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Rabbittown’s R.A. Miller at Around Back at Rocky’s Place
Written By: - NONE - | Issue: 2020/04 - April
When you think about the masters of art, one usually thinks about Rembrandt, Picasso, and Van Gogh, but at the gallery, we think of Mose Tolliver, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Howard Finster, and R. A. Miller, the masters of Folk Art!
We have the work of all four of these masters in the gallery, but the one we hold near and dear is R.A. Miller, as he was a Georgia boy and lived and created his art just down the road from the gallery in Rabbittown, Georgia.
R.A. Miller was born in 1912 and made his home and his studio on the very same piece of property where he lived all of his 94 years. How did he spend his time all those years on this tiny piece of land?
Over the years, he did a little of everything, mostly working in the cotton mill, but he also spent periods of time working on a farm, working at a gas station, selling firewood, and delivering baby chicks, but the job, or calling, that inspired his art the most was that of preaching the gospel in a Baptist church. Religious pieces make up a good body of his work. A characteristic message on many of his pieces is “Lord Love You.” Whether cut-outs, drawings, or whirligigs, angels and devils play a huge role in his repertoire.
Once glaucoma ended his preaching career, he used his art pieces to continue spreading the word of God.
“Blow Oskar,” painted in patriotic red, white, and blue, did not depict Uncle Sam, but rather his cousin. Oskar would ride by R.A.’s house at all hours and lay down on the car horn. R.A. decided to fix him up but good and immortalize his cousin by creating “Blow Oskar” and placing him on the hilltop so that all the passers-by could see it.
To see many representative selections of R.A. Miller’s work, in all the forms, stop by the gallery. In addition to his art, we worked with R.A. several years before his death in crafting our first “Folk Time” watch, showcasing none other than his “Blow Oskar.” A limited number of these timepieces were produced, and a few are still available.
