Chelly Harkness

A wise person once told me that if I wanted to be happy, I simply needed to surround myself with people and things that amuse and comfort me. I now live by this philosophy and apply it to my work as an artist. The only real goal I have as a painter is to create art that will make people happy. I'm not trying to make a "statement" with my art; the only emotion I hope to elicit is a positive one.

I began painting many years ago as a form of meditation. I am, by nature, a restless person cursed with a short attention span, but when I paint the world around me seems to slow down and I become calm, peaceful, and completely in the moment. Needless to say, all I want to do is paint!

In keeping with my philosophy of spreading happiness through art, I choose to paint subjects that stimulate positive emotion. For me, that translates to inviting landscapes, clouds and sunflowers, and people at leisure enjoying life.

My style is what might be called a more colorful version of reality. Bold, primary colors characterize my paintings straight away. I love the graphic quality of placing colors from opposite sides of the color wheel next to each other, such as bold, warm yellows against deep, rich blues.

Although I studied art in college and have been painting for many years, I finally made the leap to full time artist in 2008. I am pleased to say that my work has found homes with a wonderful, diverse group of people over the years, though venues such as art festivals, where my pieces have been selected for various awards, through art galleries and charity auctions, and through my web site and online art stores such as Etsy. In March of 2010, I got a kick out of being featured on the television program "Focus," an art series on the local public television network. I am currently represented by the Art On Fifth art gallery in Melbourne, Florida.

For more information about me, and my work, I invite you to visit my web site at  www.ChellyHarkness.com.  I am always happy to answer any questions about my about art, or just to chat about anything else for that matter, (I spend a lot of time alone in the studio!) so please feel free to email me at:

ChellyHarkness@hotmail.com

or call me at: (321)-432-5414 (eastern standard time).

Thanks for visiting my page,

Chelly Harkness

Cape Canaveral, Florida