Joan Kelly ~ Artist

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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 2020, I will have been practicing law for 25 years, and I plan to relocate from the  southeast quadrant of the beautiful state of New Mexico. to Santa Fe, where I plan to live and create art for the rest of my days.

I am inspired daily by either my companion animals, wild animals or the livestock that surrounds me in southeast New Mexico.  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.