Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Frankenberg.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was a little girl. I loved to color and paint and draw and make up stories. I practiced and had talent. Luckily, my parents were able to support me and my talent and sent me to art school. I started with illustration at Minneapolis College of Art & Design because I loved children’s books and felt that illustration was mostly painting and drawing, which were my media of choice. It was during college I got more into writing, especially after my father died of cancer and my mom was dealing with cancer as well. About seven years later, I returned to school for my MFA in Creative Writing. I wanted to finish my memoir, be able to teach college and study abroad again. After completing my memoir and teaching college classes, I had my son. Not wanting to beg for my class or two of teaching back, I started to focus on my art full-time while raising my son. My love for travel, from which I get most of my art inspiration, stayed at the forefront of my life as I took my son to as many places as possible. Gathering photos from many places around the globe, I had an outstanding stock of work to paint from. After writing a few children’s books and doing a few commissions and murals, I returned to my art career path. Showing in galleries, selling work at festivals, and networking in art, I was involved in Art to Change the World, a non-profit art collective organization.
Today, I am the assistant director, working towards the mission of paying artists, building community, and creating work for positive social change. I can create and sell my work, network, enjoy a fellowship of artists, help get artists paid, display work in gallery shows, educate the public about art and the environment, include the community in free public art events and opportunities, and bridge gaps between cultures, races, religions, gender, and age. Supporting all art forms and being one of the most inclusive and diverse groups of artists, scientists, and other community members, participating in this organization and making real change has been a highlight of my art career. I even created my mural painting team, based on Art to Change the World’s philosophy and the philosophy of Cosmopolitanism: the idea that every human is a part of one community. I call it Cosmopolitan 7. I believe in unity amongst humans and feel art is how we can promote that. Cosmopolitan7.com
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A significant obstacle for any artist is payment. Greater society hasn’t taken artists seriously and insists they work for little or nothing. Hence the term ‘starving artist.’ At Art to Change the World, we are trying to shatter that idea and get artists the money they deserve, a little at a time. It’s working, and we aren’t where we want to be, but it takes baby steps. I’ve had to figure out which avenues for my art are worth my time and money, and I’m still figuring that out.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a creative, I’m mostly a painter. I mostly paint in acrylic when I have time and work from one of my photos. When doing a quick painting while traveling, I usually work in watercolor and plein air. Sometimes, I paint plein air in acrylic. I rarely use oil anymore, but I go through phases. I’ve worked in every type of paint and found acrylic to be the easiest and least messy. I try to stick with a limited palette of primary colors because I love mixing my colors and maintaining harmony within the palette. I enjoy photography but use it mainly as a reference for paintings or to capture things I don’t have time to paint. I’ve been doing public art, group art projects, and murals lately. Most of my illustrative work is colorful, humorous, whimsical, and symbolic. My landscape paintings from my travels are primarily realistic representations. I am most proud of the work where I’ve tried something new, and something extraordinary came out of it. Or I’ve worked with another artist, and we created something much better than if we had worked alone. My diverse background of worldly inspiration and incorporating that within my work sets me apart. Having experienced all 50 states, over 50 countries, and 6 continents, I feel I bring a human understanding and earthly philosophy to my landscape paintings and other work.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Most people who know me know about everything since I am an open book. However, new people I meet might not know that I’ve written and published my memoir, written a screenplay, and created and produced the film, along with the voices and all that goes along with that form of art. And perhaps not many know I also have written and recorded songs.
Contact Info:
- Website: kellyfrankenberg.com
- Instagram: kelly.frankenberg
- Facebook: Kellyfrankenbergartist
- Other: cosmopolitan7.com
Image Credits
Briana Dale Jorgensen
