Featured Artist Kelley Batson-Howard

Painter Kelley Batson-Howard presents a collection of colorful nature-inspired abstracts. Enjoy and visit her website to view more of her portfolio.

 

 

Why do I paint? What forces me to place my emotions on canvas and take the risk to share my creations with the public? The artist deep in my soul is the very simple answer. She is there in everything I do from cooking to cleaning to shopping. She lives in me and refuses to be pushed to the side. And she informs my actions and reactions as I walk through life.

 

 

My never-ending desire to play in paint to create patterns and textures releases pent up emotions and simultaneously shows the beauty of our world. That’s the more complex answer to the question. I’ve always loved to see the surfaces in our world.

 

 

From tree bark to grains of sand washing on the shore, from the roughness of a rock wall or pavement to the delicate laciness of flowers in bloom or the sun setting in the sky, our world is a texture laden place just waiting for exploration. We only need to slow down to see it.

 

 

The brilliant colors, the forms, the feelings that settle in my mind from observing God’s creation are things that land on my canvases while I play in paint. I work very intuitively. During that playtime with paint, I create until the thing on the canvas begins to resemble something I recognize from the many deposits of forms and colors in my mind.

 

 

Sharing those canvases is secondary to the process of creating them. The artist in me must create no matter if anyone sees or likes the creations. The most humbling thing in my life is when a patron decides they are touched enough by one of my paintings to pay money for it and bring it into their home or office.

 

 

Each creation has a piece of my soul inside. That patron is taking a part of me to live with them forever. What greater honor or compliment could one be given?

 

 

As a self-taught artist, I’ve sometimes fallen into the imposter syndrome mindset when success has come along. Those little whispers of “Boy, if they only knew.” But I’ve come to realize, over time, that by sharing my creations, I am sharing myself. And, since there is only one me, there can be no imposter. My art can only be created by me. Everything is original to my vision and how I see the world.

 

 

When people like my interpretation, it is the gravy on top. I’ve learned to cultivate my vision of creating and make it grow as I learn new things and incorporate them into my work.

 

Kelley Batson-Howard invites you to follow on Instagram.   

 

 

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