Biography
Kelly first discovered her love of Art in Primary school,
"My earliest memory was making tiny plasticine figures when i was in nursery. My teacher was so impressed by them that she displayed them on her desk and called my mother in to view them"
Art has been an integral part of Kelly's life for as long as she can remember.
Kelly graduated from the University of Ulster in 2004 with a Ba Hons in Fine and Applied Art.
Upon graduation she received various Awards including Best Emerging Artist awarded by Diageo and the Ulster bank Award for Visual Studies.
Kelly won a commission in 2005 to create 20 Artworks for 2 Newly opened Debenhams stores in N.Ireland.
Kelly took time out to raise her 3 kids shortly after Graduating.
After a move to the country and the kids getting older she has threw her self back into her practice with a new approach and renewed vitality.
Artist Statement
Kellys work is imbued with her love of nature, travel, music and reading. Her subject matter may vary between the landscape and the figure but what remains the same is her desire to paint with feeling, expression and intuition.
Her paintings are distillations of her emotions and experiences. Surrounded by the scenic beauty of Ireland and influences from America , she combines the shapes, textures, colours and rhythms found in nature into an abstracted narrative. Blending these visual references with her feelings and memories she creates work that give a sense of a place, or time or memory.
Her process involves working on 2 to 3 pieces at a time, each piece feeding of the next.
She works mainly with paint and mixed media, using a variety of tools. Kelly has a deep infinity for mark making and is drawn to the work of Artists such as Joan Mitchell, Barbara Rae, Joan Eardley, Tracy Emin, Per Kirkby, Elizabeth Cummings and David Hockney.