Artist Kelly Reark

2019 © Kelly Reark, RICHEST MEMORIES. Acrylic on canvas (36x48).
Photo credit: Boca Beacon

Thank you so very much for coming out and visiting with me at the Boca Grande Invitational this past weekend. Listening to all of your positive feedback about my new paintings, and they way that the tournament artwork brought about memories for you made me grateful that I could touch so many of you.

This fishery really is a family. Yes, many are related by blood and marriage. There's so much more to it than that. I'd venture to say that nowhere in the world has our kind of community friendship and love. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.  Results of the 2019 World’s Richest: First tarpon of the first day: Capt. Sandy Melvin, Boca Blue - $12,500 Last tarpon of first day: Capt. Wayne Joiner, Hey, Moma! - $12,500 First tarpon and last tarpon of second day: Capt. Lamar Joiner Jr., Searene - $25,000 Second place with four total releases in two days: Capt. Lamar Joiner Jr., Searene - $…

Tarpon week in Boca Grande ... The week of June 3, 2019 is an exciting week for all of us on the island. There are so many events surrounding the 37th Annual World's Richest Tarpon Tournament. I attend all of the tournament events and I unveil my newest original paintings at the Boca Grande Invitational Art Show.

Carroll Swayze created another amazing lineup of world-class talent for the 2019 Boca Grande Invitational. The central streets of downtown are lined with white tents of artists known for their nautical and coastal wildlife works in every medium from glass and sculpture to painting and jewelry. You can see my 2018 and 2019 WRTT artworks side-by-side during the event. It's a special event where you can shop to live music and grab a bite to eat at one of the iconic downtown stops.

In brief, here is our schedule of events: Monday is the Grande Tradition event, Tuesday is the Sponsor Reception, Wednesday is the Captains Party, and Fishing is on Thursday and Friday. Friday…

In March, 2019, Kelly launched a line of wearable artwork in a collaboration with FRIO Ice Chests and Visual Promotions brand.
Visit https://kellyreark.frioicechests.com to check out all of the designs. New items added regularly - follow Kelly on Instagram and Facebook for product launches.  Wholesaler opportunities - please inquire - www.kellyreark.com
Reigning Silver Tarpon Hammerhead Hide

Each year that I create the artwork for the World’s Richest TarponTournament, it is a very special honor to me. I love the Boca Grande fishery for so many reasons. The people I’ve fished with and the exhilaration of catching the mighty silver king are priceless. We are blessed to live in such a special place where the tarpon pile up and present us with the spectacle of huge rolling and feeding schools. Watching the crabs run on the tide or a fish evading a large and looming shadow of a bull or hammerhead are sights common here, unlike anywhere else.

When I sit back in my chair on a drift off the pass, I often think about my previous tarpon experiences. Every single one was an event shared with friends and loved ones that I truly cherish. Fishing is as much about people and relationships as it is about the fish.  This year is a year of setting sons for our fishery. A few of the boats and people that I grew up fishing with or next to will no longer be in the Pass. Their familiar sight i…

Click here to read an article published by the Boca Beacon in Boca Grande, FL.

Thank you, Boca Beacon, for the feature of my artwork.

Artist Kelly Reark

www.KellyReark.com
www.TattooedTarpon.com
www.WaterfrontKelly.com

2019 © Kelly Reark, ON THE EDGE OF PEACE. Acrylic on canvas (24x30).I hope you’ve been following me on social media (facebook and Instagram) to see the start-to-finish time lapse videos I’ve released.The 20 to 30 second tidbits give an idea of how I work a canvas.

I have compiled 50+ hours of video into about 7 minutes so that you can watch it all at once. I posted it to YouTube (Click to view). Right now, there's some background music. The pollen, weird weather, and red tide have combined in a perfect storm and struck me down. I am a wheezy, coughing asthmatic mess. As soon as my voice returns and I stop coughing, I can dub the audio with commentary on my process. If you have any questions that you’d like me to answer during my video, send them to me now!

This art represents the PReaCH campaign. We launched the artwork at the Peace River Revival in Punta Gorda on March 30. PReaCH is dedicated to bringing resource protection awareness to, and advocacy for, the Peace River and Cha…

South County Healthy Living Article
Hitting the shelves November 2018 is the inaugural edition of the South County Healthy Living Magazine. I was interviewed for the edition, and if you would like to read the online version click HERE. You can pick up a copy at many of the local businesses throughout Venice, North Port, Nokomis and Englewood.

