Sandra Miller surrounds herself in the playful abandon of whimsy and color in her Portland Oregon home, where today she creates one of a kind jewelry for her customers, as well as logos and graphic designs for her ONLINE STORE , Her commissioned canine portraits called heARTdogs are lovingly displayed in homes worldwide !

Sandra’s history in art began early… from the time she was born, in a small town Minnesota antique schoolhouse. Her parents are the celebrated pottery makers Joe and Eunice Messer of CERAMICS BY MESSER from Bowman North Dakota. During her years growing up, along with her brother Dave, Sandra was introduced to many art mediums and interesting hobbies ,with her family’s endless support encouraging her passions every step of the way.

Each of her self-taught interests and art forms she immerses herself in completely, moving from one to the other and back again, finding skills from each, to enhance the latest project. Everything from dog grooming, exhibiting and breeding, to antique reproduction miniature doll making, raising exotic exhibition betta and fancy guppy fish to glass fusing, watercolor and silk painting, batik, block printing, sculpting and jewelry design….the journey of artistic adventure continues!

Today, Sandra feels blessed to call her home, the beautiful city of Portland Oregon, just a short drive away from the mountains, the sea, and all the inspiration the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Her passion for dogs, gardening, the ocean, and travel spark her creative muses at every turn. She is a legally blind artist and photographer, seeing only out of a straw sized tunnel in her right eye. Along with her husband Steven, Sandra bred and exhibited Chow dogs for many years, and today share their home and gardens with their own heARTdogs, two Finnish Lapphund dogs named Onni and Ihana.

As her vision has faded over the years, the artist had to make a lot of adjustments to the way she approached her art, which traditionally was on a canvas and easel. These days Sandra finds the world of Photoshop and a graphics tablet to be far more freeing and easier on her eyes. She first captures her subjects in a photo, then hours of painting, digital layering and final touches are added, to showcase her subjects in her signature style of rich saturated hues ……depicted in realistic to whimsical scenes. What she lacks in one kind of “vision”, she makes up for with her own colorful interpretation of the amazing world around her.