ABOUT MILES M. MASON

“My paintings are an expression of the visual and emotional impact the tropics have made upon my life. They are meant to make you feel good, to capture your attention, and to draw you into the tropical world as seen through my eyes.”

Miles credits his “tropical attitude” as the source of inspiration for his refreshingly original paintings. In a recent interview, Miles put it this way: "As a young boy, I was fascinated by the novels of Robert Louis Stevenson, Richard Henry Dana, Nordhoff and Hall, Eugene Burdick, and many others who detailed the lives of those who lived in the South Seas. I spent many childhood hours lost in the romance of the tropics, dreaming of worlds replete with coconut palms, balmy trade winds, and blue lagoons teeming with colorful fish. While growing up in the desert southwest and Central and Southern California, these flights of fancy fueled my desire to see the places I had long been picturing in my mind. My adult life, work, and travel have been spent seeking that boyhood dream.”

Miles’ artistic journey began in black and white. Since he is red-green colorblind, he found security in avoiding color in his early works, which were elaborately stippled pen and ink studies of shells collected on his travels. Experimentation with unconventional uses of watercolor led him to capitalize on his unique vision by developing an innovative style of layering and stippling in his paintings, the result being an intensity of color not usually associated with the watercolor medium. This style was then applied to his other works on canvas with oils and acrylics. Miles’ originals are in the hands of collectors throughout the world. His striking works have won numerous prizes at juried shows.

After graduation from the UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Cultural Anthropology, Miles joined the Peace Corps, trained on the island of Molokai, and served two years as a teacher in the Kingdom of Tonga. During his time there, he began sketching, photographing, and journaling his experiences not only among the island cultures of Tonga, but also those of Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, and New Zealand, where he traveled extensively.
           
During a two year teaching assignment in Iraq, Miles became immersed in the arts and crafts of the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East.

Teaching in Trinidad and Tobago for three years moved Miles into the Caribbean. He then spent three years working in Aruba in the Netherlands Antilles. Diving, sketching, and photographing these islands, as well as the islands of Curacao, Bonaire, the Bahamas, and the Caymans provided many sources of inspiration in color choices and subject matter in his pieces.

Miles then moved to Indonesia, to teach in North Sumatra. Travels during his time there included trips to Jakarta, Medan, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, and Singapore. Extensive travels in Australia and Tasmania added further ideas to Miles’ sketchbooks.

Back in Hawaii, Miles spent many years painting, working, and diving in the Hawaiian Islands while living and teaching on the Big Island, which he now calls home along with his studio in the San Francisco Bay area. Extended stays and bike trips throughout the Southwest in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and New Mexico have inspired direction in color choices and subject matter in some of his new works.

When Miles isn't painting, he is singing, playing guitar and ukulele. He enjoys getting together with friends who play old cowboy songs, Hawaiian music, early rock and folk, and the standards. Riding his bike, playing volleyball, swimming, and disc golf keep him active and provide refreshing respites from the hours in the studio at the easel.