Renée Marsha Miller
Colorful Abstract Painter
Growing up in the town of Los Gatos, just a short drive over a mountain thick with Redwood trees to the beautiful coast of Santa Cruz, scenes of nature's beauty were all around me. A painfully shy little girl who spent a lot of time alone, I often retreated into the edge of the woods at my backyard where I created worlds with my cherished set of colored pencils. I later spent a summer in Paris at 16 sketching statues at the Louvre with charcoal smudged fingers, a crowd trying to look over my shoulder to see my sketchpad. The world was vast and my possibilities seemed endless.
Then, when I was 18, I was struck with a surprise mental illness that had me hallucinating in a manic episode during my second week in college. The life of adventure and travel I'd imagined slipped through my fingers. After that, all I could manage was to hang on to simple survival. I weathered the despair of my depressions and warded off my manias with an arsenal of medications that were never quite enough, but I survived. I was able to study painting and figure drawing at Santa Clara University and even earned a Master's of Fine Arts degree from Antioch University in 2007.
Now at 45, I live only one town over in Campbell, still going to the same movie theaters and restaurants I did as a child. I still spend a lot of my time alone, much of it painting while listening to music or books on tape. I've found the right combination of medications and a wonderful psychiatrist.
After a depression triggered a five year hiatus from painting, I have picked up my brushes again and feel reborn. A love for vibrant, joyful abstract painting came over me in a truly transformative experience. My new “I Am” series puts the delight and joy I find in painting on canvas. In bursts of color and swirls of gold, I want to bring my collectors the feeling of joy and blossoming self-worth that fills me when I paint.
Art CV:
1. Renée Marsha Miller
Website: www.reneemarshamillerfineart.com
2. Education
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2007 |
MFA, Antioch University, Los Angeles, CA |
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2003 |
BA, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA |
2. Publishing
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2025 |
feature interview in Visual Art Journal |
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3. Exhibition Record
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2021 |
Group Show: Women In Art, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA |
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2020 |
Juried Show: FSVAA 57th Annual Northern California Regional Juried Art Show, Solano Town Center Gallery, Fairfield, CA |
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2020 |
Group Show: Small Works Exhibition, Medford Arts, Medford, NJ |
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2020 |
Group Show: Women Suffragists Art Exhibit, Women Souring Project Gallery, Rocklin, CA |
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2020 |
Group Show: 12x12x12, Cabrillo Gallery, Aptos, CA |
4. Professional Organizations
American Impressionist Society, NE
American Women Artists, CA
California Art Club, CA
Los Gatos Art Association, CA
