I make sense of my world by painting it. For many years I was a pure landscape painter, but more recently I have enjoyed adding figures and some sense of narrative into my paintings as well. Whatever I am thinking about or struggling with inevitably bubbles up into my art, which is centered on places that are dear to me. John Constable said, "I should paint my own places best, for painting for me is but another word for feeling." I spent years painting the Memphis region almost exclusively, wanting to give people a lens to see beauty in a place that doesn't have the Hollywood version of beauty, but I have also been lucky enough to expand "my own places" in recent years and spend significant amounts of time in other places I enjoy getting to paint as well.

All images © Martha Kelly -- All Rights Reserved