Artist Kelly Reark

2019 © Kelly Reark, ON THE EDGE OF PEACE. Acrylic on canvas (24x30).I hope you’ve been following me on social media (click the icons for facebook and Instagram above) to see the start-to-finish time lapse videos I’ve released these past weeks. I haven't posted the part where I paint the tarpon. You're seeing it here first! It’s been an exciting project to share. 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" button below). 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 will represent the PRe…

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!

© 2018 Kelly Reark, Turtle Jelly. Watercolor on cold press paper.This is a very detailed pen and ink drawing of a sea turtle swimming toward it's favorite candy: jellyfish! I painted the jellyfish in these airy pink and purple hues because the lightness of the creature floating in the water makes me think of the wispy sugar strands of cotton candy.

© 2018 Kelly Reark, Ink Tarpon. Watercolor on cold press paper. (11 x 17 inches) You missed it!  One of my VIPs snapped up this beautiful watercolor. My VIP Patrons enjoyed a private art launch and each of the wonderful original works were only available to them. I won't be making any prints of these works. The only way to get in on them is to be one of my VIPs.Take a minute and sign up! Thank you for following the progression of my artwork. I look forward to sharing with you as I continue to grow and refine my craft.

"Ink Tarpon" was so much fun to create. I went crazy with the background and used washes, salt, blotters, alcohol and watercolors to create an abstract environment for these beauties. Tarpon are so darn beautiful. My pen and ink drawing is detailed and each scale articulated. 
In conjunction with the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament coming up in a few months, I am showing new art pieces in the Invitational Art Show held in downtown Boca Grande on May 18-…