Carol Kelly Art
Carol Kelly is a self-taught oil painter. She trained in classical ballet at the Theatre School in Edinburgh and now lives in Dunbar, East Lothian, where she owns Coast Gallery. Kelly's work stems from some of her experiences in ballet, the process of practice and work before; the culmination into something extraordinary. The initial process is that of impasto paint and primer, placed in a manner both haphazard and poised- this is the routine of repetition and overcoming, producing beauty in the end. Ballet is all about clean lines and seemingly effortless movement, making the labour immaterial. Behind this is the power of muscularity- practice becoming painstaking and tying everything together at the end to create the pristine. This practice reflects in her paintings too. Kelly consistently has her studio filled with flowers in all their stages of life and tries to capture the essence of a flower's life span.  Often what she captures is just the ghost of the flower. . The pieces are still life seen through the lens of memory and place, not reflective of reality- but a constructed one. The works have traditional means and subjects working with oil on board but transcend their primordial origins. Their smudged, smeared areas of rough form disappear as your eye drifts over the ostensibly 'pretty' subject matter. The appearance of sturdy, robust strokes turns into fragile, delicate wisps the more you look. Carol's work is available online and can be seen at Coast Gallery.  She frequently works to commission.
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