Acrylic, oil, graphite, colored pencil, pastel

  Adrian, Michigan resident Kelly, picked up a paintbrush in 2016 and has been painting every since. Mainly doing artwork in the early mornings before horse chores and work, her time is limited but she finds inspiration in almost everything around her. A long time rider of Dressage, a form of classical training of the horse, her main subject is horses. She is moved by the subtle language of equines and most other animals, and is very fond of nature

   In taking some art history classes in college, she was very intrigued by many of the Renaissance era artists, especially Caravaggio and his way of painting in chiaroscuro. With that said, people are another subject which she wants to excel in, so when the offer be a sit in student at an Adrian College figure drawing class came up, she didn’t hesitate to go. This past summer was a big leap in her exposure and education, taking a figure drawing class taught by artist Nora Venturelli, and a sculpture workshop put on by Jeri Hollister. Always trying to learn and improve, Kelly is also a patron member of the Paard Verzameld Collective, an international equine artist only group based out of the Netherlands. This group is headed by Joyce ter Horst, and has masterclasses via Zoom as well as monthly challenges which push the artists to research and stretch their artist brains. It is through this group that an opportunity came up for an international Equestrian magazine cover competition in 2021. Kelly was the ONLY US represented artist to make the top 15 cut, with a photo of her entry in the magazine. Kelly was also asked to design the cover art for a Michigan based dressage judge and clinician’s book, which was published January 2022. Two very early painting inspirational teaches also include New Mexico artist, Karen Bonnie and now Canadian artist Ardea Thurston-Shine.