Cathy Love

My love of animals started early. Stuffed animals. Then came the live ones.  Jumbo the gerbil. Sorry about your tail, Jumbo.  A goldfish named Bo. Family dogs. Sam the Shepherd.  Bullet the American Bull Terrier. Whippet the… Whippet.  Clearly, we needed help with naming animals.  It followed me into junior high when I had Red Boy the quarter horse. Guess what color he was? Oh well, he came with that name.  These were the years that solidified my love of animals.

Fortunately, towards the end of my corporate career (yay), I started painting with Michel McNinch, at Stormwater Studios. She’s been my mentor and cheerleader for many years. Now, retired six years and in a second career as an artist, I’ve reverted back to my first love. Animals. And come full circle on being a child again.  It’s fun to paint and be silly.

I do take learning seriously and continue to hone my skills and travel for workshops with other artists I admire.  TJ Cunningham paints amazing sheep.  James Richards helps students loosen up, or in my case, tries. Young phenom Kyle Ma actually taught a course recently in Scottsdale painting farm animals!!! You know I was there!

I take a little piece of their knowledge and stuff it in my pocket for the next painting. I continue to learn, grow and paint the things I love.  Hope you see that reflected in my work and that it brings you some level of joy, as it does me.

Debi Kelly

I grew up on a century-old family farm in Richland County and spent a happy childhood surrounded by animals, including cows, chickens, pigs, and horses.  Each member of our family had specific responsibilities for the care of the animals and the maintenance of the farm, and we quickly learned to respect the distinct personalities of the residents.   My paintings reflect those early influences.  I often include rural landscapes, wildlife, farm animals, classic cars and trucks, and old equipment/buildings in my work.  The paintings in this show are from some of the farms that I have visited.

For my paintings, my medium of choice is primarily pastel.  I also utilize acrylic, watercolor and oil on occasion and often use some of those mediums as an underpainting for the pastel.  With pastel, I can incorporate liberal touches of color with the application of many layers, and I can also include the detailed drawing I love so much.

My goal is to capture movement and life as well as the unique expressions of the “characters” in my paintings.  It is the unseen structure/bones as well as the planes/angles of the subject that capture my eye and allow me to create a story for the viewer. I often include small hidden objects in the background to catch the viewer’s eye and to direct attention to different areas of the painting.

The journey as an artist has been an amazing one. I am always grateful for the opportunity to share my work and for the support I receive from fellow artists and organizations supporting the arts. I am a member of the Southeastern Pastel Society (Master Pastelist) and an Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America. I am also a member of the Pastel Society of SC and the Crooked Creek Art League in Chapin.  My work has been accepted into and received awards in international, regional and local juried shows.