Joan Kelly ~ Artist
Joan Kelly
My mission is to connect with kindred spirits through art to collectively celebrate the beauty and defend the worth of animals and the natural world.
About Me
Two of my greatest passions are animals and art, and happiness for me is a life filled with both. I am a self-taught artist who has been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. I moved away from art completely for a brief time during law school and my beginning years as a practicing attorney. Right around 2000, I began drawing again, and then in 2011, I started creating watercolors. I have been doing mostly watercolors, with both traditional paints and watercolor pencils, since then. In July of 2020, I moved to Santa Fe , New Mexico where I plan to live and create art for the rest of my days.
I realized melding my love of both animals and art provided the greatest life fulfillment, and I decided to have my art "pay it forward" for the animals who inspire it. In January, 2014, my first one-person show opened at the Lea County Museum in Lovington, New Mexico, and ran through March. All of the proceeds from the sales of my paintings were donated to the Lea County Humane Society. That year I also created a 2015 calendar of equine art, and all of the proceeds from the sales of the calendars were donated to a state-wide Equine Protection Fund to help horses, donkeys and mules in New Mexico. Since I cannot personally rescue all of the animals in need, I hope my art saves some additional lives that I am unable to save all on my own.
I am inspired daily by either my companion animals, wild animals or the incredible light and beauty that surround me in Santa Fe. I love studying the glow of light and the play of shadow on and around animals as they go about their daily business oblivious, or sometimes not so oblivious, to my study of them. The peacefulness and joy that I experience in this daily observation of animals has resulted in my particular artistic style. My interest and focus in my art is all about the animal subjects and not so much about their immediate surroundings. Backgrounds in my paintings are therefore mostly nonexistent. I also strive to capture through my art much more than the simple animal form. My goal is to convey a glimpse into each animal's unique story and personality. Living with and among animals adds a richness and completeness to my life beyond measure, and I try to communicate and celebrate this experience through my art.
Featured painting for sale
($50.00 shipping)
Title: Follow
Watercolor on acid-free heavyweight watercolor paper; double-matted and framed under museum glass.
Please contact me for framed dimensions of this painting and availability and prices of other paintings for sale.