Kristy McNelly
Bergheim, TX
An oil painter from the Texas Hill Country, Kristy's paintings focus on horses, boats, wildlife, rural, & vintage scenes. Her style is realistic impressionism.
Message
Born on a farm in Fremont, Michigan, Kristy McNelly’s early days were spent riding horses and playing in the woods along the creek. Art has been a long pastime since childhood. It is that love for nature and animals that is still carried into her work today as an oil painting artist. An active volunteer and President of the AgriCultural Museum and Arts Center in Boerne, Texas, Kristy enjoys putting on events and antique tractor pulls. She can also be seen on back roads around Texas driving her seafoam green antique 1950 Ford Truck called “Seabiscuit”. Kristy graduated from Michigan State University with both an art and geography degree before moving to Bergheim, Texas where she now resides on a ten acre ranchette with her husband, Chuck. Certified as a cartographer, Kristy worked as a map designer for the Gousha Mapping Company in Comfort, Texas from 1992 – 1995. In 1996, she started her own graphic design firm, Polonyx, LLC and in 1999, Kristy invented and patented a urethane plastic horseshoe called Ground Control Horseshoes, which she sells worldwide. All through the years, Kristy has continued to oil paint, showing and selling her art and taking art workshops to further her skills. She is a member of Oil Painters of America, Cowgirl Artists of America, American Impressionist Society, Women Artists of The West, Boerne Visual Artists, American Plains Artists, Women Artists of The West and American Women Artists.
Statement
Painting with oils on canvas, I use painterly brush strokes full of vibrant color that my eyes see outside of the local color of the object. My favorite brush is a small short-handled angle shader. I start by covering a blank white canvas with red ochre acrylic. Once this layer dries, I begin the oil paint. I mix all other colors I need from the following palette: cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, phthalo turquoise, lemon yellow, alizarin crimson, raw sienna, burnt sienna, titanium white, purple and Gamblin solvent free gel medium. I have a paper towel handy in my left hand and wipe the color between each brush stroke, while dipping the brush into the turpentine so as not to create “mud”on the canvas. I want every color to be placed specifically and clear. Some blending occurs in the areas of the painting where I want to focus on with a more detailed approach. My yellows, oranges and reds go in front of the light and my blues, greens and purples go behind the light. My subjects come from my personal photos from trips and experiences. They are scenes of horses, Mackinac Island, Michigan, historic route 66 gas stations, antique trucks, and landscapes.