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| Meet Pet Portrait Artist Kimberly Kelly Santini |
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| Kimberly Kelly Santini, with one of her larger than lifesize portraits. |
From the moment Kimberly Kelly Santini discovered the power of a line she was hooked on art. Granted, initial
drawings were in crayon on household walls, so first "reviews" weren’t the most pleasant. But the power implied in a
simple line reeled her in from the start.
Lines created things she could not immediately hold in her hands. Lines created things that existed only in
her imagination.
Kimberly Kelly Santini has pursued a knowledge of the arts her entire life. She has a BFA in Painting, a BA
in Art History, has worked for the J. Paul Getty Trust, a fine art auction house, and has studied (and continues to study)
with incredibly gifted artists.
Now a full time artist (lest we forget wife and mother), she continues refining her painting skills and sharing
her love of art with all who listen.
Art is woven into the fabric of her every day – when not in the studio, she teaches beginning painting
and drawing classes, visits elementary school classrooms, mentors beginning artists, pursues her own continued education,
and acts as an arts advocate within her community.
Bold in color, delightful in nature, and the proud focal point of many homes and corporate collections, Santini’s
paintings are in high demand. Her daily portrait project, titled "Painting a Dog a Day, is booked more than a year in advance
and raises thousands of dollars annually for animal welfare programs.
The artist works in acrylic, layering translucent colors on canvas or board. Gestural and painterly, the brushwork
draws the viewer across the surface, and the layers beckon the eye into/underneath it.
She pares her subject matter down to it’s bare essentials – personality, attitude and bold color.
By placing the subject off-balance, employing unusual cropping and perspective, exaggerating natural colors and values, and
often working lifesize or larger, the subject’s presence is dramatically heightened. It is not uncommon to actually
"hear" her paintings breathing, or feel compelled to reach for the subject.
Kimberly Kelly Santini is represented by Margot’s Gallery and Frame in Oxford, MI.
She welcomes
your questions and comments. You
may contact her directly at ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com.
Meet Turtledove, the Muse Behind TurtledoveDesigns
Pet Portrait Studio
| Turtle's most recent portrait, done in March 2007. |
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TurtleDove (1990-2007) made up half of the cat household which
ruled the Santini family for so many years. A small and timid calico, she was adopted from a rescue league in California,
and chose to call us family for 18 years.
Naming the studio after Turtle was a no-brainer - after all,
paintings inspired by her led to Kimberly's first commissioned pet portraits.
Turtle and her sidekick, Miah (otherwise known as "the Black
Cat"), have served as muse and model for many, many paintings.
Finnigan, a blue-heeler cattle dog mix, joined the family most
recently. In no time at all, he mastered both the art of tormenting the cats and posing for his own series of portraits.
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