A New Chapter: Finding Art, Finding Courage
Kellylynneart.com marks a deliberate step in a practice I have built through observation, disciplined study and consistent studio work. I came to painting later in life, but once I found it, I chose to take it seriously.
After nearly 29 years in local government, I was ready to give creative work the time and attention it had begun to demand. What started as curiosity became a sustained practice: studying how light moves across a landscape, how an animal’s expression can hold a story and how color can carry memory.
A Practice Built Through Attention
My foundational drawing and painting classes through East Lansing Parks and Recreation, taught by Sharon Griffes Tarr, gave me an essential beginning. Since then, my practice has been largely self-directed, shaped by disciplined observation, experimentation and the steady work of returning to the studio.
Painting has taught me to see more carefully. I am drawn to quiet strength, gesture, texture and the intelligence present in the natural world. Each canvas begins with close attention and develops through an intuitive, painterly process.
ArtPrize 2026: Bringing the Work Into Public
That practice now leads to ArtPrize 2026, where The Matriarch will be presented at Grand Rapids City Hall. The five-painting series considers authority, wisdom, protection and the power that exists before it is recognized by others.
Bringing The Matriarch into a public setting is an important milestone. A painting may begin privately, but once it is exhibited, viewers bring their own experiences to it. That exchange is one of the reasons I make art.
A Place for the Work to Grow
I created this website to give the paintings room to breathe and to bring the collections, stories and ideas behind them together in one place.
It is a home for original work, fine art prints, commissions, studio reflections and the creative projects that grow from my interest in nature, memory and human experience. It will continue to evolve as the work evolves.
A New Chapter, Fully Claimed
Beginning later has not made this work less serious; it has given me a lifetime of experiences from which to draw. I bring patience, discipline, memory and a clearer understanding of what deserves my attention.
I am painting, building collections, preparing for ArtPrize and continuing to develop a body of work rooted in nature and human experience. This is no longer a possibility I am waiting to claim. It is the work I am doing now.
Welcome to Kelly Lynne Art.
— Kelly Lynne Figueiredo