Michael Kelly

Ethereal Figure IV, graphite on paper, 22" x 17"

Horse Race XIII, mixed media on paper, 17" x 22"

Standing Figure, mixed media on paper, 22" x 17"

Otherwise III, pastel and graphite on paper, 22" x 17"

My drawing is a spontaneous response to what I see, initiated from reality. It is not a demonstration of facility. It is not a literal description of surface qualities. It is a search for an internal reality that validates an object’s reason for being. My work is a process of discovery through deconstruction. This process allows me to dignify the presence of the subject that I am working from, rather than to characterize it. I maintain the aspect of the gesture in the approach to my work. This approach allows the drawing to live and stay fresh. The viewer is then invited to become a participant in the process. My drawing is usually mixed media, although not exclusively. The media I choose is dependent on the composition and the statement that is being made. I approach my work intuitively; it is not formulaic.

I have been accepted to approximately 65% of the national and international competitions I have entered, resulting in awards, sales, and recognition.

“What does it mean to compose? It is the power to associate.” - Delacroix

“In every work of art, human feeling must prevail over any esthetic system or pictorial method.” -Maurice Utrillo

“Art is a supposition. It does not reveal the truth. It merely suggests a way to find it.”