MARTHA KELLY ART
  • HOME
  • PRINTS
  • BOOKS
  • SKETCHES
  • OILS
  • ILLUSTRATION
  • LITURGICAL
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT/SHOP
  • More...
    • HOME
    • PRINTS
    • BOOKS
    • SKETCHES
    • OILS
    • ILLUSTRATION
    • LITURGICAL
    • BLOG
    • ABOUT
    • CONTACT/SHOP
  • HOME
  • PRINTS
  • BOOKS
  • SKETCHES
  • OILS
  • ILLUSTRATION
  • LITURGICAL
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT/SHOP
Published on
February 22, 2026

Woodruff-Fontaine House

Picture
The Mid-South Cartoonists Association kindly arranged for the Memphis Urban Sketchers to join them at the Fontaine House, one of our old painted ladies which is now a museum. I've loved this house since I was a kid, and it's always a treat to go there. I sat outside with my big sketchbook to begin with and sketched the house full on. I started at the tower and cut off the very bottom but got more of it than I thought I might when I began. I used a big brush and tried not to get bogged down in all the gingerbread, just to get the impression of the place.

By that time I was cold, and I joined friends inside. I love this view in the top hall just below the tower stairs. I sketched it several years ago (below) and had another, quicker run at it yesterday. The light was glowing pink that I couldn't quite catch, but it was fun to try.
Picture
Picture
I do love the tower. Sometime I need to go back and sketch this view that I took a photo of out the round window. And Christina got a shot of me when I was still outside sketching the facade. Fun to see myself from a bird's eye view.
Picture
Picture
Published on
February 19, 2026

Forest sketch

Picture
I'm doing the less fun thing of scanning in a bunch of family tax documents this month, and I realized I hadn't scanned in this recent9ish) forest sketch. I've been more in my print shop lately than sketching, and this is a nice reminder to get back to my sketchbook as well. Inktense pencil and watercolor. In related news, I also need to clean my black fountain pen in my sketching kit which wasn't working when I reached for it, but I'm happy with the pencil on this one.
Published on
February 11, 2026

Five in One Social Club

Picture
Five in One kindly hosted the Memphis Urban Sketchers on Saturday. They're a cool art gift shop (my favorite stickers), print shop, and crafts camp for grown ups. I love what they do and was excited to sketch their cool space. I love their facade, and even though it was chilly I perched outside a while catching their awesome row of windows and bling. Nicely it was sunny and not at all windy and certainly warmer than the icy weather we had been having. I'd been wanting to do a big sketch again, and this is in my largest book. I used a charcoal grey Inktense pencil with watercolor on top.

Afterwards I moved inside to chat with people and did another tiny sketch in my smallest book with just a fountain pen and a W&N watercolor marker. It's fun to do those quick, free sketches after spending a bunch of time on an intricate one.
Picture
Image description

   online store

Martha Kelly is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.


Get occasional studio email updates.

Subscribe

* indicates required
/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

Categories

  • Art Workshops (5)
  • Artist In Residence (20)
  • Book (17)
  • Calendar (9)
  • Chalk Line Books (1)
  • Commissions (66)
  • Country Workshops (15)
  • Daily News (8)
  • Dixon (74)
  • Dogs (45)
  • Exhibition (113)
  • Faulkner's Trees (7)
  • Food Sketches (141)
  • Fountain Pen (429)
  • Gouache (22)
  • Graphic Essay (91)
  • Graphite (46)
  • Illustration (136)
  • Inktense Pencils (17)
  • Letterpress (58)
  • Liturgical (50)
  • Markers (80)
  • Memphis Theological Seminary (13)
  • Memphis Urban Sketchers (358)
  • Museum Sketching (98)
  • Musicians (60)
  • Oils (78)
  • Open House (26)
  • Overton Park (97)
  • Paris (116)
  • Pastels (6)
  • Pen And Wash (70)
  • Pink Palace Crafts Fair (15)
  • PNW (55)
  • Prints (259)
  • Publications (34)
  • Radio (9)
  • Self Portrait (30)
  • Sequential Art (2)
  • Still Life (106)
  • Tea (79)
  • Television (7)
  • Travel (423)
  • Trees (215)
  • Urban Sketching (953)
  • Video (3)
  • WAMA (59)
  • Watercolor (759)
  • Watercolor Crayons (36)
  • Wedding (4)


