ABOUT THE ARTIST

About Kathy Kelly, the Artist - A True Cat Lover

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Hello!

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This year brings Kats by Kelly to its 30th year!  I say a prayer of thanks every day, because I get paid to draw and color the comical things that make us love our finicky felines so much.  “How cool is that!”

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In 1991, after ten years of teaching high school art and completing my Master's Degree in Art Management from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL. I decided to create my own company, Kats by Kelly.  So I packed up my van and headed for my first gift show and I've never looked back! 

 

I've gained inspiration from the many cats that have strolled into my life as well as the wonderful stories told to me by cat lovers over the years. So, when you have a cat story please share it with me. I would love to hear about your cat's antics. 

 

As a business owner, it has been my goal to work with companies in my community to help support Mom and Pop businesses like mine. I work with a husband and wife that have a small silk-screening business and my stationery products are printed by two brothers that are grade school friends.  It’s a “purr-fect” combination!  All Made in America.

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This year brings a new Calendar (the drawings fly off my finger!), and new images for magnets, and matted and framed prints. I finished the Children’s book in 2014! It has been a great success!  I’m very proud to bring my educational background together with my illustrations.  Jelly Beans Art Museum Adventure I hope is the first in a series of 9 stories for the nine lives of a cat!  Jelly Beans Art Museum Adventure is for kids 4 to 99 years young.

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Places I find inspiration: my Irish heritage, love of music, and sports.  I’m also inspired by your stories and photographs that have been sent showing feline funnies please keep them coming. 

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Now a little about the stars; my two cats Matty and Morah my two kitty cats.  Mattie is the younger of the two and is a gray tabby.  She loves to play with paper balls of any kind.  When she hears the paper begin to tear she comes running from the farthest corners of the house!  I use sheets from old scratch pads they make the perfect paper ball size.  She loves to slide the paper around like a hockey puck, batting it between her two front paws with her butt up in the air and the tail flying.

 

Morah, my black cat likes to hide and wait for the perfect time to spring on Matty, tag her, and dashes off with Matty in hot pursuit!  They constantly fight over lap space and on cold winter nights we all bunch together.  Right now Morah is across my lap as I type this note!  It’s amazing how you learn to adjust to let the little ones get comfortable.  If I spelled anything wrong it’s her fault.

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I hope you enjoy my comical black cat playing from the office to the kitchen to the bathroom or the bed. I hope you find something that is just right for you.  Have a fantastic year.

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Thank you for your support over the years. Enjoy!

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Kathy Kelly