Diane Kell

I have a new life painting landscapes and cloudscapes in the Southwest. This follows childhood in Michigan, then Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana; college at Brown University (A.B., Art History); nearly 30 years as an educational researcher in Massachusetts, marrying and being a mother, starting a doctoral program and leaving with an M.Ed. at Harvard. In 1995 I took leave to care for a family member and began painting with watercolors. The next fall, I continued painting while traveling with my husband on his work trips to France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Brazil. In 2001, we moved to Santa Fe. He continued to travel as a consultant while I began a second career in gallery marketing and administration. In 2004, when my husband passed away, I stayed in Santa Fe because the sky lifted my spirits. Now, as an artist, I try to do the same for others. I imagine them waking to a sunrise feeling hopeful, seeing promise in a rainbow, wandering among clouds, admiring a sunset, in awe of evening glow. If a painting holds my gaze for a long time and I feel joy, peace or wonder, then I believe others will feel it, too. I have been married to my second husband since 2007. We experienced great joy (and some tribulation) fostering over 90 children in the next 10 years, most for a few days or weeks, others for up to 10 months. I became a full-time artist and joined the Santa Fe Society of Artists in 2017. I participate in most of their outdoor shows. I feel blessed to be part of the Santa Fe arts community under an ever-changing, beautiful sky.