Archives

  • August 2026 (8)
  • July 2026 (3)
  • June 2026 (8)
  • May 2026 (4)
  • April 2026 (7)
  • March 2026 (4)
  • February 2026 (3)
  • January 2026 (10)
  • December 2025 (4)
  • November 2025 (5)
  • October 2025 (4)
  • September 2025 (6)
  • August 2025 (8)
  • July 2025 (7)
  • June 2025 (8)
  • May 2025 (7)
  • April 2025 (5)
  • March 2025 (5)
  • February 2025 (7)
  • January 2025 (11)
  • December 2024 (5)
  • November 2024 (5)
  • October 2024 (12)
  • September 2024 (4)
  • July 2024 (4)
  • June 2024 (5)
  • May 2024 (3)
  • April 2024 (5)
  • March 2024 (5)
  • February 2024 (3)
  • January 2024 (4)
  • December 2023 (7)
  • November 2023 (6)
  • October 2023 (9)
  • September 2023 (5)
  • August 2023 (6)
  • July 2023 (8)
  • June 2023 (4)
  • May 2023 (9)
  • April 2023 (5)
  • March 2023 (6)
  • February 2023 (9)
  • January 2023 (7)
  • December 2022 (5)
  • November 2022 (2)
  • October 2022 (7)
  • September 2022 (5)
  • August 2022 (6)
  • July 2022 (4)
  • June 2022 (7)
  • May 2022 (4)
  • April 2022 (4)
  • March 2022 (5)
  • February 2022 (7)
  • January 2022 (6)
  • December 2021 (4)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (11)
  • September 2021 (8)
  • August 2021 (4)
  • July 2021 (9)
  • June 2021 (7)
  • May 2021 (4)
  • April 2021 (13)
  • March 2021 (6)
  • February 2021 (6)
  • January 2021 (9)
  • December 2020 (6)
  • November 2020 (7)
  • October 2020 (7)
  • September 2020 (6)
  • August 2020 (8)
  • July 2020 (12)
  • June 2020 (15)
  • May 2020 (15)
  • April 2020 (19)
  • March 2020 (16)
  • February 2020 (6)
  • January 2020 (8)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (6)
  • October 2019 (7)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (15)
  • July 2019 (11)
  • June 2019 (10)
  • May 2019 (6)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (7)
  • December 2018 (3)
  • November 2018 (7)
  • October 2018 (5)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (12)
  • July 2018 (10)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (6)
  • January 2018 (5)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (5)
  • October 2017 (6)
  • September 2017 (7)
  • August 2017 (13)
  • July 2017 (8)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (10)
  • April 2017 (4)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (10)
  • January 2017 (11)
  • December 2016 (11)
  • November 2016 (12)
  • October 2016 (10)
  • September 2016 (8)
  • August 2016 (22)
  • July 2016 (19)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (14)
  • April 2016 (25)
  • March 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (7)
  • January 2016 (11)
  • December 2015 (7)
  • November 2015 (7)
  • October 2015 (11)
  • September 2015 (8)
  • August 2015 (14)
  • July 2015 (7)
  • June 2015 (8)
  • May 2015 (11)
  • April 2015 (13)
  • March 2015 (5)
  • February 2015 (6)
  • January 2015 (10)
  • December 2014 (7)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (17)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (11)
  • July 2014 (8)
  • June 2014 (15)
  • May 2014 (9)
  • April 2014 (9)
  • March 2014 (5)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (7)
  • December 2013 (13)
  • November 2013 (7)
  • October 2013 (11)
  • September 2013 (8)
  • August 2013 (12)
  • July 2013 (12)
  • June 2013 (11)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (16)
  • March 2013 (6)
  • February 2013 (8)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (12)
  • November 2012 (15)
  • October 2012 (11)
  • September 2012 (9)
  • August 2012 (8)
  • July 2012 (9)
  • June 2012 (14)
  • May 2012 (10)
  • April 2012 (15)
  • March 2012 (10)
  • February 2012 (14)
  • January 2012 (15)
  • December 2011 (12)
  • November 2011 (12)
  • October 2011 (9)
  • September 2011 (19)
  • August 2011 (16)
  • July 2011 (8)
  • February 2011 (1)
  • January 2011 (1)
  • November 2010 (2)
  • October 2010 (1)
  • June 2010 (1)
  • April 2010 (3)
  • January 2010 (5)