About Me
The Artist
Born in 1990, Kelsey was raised in Chaska, MN. She graduated from Chaska High School in 2008 before attending college at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. After four years, including a semester abroad in Harlaxton, England, she graduated in 2012 with a dual major in creative writing and painting. Since then, she has been a competitive swimming coach, artist, author, and currently lives her life out of a suitcase as a flight attendant while she continues to build her creative career. In recent years, Kelsey has been commissioned by numerous private clients to create personalized artwork. In the fall of 2014, Kelsey was named the Top Emerging Artist at the Lakeville Art Festival for her work with graphite and colored pencil.
Technique and Materials
Though I graduated with an emphasis in acrylic and oil painting, drawing is my preference. I love the technical challenge of working in ballpoint pen, coaxing tonal layers out of an unforgiving but rich tool. Graphite and charcoal are my monochrome favorites for maximum depth and smoothness. Colored pencil affords endless texture and brilliance, and it’s flexible between surfaces. Recently, I’ve
stretched all three into mixed media projects, exploring the potential of watercolor and acrylic washes, ink, and a combination of the pen and pencils. There are infinite possibilities.
I never use any sort of projector or tracing device, preferring to construct everything with only the most basic of materials. Each piece of hair or blade of grass is given the same thought and care as the shape of a nose or the sparkle in an eye.
Inspiration
Life is our stories and art is a particular way of seeing those stories. You must forget your prejudices and what you believe something looks like in order to see it as it is. The general shape of a hand is well-known, but what does it look like from the side? What muscles are flexed when grasping an object? A hand is not always five visible fingers. And yet it is still a hand, even if I only see the fist and thumb. People and their personalities and emotions are much the same. It is my job to convince the viewer to interact with what I create and see the whole of it, not just view it as something separate. Our stories are part of everything we do, everything we are, and it is written in every line of our faces. When we look at art that moves and inspires us, it is this interaction that we feel. It is the interconnections of humanity working through us as we see the world from another person's perspective.