Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Beyer.
Hi Kelly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In starting my career I wanted to help make a difference in patients’ lives, and pursued a career in healthcare marketing. It was gratifying work, but it was also a highly regulated world where creativity often took a back seat.
Still, art kept pulling at me. I knew I needed to nurture that part of myself, so I began taking oil painting classes after work. For years, I balanced my corporate career with evenings spent at the easel. Gradually, I found myself seeing the world as a painter long before I gave myself the freedom to become one.
In early 2025, I stepped away from corporate life to pursue art full time. I rented a studio, continued taking painting classes, entered art shows, exhibited at art fairs, and built a social media presence and website. It was exciting, intimidating and wonderfully freeing.
My paintings are often inspired by travels to places that take my breath away—a forgotten castle in the Scottish Highlands, a weathered Caribbean house glowing with color, or a Nantucket garden overflowing with flowers. I’m less interested in recreating what a place looks like. I strive to capture how it feels to be there—and reveal the color and texture that are waiting for us to discover when we slow down and truly look.
Today, through Kelly Beyer Original Art, I exhibit my paintings, offer prints and share stories and inspiration through my Studio Blog. After years of working within carefully defined boundaries, I’m finally free to express the world as I see it—one filled with color, beauty and possibility.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. Leaving a successful corporate career meant giving up structure and predictability for something completely uncertain. To navigate that transition I thoughtfully plan my days to help me focus which is key to moving forward with my art. That includes scheduling time to go to the studio and paint, meeting with other artists and researching opportunities to share my work. One of my big goals this year was launching my website and developing my social media presence to share my work and connect with others. I was intimidated in developing an art website. After much research and trial and error I finally have a site I’m proud of. However, having a nice site doesn’t mean you’ll have the right traffic. Gaining traffic and engagement takes time and knowledge about search engine optimization, public relations and online marketing —all of which I’m learning about.
One of the greatest challenges has been the vulnerability of sharing my art publicly. A painting is deeply personal, so rejection or criticism can feel personal too. I’ve had to accept that not every painting will appeal to people and not every opportunity will lead somewhere.
Now that I can paint much more often, I am finding my own artistic voice which took more time than I thought. It requires experimentation and the courage to try new things. I’m learning to trust my instincts and become more comfortable with uncertainty. It’s a process that does not happen overnight. Now I know that slow growth is good growth. Each challenge feeds my growth. The road hasn’t been smooth, but it has been exciting—and every step has brought me closer to the artist I want to become
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create original oil paintings inspired by places that have captured my imagination. I specialize in landscapes, seascapes, architecture and florals—from weathered Caribbean houses and historic Nantucket homes to windswept Scottish landscapes to the rhythmic sea in Portugal.
My painting process is three fold. First, I start a painting by creating the atmosphere where the subject will live. That atmosphere could even be an abstract painting on its own. How is it created? First, I use high flow acrylics and cover the canvas with transparent washes, loose brushstrokes and drips. I’m not trying to paint “something” yet. Instead, I’m establishing movement, atmosphere, and an emotional tone.
Once the acrylic foundation is complete, I introduce alcohol ink. Alcohol ink blooms, pools, separates, and creates beautiful organic edges that can’t be painted by hand.
These early marks tend to disappear beneath later oil paint, but they continue influencing everything that follows. I like to think of them as the hidden heartbeat of the painting. Some marks become the inspiration for an entirely new direction.
Finally, after the abstract foundation feels ready to hold imagery I begin painting with oils. This is where the story emerges. Using rich, buttery oil paint (I use Vasari paints), I slowly introduce the subject weather it be florals, mountains, or the sea. Some areas became highly finished while others intentionally remain loose, allowing the early acrylic and alcohol ink layers to continue breathing through the painting. The foundational history of the painting is not covered up. It becomes the essence of the painting.
The rich oils transforms the painting into moments of wonder. What sets my work apart is that I’m not simply painting what a place looks like; I’m painting how it felt to be there. I notice the hidden colors, textures and movement within a scene and use them to create a sense of energy and atmosphere.
I’m most proud that my paintings can form an emotional connection with someone else. When a viewer tells me that a piece brings back a memory, lifts their spirits or makes them want to step into the scene, I feel that the painting has accomplished what I hoped it would. My goal is to invite the viewer to pause, breathe in and experience not an ordinary world but an extraordinary world.
What matters most to you? Why?
At a recent art show a lovely woman told me how much my painting spoke to her. These are the moments that mean the most to me. Seeing someone light up when they discover a piece of art they love is why I paint.
Pricing:
- 50 for prints
- 500 to 900 for oil paintings
Contact Info:
- Website: https://KellyBeyerOriginalArt.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kellybeyeroriginalart
