The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Kelly Sollinger
ArtistBio
Kelly Sollinger is a native of the Gulf Coast of Texas and a transplant to central Ohio.
As a child she would spend hours cloud watching in the fields or staring at the fish in the family pond. Back then, she drew and painted and wrote poetry but, like many, went on to something “safe” and “acceptable”: a career programming computers. As an adult she began exploring the urges to paint and create, eventually leaving the safe zone to establish her art practice. She continues to evolve as an artist on a daily basis.
Artist Statement
I am captivated by cerulean skies and cobalt water. I am beguiled by the color blue.
In my work I explore the myriad shades of blue to portray the feelings of air and water, two elements so essential to human existence.
It begins with a blank canvas, covered in some basic shade of blue or sometimes green. From there I add more blue, more definition, until the painting tells me it is complete. Then I step back and try to read what it says.
Sometimes it speaks of the fury of the storm: rain pelting the water, waves lifting to the sky, dark clouds in the distance. Sometimes it speaks of the peace of a new day when all is calm and expectant. Many times it speaks of something in between, the tension that is so often present in life. Often a dark element will show up in one corner, a reminder that the world is more complex than we would like it to be.
Each painting is unique because I start with several shades of blue on my palette and mix them as I go. I don’t worry about paying attention to what goes into a mixture. I don’t care if I can ever repeat a certain shade. Those unique shades belong to that painting.
I paint on canvas with acrylics, utilizing tools such as brayers, palette knives and brushes.