KELLEY SMITH
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kelley Smith is a third generation Arizona native. After raising five very creative daughters, Kelley attended Scottsdale Community College where she received numerous scholarships, including the Helen Bychinsky Artist of Promise award. Her essay on art education won a partially funded trip to Italy and Greece. The college then sponsored her first one-woman show. Kelley proceeded to attend Arizona State University to continue her art training. Kelley was a founder of the Arizona Art Alliance and was instrumental in the formation of the art classes taught to incarcerated youth at the Southwest Juvenile Correction Complex. For this service, she was awarded as a nominee for Arts in Education for the 25th annual Arizona Governor’s Art Awards. In 2018, Kelley cofounded Ground Floor Artists. Kelley continues to paint for commission from her studio at home and studio at Ground Floor Artists Gallery and teaches private and group classes on drawing, painting with oils and pastels and jewelry making.
“With half of the world full of creepy people doing creepier things, I purposely choose to concentrate on the other half. I may be too old to sound “Pollyanna-ish” but choosing to see the positive is how I stay sane. I continue to find excitement in painting these good things with slightly pushed colors, and the sheer act of placing brush strokes onto the canvas to create shapes and textures is exhilarating for me. I receive a tremendous amount of joy interpreting the beautiful things in my life, even if it is just by painting a piece of fruit. It’s as simple as that.”
