Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, October 22, 2021: Kelley Batson Howard, an American emerging artist, painter (#1398)

Kelley Batson-Howard (1961) (KBatsonArt) is an abstract acrylic painter who was born and raised in Alabama and was transplanted to Central Florida in the late 80's. She lives in Eustis, FL where she currently has a studio. She has been painting for 5+ years and has finally reached the point in her life that she knows what and who she is…an artist. Her story is personal. Her art is personal.

Kelley Batson-Howard is a life-taught artist who loves using texture, pattern, transparent paint, and brilliant color in a combination that makes the viewer want to reach out and touch. The artist loves seeing how the paints and different mediums work together on the canvas to create texture and patterns found all around us in nature. She works intuitively and lets the spirit guide what happens on the canvas.

I would like to share her story in her own words:
"At 18, I was the bohemian, rebellious girl who would have bounced off to Paris to live and become an artist without giving a second thought. College, while necessary, did not free that rebellious girl but instead forced her in a different direction- a direction that put her creativity in a box and locked her away living a different reality for almost 40 years.

In 2017, life took that box and smashed it to pieces. I found myself at a crossroad and made the decision to reconnect with the bohemian artist girl I had left behind. That risk led me to the ultimate bliss life provides-finding your soul’s purpose! That decision led to a journey of self-discovery about both me and the process of painting. Daily I go to my studio where I get to create. At my age, I see it as a great opportunity. I GET TO DO IT! I get to see how the paints react on the canvas; how they react with each other, and the textures and patterns they create by adding different mediums along the way. I get to stay with it until the picture in my head shows up on the canvas.

With life as my art teacher, I have the benefit of being free of the rules and experimenting until it feels right to me. That rebellious nature is still in there breaking rules I never knew. I've discovered I love painting bold colors with acrylic paint. I’ve no time for oils to dry in my eager effort to make up for time lost not creating. There is so much inside waiting to get out. I've discovered I paint both calm and action with equal abandon. Both are important to me. I've discovered I tend to paint impressions in time- glimpses of memory- flashes of light and patterns all using many layers of transparent paint and making marks into paint. I've discovered I paint from a place of emotion that I must share with the viewer. I want to evoke in them a flashback to a memory, a place, a time, a feeling they want to reach out and touch. I've learned I want to leave the world a more beautiful place by sharing the peace and happiness in my soul I find while painting. I’ve learned there are those in the world who enjoy my perspective and are inspired by my work. That is gratifying. Most importantly, I've learned the 18 year old bohemian girl is still there if you will let her out to follow her dreams. Sometimes life’s best gifts come in broken boxes and in my case, that is an absolute.

My current work is shifting from minimalist abstract landscapes Inspired by years of boating to paintings of bold color and shapes that lend themselves to a more modern feel and a flash back to mid century."

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