Joshua Miles ARSMA

Joshua Miles was born in the Western Cape in South Africa in 1967. 

He studied fine arts at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town where he received the Michaelis Prize for best student in his final year.

Joshua is one of those rare artists who has managed to to make a living solely from his art. He spent many years painting oils on canvas but his passion has always been with reduction block printmaking.

Joshua’s influences in printmaking started at a young age watching his aunt Elsa Miles, artist and art historian, doing woodcuts and later studying under Cecil Scotness at UCT. He is inspired by the play of light on the landscape which leads him to explore his local areas. He is always hunting qualities of light that evoke emotion. This is often the softer light that brings out the inbetween tones and greys most would miss. This love of capturing the play of light is also found in reflections on water or objects. 

Joshua is influenced by the impressionist style of loose mark making using his chisels to create the marks and how those are apparent when close up but the work becomes super realistic from a distance. He also uses the Japanese technique of slective rolling his inks using his rollers like paintbrushes to apply many colours per layer to build the image.

After finishing at UCT Joshua moved to Hermanus where he met his Scottish wife Angela. They have been married more than 20 years and have over the years lived and worked between South Africa and Scotland. They work together in the business of selling Joshua’s art and have a home with studio in both countries.

Joshua is a prolific worker and has exhibited extensively in groups and solo shows. As a result he has work in private homes and collections not only in his two home countries but also internationally.