Kelly Reark was painting long before her formal training began. Her family always immersed themselves in the arts through music, painting, and theatrical expression. Kelly's artistic talents were inherited from her father, grandmother, and other relatives who were also gifted illustrators and painters. Kelly learned to paint with several artists including Barbara Bush from Florida, and Wes and Rochelle Siegrist, renowned husband and wife artists from Tennessee. It was with these teachers that she learned to paint the wildlife that still inspires her today. Caren Stevens-Clisset, with Art Inherited out of Land O’Lakes, Florida, has been a mentor and source of artistic motivation for many years.
In college, Kelly studied marine biology, art, and psychology before earning her degree. Through interest in her father’s billfishing pursuits, Kelly caught the fish fever and began to exhibit at billfish tournaments. With her background in fishing and love of biology, it was no surprise that marlin, sailfish, and other game fish quickly became her choice subjects. First-hand experience with catching and releasing these exquisite marine fish is a continual source of inspiration. Nature Artist Kelly Reark is inspired by all Florida wildlife, is a member of Women in the Outdoors (National Wild Turkey Federation) and is herself a Native Floridian.
Through the billfish tournament circuit, she has become friends with many well-known and amazing marine artists, including Carey Chen, Hanes Hoffman, Be Forbes, Pierre Pierce and Larry McCarty (to name a few!). These fellow artists are of great influence in many ways. In 2006, she launched her website,
www.DragonflyExpressions.com, to showcase her fine art.
Kelly has participated in the Art in the Palms show on Palm
Island, the Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, and many local street fairs. Her work has been in Paradise Gallery on Boca Grande and in Marlin Magazine’s Offshore
Art
Gallery. Kelly has painted original paintings for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Redbone Tournaments, the Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournaments, and many of Boca Grande’s Tarpon Tournaments. In 2010, she added the Boca
Grande
Island
School’s Tarpon Ball to the list with a painted tarpon mount. Her art has raised thousands of dollars for children and charity.
Kelly's work is currently on display in several locations around Boca Grande and Englewood. Stop by the Temptation restaurant, Hudson's Grocery, or the Royal Palm Marina to see her latest works up close!
Today, Kelly paints and sculpts out of her home studio in Southwest Florida.
