Adrienne Miller (1982-2022)
“A Miller painting gives an unexpected face to Mother Nature with both realism and fantasy. Life goes on, but I am truly overcome with grief. She helped me for a decade in the gallery two to three days a week. Each year she would have a month to two months of hospitalization and she was always cheerful upon her return. She was a rock of determination.”
Adrienne Miller graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School, where she credited art teacher Gail Felix as her first great mentor. Her creativity was further encouraged by Phebe Schwarz and Edie Johnson at the School of Visual Arts in St. Thomas. She often won awards in the local annual Caribbean Color Competitions.
A passionate artist, she was excited to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. However, her art studies were interrupted by health issues, which forced her to return to St. Thomas. Despite many hospital stays she pursued artistic endeavors with resolve. First, she hand-painted glassware and clothing, and excelled in painting tiles for Frances Wilgen at her Tillette business. Then, Mango Tango Art Gallery discovered her. For over a decade she was the gallery assistant. At each art show, art-lovers looked forward to her savory dessert bites. She enjoyed her first group art show in 2012 and in subsequent years, teamed up with gallery artists Kat Stevens and Brenda Sylvia in the highly successful Art Diva Exhibitions. In December 2021 her creative determination and talent earned her a solo show at Mango Tango.
The School of Visual Arts of St. Thomas nurtured Adrienne Miller’s artistic ability. She created her own visual mythology, fusing fine art and wild imagination. She completed many sketching exercises taught by Leonardo Da Vinci to achieve proficiency in drawing, one of which is to copy great masters. Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano is her favorite teacher. Influenced by his finesse in fantasy, she created alluring depictions of mermaids and sea creatures which are detailed and delicate. Each work suggests a dreamy narrative with a playful feeling to it. Adrienne Miller shined as a figurative artist. Of renown for creating her own feminine mythology, her dreamy paintings combine nature with female creatures. Her exhibition “Gals Intertwined with Nature” revealed her wild imagination at work.