These two brand new mahi mahi watercolor paintings were auctioned off at the West Palm Beach Fishing Club annual BBQ and awards banquet in south Florida. The BBQ is a huge event with awards given out for outstanding fishing throughout the year. Why did I choose them? They put great emphasis on traditions and are active advocates of initiatives that promote habitat protection and sustainable fishing. They give educational seminars and scholarships to kids, and since 2001 have donated more than 2,000 fishing rod/reel outfits to kids just to keep kids excited about protecting the marine environment so we can continue to experience the fishing that we all love!

Each of these ink and watercolor paintings are one-of-a-kind, 9x12 illustrations of one of my favorite fish to catch and um ... not release. Good thing they are some of the fastest growing fish in the ocean. Your only chance at these two is to attend the event this weekend!

Click here to learn more about the event.

© 2018 Kelly Reark,…

Belted Kingfishers: Her Majesty's Wish 2018 © Kelly Reark, Her Majesty's Wish. Acrylic on canvas (16x20).

These belted kingfishers titled "Her Majesty's Wish" show the unique relationship between a male and female of the species. Male kingfishers will repeatedly bring offerings of food to a potential mate. She will either accept the offering or snub him until he brings her the perfect present. Once they are in agreement, they become a monogamous nesting pair and he will continue to feed her throughout their courtship.

Here's my completed "Banyan Street" painting. I am happy to report that it hangs in its new home along with its sister painting called "Wormsloe". Stay tuned to my Instagram for a timelapse clip of my work in action!

Artist Kelly Reark
www.KellyReark.com
www.TattooedTarpon.com
www.WaterfrontKelly.com

Local Artist Kelly Reark on Conservation and Remembering That One Great Catch Click through Kelly Reark’s online gallery and you will find yourself in a South Florida ocean scene: canvas, silk, and fish mounts show bright renditions of turtles, flats fishermen, sea horses, and—of course—bonefish, tarpon, and permit. Kelly’s Florida roots go back several generations. As a child, she developed an interest in the local wildlife while hunting and fishing with her family. She attended the University of Miami and upon graduating in 2002, moved to Boca Grande where her father ran a tarpon fishing charter. Eight years later, Kelly started her career as a professional artist. She began experimenting with different media and color combinations, even adding her “trademark” style to three-dimensional fish mounts. Someone asked Kelly to paint a mount and, saying, “I’ll paint on anything!” she watched a rush of similar orders come in. The mounts have “this nostalgic quality to them, but they’re sti…

Press Release – November 16, 2017 Kelly Reark Wins Artist of the Year for 2017-2018 At ROFFS™ we annually select an artist that we would like to feature as our “Artist of the Year.” The purpose of this honor is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with relatively new and up and coming artists in the marine community. We select artists based on a variety of objective and subjective criteria. Previous recipients have been Don Ray, Steve Goione, Cary Chen, Kevin Brant, Barry Barnett, Daniel Jean-Baptiste, Mark Ray, Tony Ludovico, Judy Shillingburg, Larry Rackley, David Mellor, Dustin Cole, Dennis Friel and Adrian Gray. This year the ROFFS™ “artist of the year 2017-2018” is Kelly Reark of Gulf Cove Studio, Port Charlotte, FL We hope that it will promote the artist and their art in that our web visitors will tell other people about the art and generate sales for the artist. We hope the samples of their art will make our website a more interesting place to visit. ROFFS™ does not g…

In 2017, I created the "Johnson Shoals" tarpon mount for a Bonefish & Tarpon Trust auction in Boca Grande. King Sailfish supplied the fish mount for this project. The idea for the painting came to me from the many times I have drifted in the Pass, watching the waves and the shadows dancing beneath them. The shoals are on the south side of the pass, so when you look back across it you can see the Boca Grande lighthouse. From this perspective, the Gulf waters are to the "left".  The fundraiser was a success and one of Boca Grande's own purchased the fish to hang in a local office building.

Artist Kelly Reark
www.TattooedTarpon.com

​Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Kelly's artwork "Conch Republic Mermaid" was featured at Orlando Harley-Davidson's BIKE WEEK 2017. The mermaid was inspired by the Atocha shipwreck and a 1950's Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Sharks circle the wreck as a siren of the sea gathers her treasures. Take her for a ride on t-shirts and poker chips commemorating the event. Several Florida Harley-Davidson locations will carry the artwork. 
​To purchase a shirt, click here.

​Rotary Spring Fine Arts Show On the 25th and 26th of March, 2017, Kelly sponsored the Rotary Club of Englewood's Spring Fine Arts Show. Her painting, "Double Dip" was available for purchase on shirts and posters. One lucky patron won a framed giclee from the limited edition. Proceeds provided funds for the Youth Scholarship Program. Original and giclee limited editions are for sale, as is the original. Kelly participated in the March 24-25, 2018 show. Thank you to all who stopped by at the booth!