Lorraine Kelly grew up in London, Ontario and now resides in Niagara-on- the-Lake. In grade school, she received her first “art award” for “Best Artist in Grade 8. Her most recent award was “Best in Show” at the Niagara Falls Art Gallery. Early in her career, she worked as a research lab technician at Western University, St Josephs Hospital and the Cytogenetics Department at McMaster University. She was introduced to watercolours by attending a week-long workshop at the Burlington Arts Centre.
Her first move, from Canada, was to England, where she lived 13 years. Her work was shown in galleries and she taught watercolour classes. From England, she moved to the United States. While living in the United States, she attended a Daniel Green workshop, the Silvermine School of Art and a Georgia O’Keefe workshop in New Mexico. She moved from the US to Singapore for 8 years, where she taught watercolour and acrylic classes.
After moving back to Canada, she rejoined the Parkway Artists Guild and was nominated Programme Chair for 4 1/2 years. She entered juried shows held by the Queenston Art Show, the Niagara Nights of Art Exhibition and The War of 1812, where she received the award for “Best in Show”. She also began her series of slide show presentations, now known as “Artist or Environment- what makes an artist paint the way they do”.
She taught watercolour classes at the Niagara Creative Art Centre in St Catharines and workshops for the Parkway Artists Guild. She was juried into Rooted in the Garden, held by Niagara Parks Botanical Garden in Niagara Falls, Ontario and into the Pelham Art Festival. Kelly had three solo exhibitions, one being at the Niagara Pumphouse Fine Arts Centre for two months, called “Beyond the Blue”. This is still available to watch on Youtube. She is a contributing artist in Arabella magazine’s May 2022 edition.
She is a member of the Parkway Artists Guild, The Niagara Pumphouse and the NOTL Arts Collective. Presently her work is carried by Artspace106 and her home studio gallery. For a more detailed bio go to her website lorrainekellyart.com
Artist Statement:
We all have our own views and reference photos to inspire us. Many of them are common to all artists, but it is up to each artist to shape and make them their own.
Presently, I work in acrylics. The smallest is 6×6” and the largest is 48×48”.
When painting small to medium sizes, I find the painting process more intimate. I often ask myself “What made me want to paint this scene in the first place?” I try to keep this thought constantly with me throughout the process. I want my viewers to connect emotionally with my subject. Using the presence of light versus shadow or bold contrasting colours, I try to express the emotions I felt when I first viewed the scene in front of me. Often it may be an unusual shape or lines creating movement threw my work which results in the viewer wanting to linger and explore.
When I work on a large canvas, in the beginning, I try to use my whole body when mark making. A lot of my large work tends to be more abstract at the beginning and then somewhere in the process, it switches to more graphic lines. I tend to paint intuitively leaning towards organized abstraction. I find most of the time I do not consciously control this process.
My work has always been inspired by walks around my neighbourhood. Whether I lived in England, the U.S.A or Singapore, it was always about the neighbourhood. Presently, I am lucky enough to be close to lakes, rivers, woodlands and hiking trails, so at this time, my work consists mostly of landscapes.
