Meet Dr. Earlynn Miller: Dancer, teacher, visionary, lover of life.
Earlynn came into my life as my fathers’ partner. She passed in the spring of 2021. Earlynn Miller was an incredibly creative and artistic soul who retired from a 30 year career as full time dance faculty at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Art of Stone Gardening’s opportunity to work with her inspired us and our company to stretch and be creative. The project at her home that we started for her is now a transformative space belonging to JMU. Her home was about a 9 hour drive from North Georgia. Jason went up for 2-3 weeks at a time over several years to work on the project.
Beginning
Earlynn’s two-story, brick ranch-style home sat on the crest of a long sloping hill on a narrow 1.5 acre lot. It overlooked the Shenandoah Valley. She wanted to put in walls, pathways and gardens, none of which were drawn; they were in her head. She had 7 tractor trailers of stone delivered to the bottom of the hill and then asked Jason to arrange them. She gave him an idea of what she wanted and let him go to work.
Before The Earlynn Miller Project, Art of Stone Gardening did standard landscaping and stonework. This was the largest and most artistic project we had ever done. Earlynn was a VERY detail-oriented, super-inspired person. She worked directly with Jason and could often be found telling him to move a boulder this way or that way or around or don’t use it. It was collaborative work requiring a great deal of patience and flexibility.
Jason had never taken on a project like this, with someone directing and correcting him. Nor had he had so much leeway – a huge amount of stone and an open hillside with no structural plans or layout. Every inch of it was custom work, one large boulder at a time. The Earlynn Miller Project helped him develop his creativity. Because Earlynn trusted him, he learned how to work with hands-on creative people, how to see their vision and bring it to life.
The Project
Jason did the stone work while I decided on plant selection with Earlynn and completed the weeding. We worked on this project on and off for 7 years. Once we could no longer travel there – Art of Stone Gardening had gotten too busy – Earlynn found a wonderful landscaper that added more plants and took great care of the garden.
Earlynn did not want any concrete used, so we installed many, many tons of gravel, compacted it and placed all the boulders using large equipment on top of the gravel. Gravel was also behind the walls for drainage. This style of stone wall building is called ‘dry stack’ stone or ‘dry stone walling’. Many of these boulders were over a ton in weight and Jason became very proficient in using an excavator with a thumb to place them.
Details
Earlynn also loved sculpture, so one of the first things she did was add handrails anywhere they were needed. She hired local artist Spencer Yates to create them in iron (she liked the rusted look). The upright supports have stainless cable running through them.
Finishing
Following Earlynn’s death, the house and property were donated to JMU for use by the university and as a living museum. The interior of the house is even more spectacular than the grounds. Enjoy this article and the images at the top that give a sense of the exciting interior decoration.
Thank you, Earlynn, for having inspired us to stretch and use our creative talents. The seeds of Art of Stone Gardening’s success were planted and nurtured in your garden project. Those who knew you took joy in your life and work. We will remember you from that time and in this place.
