11 Mar Kelli Naugle Van Norman 4/6-27
Saturday, April 6 to Saturday, April 27
Opening Reception, Saturday, April 6 from 3-5 pm
I grew up in South Dakota and lived in Wyoming as a young adult, where I began my watercolor adventure in Casper. I also studied life drawing, as people are often compelling subjects for me. Eventually, I moved back to South Dakota. From my home base in Rapid City, I travelled to the north central United States. A portable watercolor palette and canoe afforded the flexibility necessary in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area and Quetico Provincial Park bordering northern Minnesota and southern Ontario, Canada.
A road trip to the south-eastern United States presented an interest in the local architecture, while in the northwest, a lighthouse offered inspiration. A trip to southern India provided new and exotic subjects to paint, followed by my first solo exhibition. Two group opportunities followed the second India journey, one in Rapid City, and the other in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Shortly after moving to Redlands, I began exploring techniques in encaustic, acrylics, and oils, as well as continuing to paint in watercolor. A ten day journey in 2015 to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a serendipitous layover in Istanbul, Turkey, was followed by a fourth exhibition, Inner Dialogs. Most recently, a visit to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, one of Redlands’ sister cities, offered a warm color palette and Spanish colonial architecture for inspiration. In addition to traditionally figurative work, I have been enjoying the exploration of abstract subjects, based on another kind of travel, through the imagination. Travel Diaries is the composite exhibit of these various journeys. Please come to the reception. I would love to meet you.
