My Story

Julie Kollanyi Miller

My life began in Hungary in 1954. As a small child I lived in Budapest until the Russian Communist take-over in 1956. Although leaving Hungary was difficult it was a good decision for our family and we fled to England where I was first exposed to the world of equines. Camping out in the countryside led me to a little donkey staked out in the grass. My father lifted me up onto his back and I experienced for the first time what we horse people can never quite convey with words.....a feeling of flying, exhilaration, freedom and power. That feeling never left me and only grew bigger. My reason for doing art comes from a need to express this and share the joy and passion I have had all my life from a connection with horses. We eventually left England for California where I followed my dreams of becoming a cowgirl. After twenty one years of living in the San Francisco Bay Area I made my exodus to a very rural and isolated area in the most north east corner of the state where population was next to nothing and life was harsh, dictated by the elements and nature. Ranching and farming was the main industry and I began a career raising and training horses using my past experiences working with dressage and jumping horse trainers. Putting western tack on a horse didn't change the way I rode and communicated with my horses, it only made me want to pursue the traditional western methods even more and enhance them with the classical techniques. My art became my way of speaking visually about how becoming a part of the horse is essential to developing the trust and harmony that both horse and horseman seeks. I began with very real and traditional images of the cowboy way of life but gradually became more expressionist in my style using color and abstract design to bring emotion and movement into the images. I hope I have gotten to a place where my love for horses and their spirit can be felt and appreciated by others.