Biography and CV
Kelli Folsom, OPA, AWA
Kelli Folsom is an academically trained artist working exclusively from life in oils. She creates museum-quality paintings combining an old master feel with rich color and painterly brushstrokes. When collecting her work you will be bringing a layer of refined beauty of the highest quality into your collection that uplifts the soul.
Kelli is an award-winning artist who at a young age is already exhibiting in museum shows and garnering attention and inclusion in some of the highest organizations in contemporary representational art like Oil Painters of America, American Women Artists, American Impressionists Society and Women Artists of the West.
She received a B.F.A. from Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, CT , the first impressionist colony in the U.S. established in 1899. It is here that she studied traditional life drawing, painting, and sculpture with great emphasis on in-depth study and classical techniques and the joy of working in a direct impressionist style in nature. Every still life arrangement is set up in her north light studio and painted directly from life in a matter of one or two sittings. She paints directly so that her relationship to the subject is heightened in the moment in order to pass on that perception and experience to the viewer resulting in a painting that looks like a painting and not a photograph. Kelli chooses objects and arrangements to create the most aesthetically beautiful design and a feeling of abundance and intimacy. These arrangements are influenced by centuries of traditional still life painting from the Dutch Masters of the 1600s to French Academics of the 1900s.
“I believe in beauty. I hope that you see the beauty that I see and experience the excitement that I feel through every energetic brushstroke. I hope that my paintings open you up to a whole new appreciation for your world.”
Education
B.F.A., Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, 2011
Affiliations
American Women Artists, Signature Member
Oil Painters of America, Signature Member
Women Artists of the West, Associate Member
American Impressionists Society, Associate Member
Awards
2018, Award of Merit, Governor’s Art Show, Loveland, CO
2018, Award of Merit, Oil Painters of America’s National Juried Exhibition
2017, Award of Distinction, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Women Artists of the West, McBride Gallery
2017, Best Still Life, Women Artists of the West, McBride Gallery
2017, Award of Excellence, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition
2016, Honorable Mention Figurative Category, Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition
2015, Award of Excellence, Southwest Art Magazine, Weekend in the West, Evergreen Fine Art
2014, Award of Excellence, American Art Collector, American Women Artists National Juried Exhibition
2013, Finalist, Raymart Art Competition
2012, Best of Show, Lyme Art Association, Summer Painting & Sculpture Exhibition
2012, 2nd Place, Weathersfield Academy of Art Premier Art Exhibition, Jurors: Sherrie McGraw and Gregg Kreutz
Selected Exhibitions
2020
Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, Illume Gallery, St.George, UT
American Impressionists Society 21st Annual National Exhibition, Illume Gallery, St.George, UT
Making their Mark: American Women Artists Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
Small Works Holiday Show Invitational, Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2019
Oil Painters of America Virtuosos Exhibition, Cutter and Cutter Fine Art, St.Augustine, FL
Oil Painters of America Western Regional, Sorrel Sky Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Small Works Holiday Show Invitational, Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, OKC, OK
2018
Full Sun: American Women Artists, Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA
Small Works Holiday Show Invitational, Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, OKC, OK
2017
Small Works Holiday Show Invitational, Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, OKC, OK
Under a Vast Sky, National Juried Exhibition, American Women Artists, Tucson Desert Art Museum, Tucson, AZ
Western Regional Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils, Oil Painters of America, Illume Gallery, St. George, UT
Annual National Juried Exhibition, American Impressionist Society, Montgomery Lee Fine Art, Park City, UT
25th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils, Oil Painters of America, Eisele Gallery of Fine Art, Cincinnati, OH
American Impressionist’s Society Small Works Showcase, Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA
Miniature Masterpiece Show, Phippen Museum, Prescott, AZ
2016
Women Artists of the West National Juried Exhibition, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Annual National Juried Salon Show of Traditional Oils, Oil Painters of America, Castle Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN
Weekend in the West Art Show & Sale, Evergreen Fine Art, Evergreen, CO
24th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils, Oil Painters of America, Southwest Gallery, Dallas, TX
Miniature Masterpiece Show, Phippen Museum, Prescott, AZ