About the Artist

In a brief rendition describing her life, Marnie Jo Miller chuckles and sighs, "I guess falling UP the stairs is much better than falling down. At least I'm not going backwards." She may appear the cliché "late blooming" artist; but in all actuality, there's nothing cliché or late about this Southern Belle. She was born different, quirky and passionate about everything. Her journey has been a long series of creative stepping stones, dark tunnels and turbulent seas on the scenic route toward a certain raw, unfiltered self-awareness. Since the very beginning, art in its many shapes and forms, has been the physical manifestation of her rebel nature and failure to conform.

Being the middle child, Marnie grew up the incessant giver and learned early the art of negotiation and compromise. The family broke apart early and life was never simple or easy for her working single mother. Marnie and her older brother, Jeff, spent their early years galavanting like characters in a Huck Finn adventure story. The deep East Texas wilderness offered a hypnotic canopy of enormous oak trees and whistling pines perfect for daydreams and fantastical ideas. The two were great adventure seekers traveling miles from home on a daily basis to their favorite fishing hole or swimming in the spring fed creek. Independent and country road smart, they often came up with impressive inventions to carry out their daily shenanigans. A methodical plan led to the collection of over 100 recycled plastic milk containers, a bucket of last years by string and a roll of duct tape. Those key ingredients then became a make shift floating pond raft. Though difficult to mount, impossible to balance and frustrating to maintain, the raft provided hilarious fun, great summer games and a world of knowledge through experimentation and "sketchy" inventions.

Although her art direction had many influences and special motivations, one early memory stands out as the "IT factor"... The big BIG BANG! At age 5, she and Jeff attempted to rescue a stray cat roaming behind the barn. With a big soft heart and natural connection to animals, the two saw no danger in trying to help a hungry kitty, alone and afraid. With thoughtful plans of a warm blanket and a bowl of milk, they were eager to swaddle and love it. The advance provoked the wild animal to defend itself focusing all of its violent attack on Jeff. The handsome young boy's skin was severely pierced and torn by the sharp teeth and claws of the frightened feline. Through the overwhelming panic and sheer terror, the two children managed to fight it off and free themselves. As they roared through the back door, the boy's wounded face, bloody clothes and gut-wrenching screams immediately became a mother's heart-stopping nightmare. Having spent some time in nursing school, without a moment's hesitation, she quickly began applying pressure and addressing the wounds. In a high flying, front seat, fast and furious trip to the emergency room, the boy was safe in caring hands.

During his long and emotional rehabilitation, the little artist and her brother were offered the rare and fortunate opportunity to play "outside the box". Because her brother was under strict orders for quiet bed rest, the days of splashing in the creek, riding bareback and climbing trees were put on hold. The need for a clean, clinical environment at home left them without animals, insects, reptiles or outdoor calamities. The quest for calm, quiet entertainment seemed almost impossible for these two rambunctious adventure seekers. A piece of paper and a pencil became a tiny spark in the artist's evolutionary progress and the raging creative fire that has engulfed her skill set like the volcanic glow of the East Texas early morning sunrise.

ART became the way... the only way to survive it all. It was both a way to share and control, while escaping the world and all its chaos. Being poor and a few unanswered prayers can be advantageous. Without television, video games or cell phones, there was little distraction from the art of making things. Their day-to-day challenges ranged from molding salt dough or clay and building model airplanes to pencil drawings and stick castles. Jeff, an unbelievable young pencil artist, perfected his talent drawing fish and wildlife with an amazing gift for realistic detail and lifelike movement. From the edge of his bed, with new energy, art technique and creative realization, he carefully instructed his baby sister on what he had figured out. With a big brother thump on the head and a teasing push to try again, competition and sibling rivalry was the perfect encouragement for a sassy little "I can do it myself" country girl. The never ending path of experiments, trials and inventive ideas kept them laughing, loving and learning on the road to recovery and creative genius.

Marnie's brother Jeff made a miraculous recovery, growing to an insanely handsome 6'5" All American College Athlete with no visible signs of the attack and perfect vision. Although his inventive nature and creative spirit is obvious in everything he touches, art was not his chosen career path. Little sister, on the other hand, became a fireball of courage, intuition and artistic ambition. Looking back over her humble beginning and tumultuous youth, it's hard to call anything a hardship or mishap. Life itself is a rhythmic pattern or ripple of things seen and unseen. The happenings today that mold tomorrow are the ingredients for a person's existence. The passion and love we apply to those happenings are what make our existence a LIFE.

After high school, Marnie took a leap of faith and served this country as an honored Desert Storm veteran in our United States Air Force. After basic training, she spent two years in Okinawa, Japan, Tokyo, Guam, Korea and the Philippines before returning home to serve an additional two years at Bergstrom AFB, Austin, Texas. She planned to be a teacher and studied history at the Northeast Texas Community College, the Community College of the Air Force, the University of Maryland in Japan and the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Hook 'Em Horns!

Why didn't she start earlier? "I never really felt like I'd make a living with art but I never, not for one second, stopped thinking about creating things. I had so many ideas... ideas out my ears. But, art as a career was like 'underwater basketweaving'. Where I'm from, people don't speak much about dreams or fairy tales. It's a real meat and potatoes kind of place where they use abrasive words like 'reality' and 'responsibility'. After years of depression, failures, and half-hearted attempts at being 'normal', I forgot to dodge responsibility and escape the monotony of every day blahhhhhh. This is MY life, right? If I'm going to screw it up, I'm going to do it with STYLE; my own style. There is just no place in the heart of an artist for crazy talk about things like reality and responsibility. It's just nonsense." With that in mind, she began chasing dreams, dancing in the rain and making the story of her life a story worth telling.

Using non-conventional methods and tools to bring her art to life, Marnie bares her untamed soul. Having had no professional art training, she believes she has total creative freedom not limited by textbook definitions or compromising guidelines. When the chest pumping drive to create something is fighting to spread its wings, the power is too strong to bridle with any type of formal right or wrong. There is a real and profound honesty in her work that seems to call out your name and council your every question, reason and qualm. She has this thing; this way of making you feel magnetically connected and fondly familiar from the first introduction.

Mesmerized by color, texture, pattern and depth, Marnie is consumed and inspired by the chaotic mountains and valleys of everyday life. She grits her teeth and furls her brow grasping onto the discipline it takes to LIVE HER LIFE and not just be alive. While immersed in creative work, she finds peace in her heart while the rest of the world simply fades away into soft white noise. She often thinks of her creations through the eyes of others and confesses, "the art that comes out of me, my passion, my desire, my message is completely individual and self-indulgent. By that same token, when someone takes it in, what they feel, their passion, their desire, and the message they receive is entirely their own to savor. That's the really magical thing about art, no matter who created it, no one person ever owns the intimacy of art. The soul of a piece belongs to any person who stops to consider it, take it in and feel its connection."

Relatively new to the marketing and promotion side of her work, Marnie uses social media platforms, invitations and exhibitions, online sales, and print reproduction sales as well as gallery representation and referral to advance her art career. Although art is a business and selling art is a main objective, it isn't the ultimate goal. Marnie Miller believes that loving people and sharing adventures is the foundation for creating a life story worth telling. Art tells that story so beautifully, don't you think? Creating art for more than 40 years, Marnie Miller is still the insanely inventive, spirited, opinionated little back-yard girl absolutely determined NOT to grow up, NOT to conform and NOT to give up. As Bob Ross has referenced a million times, a "happy little accident" can be a wonderful thing. That's precisely how this wonderfully creative soul makes her way through the journey of life, "One happy little accident after another".