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 ( 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,...

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. © 20...

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.

© 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. 

© 2017 Kelly Reark,  Sepia Sailfish . Acrylic on fiberglass. Kelly Reark Chosen as 2017-2018 ROFFS ™  Artist of the Year In a press release on November 16, the announcement was made that I won the Artist of the Year title at ROFFS™. What an honor to be among this elite group of artists! ROFFS™ annually selects an artist to feature as "Artist of the Year." The purpose of this honor is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with artists in the marine community. Artists are selected based on a variety of objective and subjective criteria. ROFFS™ promotes the Artist of the Year and does not get a commission or any direct financial benefit from this. They just love really great marine art! Previous recipients have been Don Ray, Steve Goione, Carey 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. Click here to go  to the ROFF...

© 2017 Kelly Reark,  Bahamas Royalty   Permit. Acrylic on fiberglass fish mount (34" Permit) The idea for Bahamas Royalty came through looking at photos of my last trip to Marsh Harbour. A queen triggerfish, queen conch, queen angelfish, silver king ... so many royally beautiful fish from our daily dive! Having a marine biology background, I enjoy the research involved in preparing a work. I look at the entire ecology of the main subject: the habitat, lighting, supportive species, food source and biology. Days of sketching later, I settle on my idea and got to work with the paint. My process is to sketch multiple views of each creature or landmark. Then I use transparent paper to make an outline and work out the best placement on the fish mount. Many of my sketches and images are saved for another project because my ideas are usually too many for one fish mount. The next step is to antique the areas that I want to give that "old paper" look and to pai...

The inside joke ... When I paint, my style is realistic surrealism. I enjoy the challenge of accurately painting God's creations in somewhat ideal settings, and I also enjoy infusing humor or sarcasm. Here is my FL lobster - we call lobsters "bugs". These bugs and all sorts of other bugs are a fact of life here in FL. This one is hiding under the fin of the mount, which I have painted with a Kino flipflop. I don't know about you but when I see a bug in my house, my Kino is usually the first thing I grab. 

I was lucky growing up. My dad is part Indiana Jones, part Bruce Willis and part Steve Irwin (before any of us knew who Steve was). He taught my brother and I how to hunt, fish, use weapons and use our heads in the Great Outdoors. We learned to take only what we needed, to not kill anything we weren't prepared to eat, and to leave nothing behind. We learned how to be happy no matter the weather, or at least be quietly unhappy when the waves were taller than the sides of the boat. We've had so many great adventures together as a family. Now that we are grown with families of our own, we choose to get together and continue our adventures! There's no place any of us would rather be than together in the woods or on a boat somewhere. Even when we disagree, we try to disagree over a campfire or a bait well. Our family is strong because of the love and learning provided by our parents. If you are blessed to be a father or grandfather, or if you might someday be one, t...

Are those tarpon scales real silver? It sure would seem that way! Congratulations to Alex Shouppe's team on the HEY MOMA! with Captain Wayne Joiner for their $32,400 first place win in the 2017 World's Richest Tarpon Tournament. Captain Wayne also took home the Jay Joiner Memorial Belt Buckle. The first fish caught and second place prizes went to the Wise team aboard Captain Charlie Coleman's CASUARINA. Combined winnings collected by Howard Wise's team amounted to $48,600. Captain Nat Italiano and SPOOK hosted Howard Franklin's team. They caught the last fish of the tournament and won $27,000. Nat joked with me that their fish was probably worth about $1,500 per inch. Maybe an exaggeration, but still proving it doesn't have to be a record-setting fish to win a record-setting prize.  Goodbye, my love. Many of you braved the heat to catch up with me at the Boca Grande Invitational Art Festival, and I am SO thankful for that! Great to ...

What Ladies Day Tarpon Tournament means ... For more than a decade, my mom and I fished the  Ladies Day Tarpon Tournament   together in Boca Grande Pass aboard my dad's boat - the SALTY CRACKER. Mom and I love fishing, and it is something many mother-daughter teams share in this particular tournament. Ladies Day has traditionally been fished on Mother's Day weekend because it is the one weekend during tarpon season when captains would reserve a tide and take their spouses and daughters out on the water to have a family day instead of taking a charter. In the beginning we were all just out there together, taunting and fishing and waiving to the other women in the Pass. Through the hard work of some very special ladies, the first official tournament was fished in 1990. Forward, 27 years later, there is as much camaraderie and competition as ever. There are great prizes and shenanigans too. It's the one big tournament where female anglers flood Boca Grande Pa...

Within Reach tattooed tarpon mount (C) Kelly Reark It's more than a mount ... it's a memory. From the very first tarpon mount I created, I was "hooked" on this unique art form. Every one that I do is completely original and individualized to the story behind it. Most people that ask me for tarpon mounts want to be reminded of the beauty and historical sites in Boca Grande, or the fantastic memories made while catching their Silver King. In addition to the very popular tarpon mounts, I have created some sea turtle mounts and am currently working on a free-standing snook mount. Sign up for my VIP Patrons emails to see photos first.

© 2018 Kelly Reark,  Turtle Jelly . Watercolor on cold press paper. Wet Paint!  As my VIP, you get exclusive first looks at my completed new art pieces. You also get  first dibs  on purchasing them before I make a public art launch! Isn't that exciting? I've been working on some pen and ink drawings combined with experimental watercolors. These various pieces will  not  be reproduced as limited editions. They are meant to stand alone and be special original works. So that's it! It's first come, first served. In seven days, I will make the offering public if it has not sold to a VIP. "Turtle Jelly"  is the first piece I launched in February 2018. A sea turtle is diving in fast toward a stylized moon jellyfish. I used a very graphic, illustrative style. The line drawing is pen and ink using various brush tips and it really highlights each scale and shell plate in contrast to the loosely painted water. ($150)...

There have been multiple asks for a link to my Collector's Circle email signup form. Here is the link! Thank you for your interest in my artwork. My Collector's Circle enjoys advance access to new artwork. My art is in demand and many times the originals sell to my Collector's Circle before ever being released to the public market. This is the singular best way to see all of my new art and have a shot at purchasing it.  Otherwise you will have to wait for me to do a public art launch. :(  Who likes to wait?  Especially when it means most likely missing out on buying your choice of artwork.  For instance, I launched a turtle painting to my Collector's Circle and sold it within  minutes . There were a dozen inquiries to that painting. That art is not going to be reproduced as a print, so the patron who acted on the email offering was able to acquire a very special piece of artwork. When I post the image to my website later in the month, no on...