Kelly Willard

I am a North Carolina artist with a diverse creative background. I was born in North Carolina and began my artistic career as a self-employed studio potter in Oak Ridge, working with my mother to operate a studio and gallery. Over time, my passion for the visual arts deepened, and in the past ten years I transitioned from ceramics to drawing and painting. I now embrace two-dimensional mixed media, carving out a niche as an abstract representational artist while continually exploring and evolving my creative practice.

Central to my approach is an experimental process that drives my work from its inception. I begin by making spontaneous marks—whether random brush strokes, unexpected bursts of color, or collage elements—without any predetermined goal. During this phase, I carefully observe the emerging textures and shapes, allowing my intuition to guide me as I envision what these initial marks might become. This process of visual exploration and inspiration is integral to my practice; as I imagine potential forms such as flowers, pots, faces or other evocative imagery, my work gradually shifts from a free-flowing state to one of deliberate refinement. In this way, my paintings evolve organically from experimentation to a more directed, thoughtful creation, reflecting both the unpredictability of the creative process and the power of visual imagination.