Mary Jo Kelly

I studied Art at the University of Toledo and studied Photography at Bowling Green State University, in Ohio. Moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico after my college graduation, I admired and hoped to meet Georgia O’Keeffe. I wrote her several letters but never did hear back from her. I worked for years as a ski instructor, I did beadwork on the side and raised a family in Eagle Nest, NM. I went back to college to earn a Master’s Degree in Education and I have worked as a Special Education Teacher for the past nine years. My next adventure in life will be working as an artist. Getting back to my artistic career is what I long for. I love Plein Air Painting and love to compete in Paint-Offs. The Wild Rivers Plein Air-Paint Off is held very near where I live in Cerro, NM. I won the Emerging Artist award in 2019 for my painting “Sunrise Over the Rio Grande”. I was accepted among 40 artists to compete in Alameda, California in 2021