Julia Kelly
A native of Provincetown, Massachusetts-historic art colony for talent such as Hans Hoffman and Eugene O'Neil-Julia grew up in an environment rich in subject matter and vivid light, inspired by a tradition of dedicated people whose names are now well known in the world of art. Encouraged from childhood by artist-mother, Nancy Whorf Kelly and born a fourth generation artist, Julia's first instructor was Grandfather John Whorf, noted watercolorist. She studied as a teenager with Leo Manso and Henry Kendal of Provincetown. She received two scholarships to attend the Art Institute of Boston and afterwards taught at the Brookline Center for the Arts.
Traveling and painting throughout Tuscany,Italy, France, Spain, New England and the Caribbean a few of her major exhibits include: Aerial Perspective show, M.I.T. Cambridge, MA; One Woman Show, Elliot Museum, Stuart, FL; Four Generation Exhibit, Provincetown Art Association' Generations in Art Exhibit, Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL and extensive one woman shows in galleries in Boston, Provincetown, Florida and Puerto Rico. Her work may be seen in private and corporate collections on both coasts and in Canada.
A member of two of the oldest recognized organizations dedicated to the arts, Julia's first show-in 1969, at the Provincetown Art Association-was at the age of sixteen. She also has exhibited with many prominent Boston Painters in the juried shows at The Copley Society.
Enjoying an impressionist's view of the world, she paints directly from nature and redesigns the ideas into large formats in the studio. Julia utilizes both watercolors and oils, where drawing and composition and color all play key roles in her works that can range in sizes of ten feet or more. Powerful compositions entice the viewer to linger in her Utopian vistas. It is the excitement and the passion she feels for nature and for color against color that gives her paintings the lively quality they possess.
