Born in La Plata, Maryland, in 1939
Painter & Printmaker
1965 BA, Liberal Arts, Birmingham-Southern College, 1965
1968 MA, Fine Arts, painting, University of Alabama, 1968

In the past year or so I have become more and more intrigued by light, getting more light into my images. To that end I have been using metallic paints and papers (gold & silver leaf), interference pigments and glazing. The newest work mirrors this interest.

Some of the images of my art work are directly taken from the Gulf of Mexico where I spent my childhood. I call these pieces "The Dauphin Island Series". Dauphin Island is an eighteen miles long barrier island just five miles off the coast of Alabama. It was the first capitol of the original French Territory, later called the Louisiana Purchase. The name comes from the name of the Crown Prince of France, the Dauphin. The word means Dolphin (Porpoise) in French; I have no idea why the Crown Prince would be called a Dolphin except that they are magnificent animals. There are many Dolphins in the waters around Dauphin Island; one of my favorite pastimes is watching them as they break the water’s surface in the feeding channel that parallels the shore.

Most of the water paintings are about ocean water and the primordial link we have with the ocean; these works are visualizations of this connection. The color, shape and dynamic movement of ocean water, its ever-changing, powerful nature, fascinate me both visually and intellectually. When I contemplate the ocean, there is a visual rhythm that I feel; this is, according to human psychology research, related to my circadian rhythms. Some people actually feel their own rhythms when they reflect on my water paintings. Such reflection has elicited a feeling of peace and calm very much like watching waves break on the sand.

There is an area on Dauphin Island called 'The Big Dunes'. The island is known for its pure white sand and some of these dazzling white sand dunes are more than fifty feet high. The sands move constantly by the forces of wind and water, and, unfortunately, by the “forces of development.” Today it is a place of peace and strange quiet but many battles were fought here, from the Spanish and French wars with the local indigenous peoples to the Civil War and World War II where German submarines were sighted from the pinnacles of the Great Dunes.

To walk among the dunes at different times of day is an other-worldly visual experience. Many delicate plants and animals live among the Dunes, their lives so fragile and dependent on human caring for continued existence. The Audubon Society Wildlife Refuge is just to the North. The colors and shapes change constantly as the light changes with no two minutes the same. Sunset and day break are so different that you feel you are in a different place. The works that deal with these experiences are simply called "Dunes".

Text by JGeer Kellas

2000 South Arkansas Arts Center, El Dorado, Arkansas(October)
1997 Soaring Spirits:the Legacy of Amelia Earhart, Muchnic Gallery, Atchison, Kansas
1996 Eva Reynolds Fine Art, Overland Park, Kansas
1996 McQueens Fine Art Gallery, Lawrence, Kansas
1995 ARTframes, Lawrence, Kansas
1994 Pompeii Gallery, Webster Groves, Missouri
1994 Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, Kansas
1992 Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, Kansas
Prior to 1992: 30 Solo Exhibitions

2000 The Art of Mental Health: Poster Artists, Bert Nash Mental Health Center, Invitational, 5 pieces, Lawrence, KS
1999 Total Women, Impact Art Gallery, Juried, 2 pieces, Buffalo, NY
1998 Icarus 2003 International Exhibition, Juried, 2 pieces, Prize, Nags Head, NC
1997 Landscape Show, Art Affair Gallery, Invitational, Baldwin, Kansas
1997 Visions of Flowers, Wichita Flower & Garden Assoc., juried, Wichita, Kansas
1995 Holiday Invitational Show, Lawrence Arts Center, Invitational, Lawrence, KS
1995 20th Anniversary Celebration of Art, KINH, Mercantile Bank, Lawrence, KS
1993 The Source, Paintings by Regional Artists, Kansas City, Missouri
1993 10th Annual Legislative Art Project, ACAK, Topeka, Kansas
1993 The Source, Images of the Ocean, Kansas City, Missouri
1992 Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, Two Artist Show, Topeka, Kansas
1992 Roys Gallery, 20th Anniversary Exhibit, Lawrence, Kansas
1992 Morgan Gallery, Summer Salon, Kansas City, Missouri
Prior to 1992: 49 Juried, Group & Invitational Shows

Sleeper-Helm Collection, private, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Spencer Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
IBM International
The Williams Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Exxon Corporation
Taylor Perky & Parker, Overland Park, Kansas
Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, Alabama

1998 Excellence In Depicting The Theme Award, 1998 International Icarus Exhibition, Nags Head, North Carolina
1998 Phoenix Award for Visual Art, Lawrence Arts Commission, Lawrence, Kansas
1996 Poster & Brochure Artist, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Convention & Visitors Bureau, Festival of Poinsettias
1991 Poster Artist, Bert Nash Mental Health Center,Lawrence, Kansas
1984 - 85 NEA & Kansas Arts Commission, Assistantship in Lithography, Lawrence Lithography Workshop

2000 Private Workshop in Silverpoint & Metalpoint Drawing
1997 Atchison Art Association juror, Soaring Spirits, Muchnic Gallery, Amelia Earhart Centennial Celebration
1996 Baker University, Juror, Art Affair Gallery Student Show
1996 Art in the Park, Juror, Lawrence Art Guild
1987 - 96 Screen Printing and Drawing Workshops, Young Audiences of K.C.
1996 Topeka Art Guild, Annual Dinner Speaker, Topeka, Kansas
1996 Topeka Art Guild, Winter Show, judge, Topeka, Kansas
1996 Baker University Art Department, judge,Art Affair Gallery, Baldwin, Kansas
1994 Art in the Park, Awards Juror, Lawrence Arts Guild, Lawrence, Kansas
1993 Seminar in Screen Printing, Dick Blick Art Materials, KansasCity, Missouri
1993 Brookwood Art Fest, Awards Juror, Topeka, Kansas
1992 Brookwood Art Fest, Awards Juror, Topeka, Kansas
Prior to 1992: numerous juries, presentation & workshops

1992 - 96 Douglas County AIDS Project, Board of Directors, Treasurer. 1992-93
1985 - 91 Kansas Womens Substance Abuse Services, Board of Directors, President 1986 & 1991
1991 Wallace Galuzzi Volunteer of the Year Award, United Way of Douglas County, Kansas
1986 - 89 Lawrence Arts Center, Board of Directors, Lawrence, Kansas

e-mail Judi Kellas