"It was a natural medium for me, I'd always been collecting rocks and tools, bits of wire and metal things...from about age 7, my bedroom was a lot like my current workshop. Just like today it was messy and full of little projects, constructive and deconstructive.

"A jeweller named Andrew Robertson offered me a job buffing in his silver shop "Beaut Sausages" on Cottesloe Beach. On day one I thought 'I can do this!'. "It was the seventies and silver jewellery was hot. People bought everything I made, often before It was finished."

John moved on to work at "The Silver Nuggett" in Subiaco, with jewellers Monty Holst, Norman Jeppe and Penny Ward. In 1977, John moved to Darwin to open his first retail premises "Fascination Jewellery", and found himself teaching jewellery at the Darwin Community College. Some of his students went on to become successful jewellers. John also made the silver tiara for Darwin's inaugural Miss Bougainvillea Quest.

Our intrepid metalsmith then moved to Broome (1979) after his first gem-buying mission to Sri Lanka and India. John Miller was the first jeweller to offer his services to the now billion dollar Broome pearling industry. John's shop "Dampier's Chest" offered Broome's first ever selection of unique hand made jewellery, featuring Broome pearls and Australian gemstones.

After another trip to the Himalayas, John returned to Broome to be jeweller in residence at "The Pearl Emporium", then the head office and showroom of the Arrow Pearling Company. During this time he had several successful exhibitions in Broome and at the Greenhill Galleries in Perth. (1984).

John retuned to Perth in 1986, "to be nearer to mum" and after another year making wonderful pieces in Fremantle, opted for a small career change. After an exhaustive selection process, he was granted a place in the prestigious and demanding Theatre course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Graduating in 1989, John lived in Sydney and Melbourne, before returning to Perth in 1990...(that mum thing again).

Back in Perth, John found himself in big demand as an actor and voice talent, and worked extensively in film, theatre, TV and radio. During this time he also set up "John Miller Design" supplying his jewellery to galleries and retail outlets around Australia and in London, Zurich, Tokyo and Portland Oregon.

In 1996, John Miller moved to Yallingup, in the Margaret River Region of south western Australia, where he built a house, and recorded an album of 14 original songs, singing and playing guitar and mandolin. "Gods and Angels" was released in 2000 to considerable critical acclaim.

The new studio "Jewel of the Capes" opened in July 2001 and John now works there with his son Leaf Busch, also a budding jeweller and designer of no small talent.

John has always  tried to work 'outside the square' of commercial and contemporary jewellery design: "After 30 years of days spent making and nights spent designing, there are now almost too many avenues of my work to explore...I love silver and I love gold, and there's never enough time to give both the attention they deserve. My toolmaking and patternmaking is quite sophisticated now, and I always amaze myself with where that's all going, but the hand engraving and forging techniques demand attention too, as does setting and working with diamonds and coloured stones."

"Meanwhile there's a small army of people wanting jobs done, when I'd rather be pursuing my own work. For inspiration I always look to ancient and tribal or 'primitive' metalwork. The Egyptians, Mayans, Incas and Celts, for instance, had a very sophisticated sense of aesthetic, and traditional techniques that still defy people working today. Pieces from Roman times and the middle ages show an understanding of class and style rarely found today - and it's that 'beyond fashion' style that I constantly pursue."

"The commercial jewellery industry has become quite compromised by the processes and ethics of mass production. I feel that making one-off pieces gives them real artistic value...and this is what makes it exciting for me...it's about the artistic journey and not going back over the same ground all the time. I try to make things that will last forever,or at least a very long time ! There's not a lot I can do about people just wearing things out but the intentions there. I want people to be wondering or researching who made these things in one or two thousand years time..."

John now works actively with the Margaret River Artisans Group, formed to promote the many artists and craftspeople working in the region. He is currently garnering support for an 800 seat theatre/concert hall, so badly needed by the community of the Naturaliste region.