Inspired by the silver jewellery of another student, Frederick A. Miller, John Paul set out to learn the techniques demanded by working with silver. Soon, he was creating rings and brooches using classical music and the natural world as his inspiration. Teachers who greatly influenced his work were Kay Dorn Cass, Paul Travis, Walter Sinz, Carl Gaertner and Viktor Schreckengost.
On his graduation in 1940, John Paul taught at the Cleveland School of Art for a year. His tour of duty with the Army at Fort Knox was given to illustrating manuals on tank tactics. Shortly after resuming his position at the school in 1946, he discovered a document by an archaeologist at the American Academy in Rome on the ancient technique of granulation. The paper was sufficient to guide Miller in the right direction – gold in the presence of copper lowers the melting point of both metals. By allowing copper to oxidise on the surface of gold granules, Miller discovered the ancient process making possible the fashioning of intricate designs.
His work drew great attention at the Designer Craftsman U.S.A. show of 1953, displays at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1957, New York’s Museum of Contemporary Crafts in 1964, international acclaim at the Brussels World Fair, the Objects USA traveling exhibition of 1970, the Museum Bellerive in Zurich 1971, the Vatican Exhibition of American Crafts and the Great Jewellery of the Ages exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
