“It is the journey, not the destination.” Dolly Miller-Brennan
"Christmas With Ava At Arabian Acres" by Dolly Miller-Brennan, photography, 20x24in, 2017, $600
Photographer Dolly Miller-Brennan embraces that well-used maxim without irony; it aptly fits her experience. Born in southern Illinois of Kentucky parentage and ancestry, she was raised in southern Indiana and western Kentucky.
“My love of photography began at age 3 sitting for what seemed like hours for my photographer/truck driver/horse trainer father”. Being allowed into the dark room with Daddy and seeing the awesome finished results made me want to be behind the camera and not in front of it.”
When Miller-Brennan photographs horses, she captures them in unique moments that stand apart from the abundance of other equine images that one encounters in Kentucky. That’s an accomplishment in The Bluegrass State, where photographs and paintings of thoroughbreds are ubiquitous. Perhaps that individual point-of-view emanates from the fact that some of these horses were photographed outside of Kentucky.
"Westward Ho" by Dolly Miller-Brennan, photography, 24x20in, 2016, $350
“Returning to my roots where I grew up on a truck, with horses and a camera re-created in me the desire to impart the feelings of the animals, the aura of the area and the spirit of the people involved, to those who view my images. This established an emotional and spiritual perspective to see the world around me as one spiritual all engulfing abstraction; becoming so involved when out in the field that I sometimes can not feel my surroundings but lost in the soul of what I am shooting. I want the viewer to be able to step into that picture and become part of it. I want to bring my world and my art to real people, that makes us feel integrated with each other. There should be no separation from art and the real world for the world is a glorious masterpiece of art, created by God for us to love and enjoy.”
That a camera captures a moment in time, arresting motion, goes without saying, but Miller-Brennan’s horses almost occupy the place of close friends, since her images communicate not only the beauty and power of the movement, but also a relationship to the viewer. “Eye in the Sand” is notable for the intimate, unorthodox take on a horse at play, an unguarded joy evident in the creature’s eye that easily engages us.
"Eye In The Sand" by Dolly Miller-Brennan, photography, 24x20in, 2015, $350
Miller-Brennan is a member of the El Paso Art Association, Southwestern Indiana Arts Council, (Evansville Indiana); The Tri State Art Guild, (Angel Mounds Indiana), including Southern Indiana, North Western Kentucky and South Eastern Illinois; the Richmond Area Arts Council, (Richmond, Kentucky); Louisville Visual Arts, (Louisville, Kentucky).
Hometown: Robinson, Southern Illinois
Education: BA’s in Political Science and Studies in Photography, University of Wisconsin
Website: http://www.brennanartography.com/
Gallery Representative: The Village Framery (Palestine, Illinois); The Red Lantern Gallery (Poseyville, Indiana)
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"Door To Knowledge" by Dolly Miller-Brennan, photography, 20x24in, 2017, $350
"Run With The Wind Kentucky" by Dolly Miller-Brennan, photography, 20x24in, 2015, $350
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.
