible. “I was doing a demo at a Las Vegas conven- tion, and a lady said she wanted a portrait of her parents who had passed away,” he recalls. “She brought me a tiny old photo of her parents and a locket of her sister’s hair that was the same color as their momma’s…It is very hard to do work posthumously but it is very gratifying… When she saw it, she cried and cried…Her chil- dren had bought back her parents’ old family farm in North Carolina, and she wanted the portrait to hang over the fireplace…People don’t realize the joy that people get from some- thing that was done by hand.” Schafer adds that Miller’s technique is not for- mulaic but personalized to each subject. “Kirk transmits a lot of warmth which sepa- rates his work from others,” she says.“He does a beautiful job with his subjects’ eyes.They sparkle.” At times, Miller’s commissions have been the subject of unknowing family drama. “A lady walked into my former studio in Orange County and asked me to cut her hus- band out of a portrait I had been commissioned to do of him with her horse,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Ma’am, I can’t do that, it will destroy it.’” The woman had found out her husband, a horse breeder, had sold her horse without informing her and was steaming mad. “Luckily, she partially forgave him and agreed to leave him in the painting and was happy to have her horse immortalized since she no longer had it,” Miller shares. A newer endeavor of Miller’s is home por- traits, which are very popular in Carmel and reflect the unique architecture and “soul” of each dwelling. Neighbors have noticed and are reaching out to Miller for their own property to be painted. “We get a lot of business through word of mouth,” Miller says. Schaefer’s style is quite different from Miller’s, and she focuses on painting landscapes and seascapes. “I don’t have Kirk’s extensive art background, but I’ve had a lifelong interest in art, especially painting,” Schaefer says. “Kirk is an Miller’s “Crashing Wave at Dusk.” He says as the sun gets closer to the horizon, it illuminates the thinnest layer of water at the top of the wave. It’s a balancing act to capture the delicacy against the crashing wave.