‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’: Creative Q&A with Palmer painter Jerry Kelly

PALMER— Jerry Kelly is a Palmer transplant and a lifelong painter who recently participated in a question and answer interview to discuss his journey as a painter, the value of being a member of a local art group like the Valley Arts Alliance, and the importance of chasing creative inclinations.

Q: When did you move to Palmer?“I came up here four years ago this August. My wife had passed away and I moved up here with my daughter and son-in-law. I moved up from Phoenix.”

Q: How do you like up here?“I love it. I don’t miss the hot weather at all. I love all the rolling hills and all the rivers, and streams, and lakes, and all the greenery. As a painter, it’s endless beauty up here.”

Q: How long have you been a painter?“I have some paintings and pictures my mother’s saved, starting from the third grade on up… I stopped painting for a while when my family was young, concentrating on raising three children and feeding and clothing them. Then, I got back into painting seriously later on in life… I always liked to draw and paint and was interested in the arts besides painting… My wife and I did a lot of entertainment. My wife was a voice teacher and a soloist and sang all over Europe and here in the states. We’ve been in operas and Broadway shows. I’ve built sets and designed sets. We just had a good time together.”

Q: What have you done with your paintings over the years?“I call it mental therapy. It’s very relaxing for me, and I like the creativeness of it. I don’t do portraits because they take too long and I just don’t want to do injustice with the person in the painting. I’ve done a lot of scenery work and things like that. I’m not into a bunch of this abstract painting.”

Q: What kinds of paintings do you work on?“Right now, I’ve been painting on strips of wood that have bark left on the side. I’ve been enjoying a series of a lot of the birch trees up here during all four seasons. Now I’m currently working on a close-up of a black bear’s face on wood. I’ve painted some canal scenes from Venice, Italy. I don’t like to stick to one certain subject and I don’t like to paint the same style each time… So it looks like a different painter painted the pictures… I like to do street scenes. I’ve done scenes with lighting in it, and sunsets. I did a lot of Western art when I was down in Phoenix because that’s the style down there… I’m adjusting up here because the people up here don’t seem to go as much for the Western scenes.”

Q: What have you noticed about the Alaskan art trends?“A lot of it has to do with the Alaskan culture and being in the Last Frontier. I’ve met some really neat people. I wanted to start an art club and I heard about the Valley Arts Alliance and I joined one of the meetings… We meet every Thursday at Sophia’s Cafe. Then, we go over to the recycling center and they let us use their training room all Thursday afternoon where we all get together and paint and we critique one another or we help someone out. If we have a new person come in, I’ll spend the first hour working with them, then during the last hour or two, I resume my painting.”

Q: What’s your take on the Valley Arts Alliance?“I think it’s a very nice group because we not only have the artists or painters, we’ve got members that do pottery, some of them make their own jewelry. I like the fact they have the fashion show and all the outfits are made of recyclable materials. It’s people’s creative juices flowing and it’s amazing... The VAA is doing some pretty good things for the community… It’s very enjoyable and relaxing. It’s a great group of people… with the different variety of arts in the community and bringing them together. It’s a nice, unifying thing.”

Q: In your experience, how important is it to have local groups and opportunities for people to express themselves creatively?“I think anytime anyone who helps another person gets rewarded. I’m a great believer that what goes around comes around... I’m not an art teacher but I enjoy sharing my knowledge with other people to get their creative juices flowing and see how excited they are when they can paint their first picture.”

Q: What’s your advice to budding artists or those wanting to pursue their creative inclinations?“Don’t give up on your dream because ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ Not everybody is gonna be a DaVinci or a Michaelangelo, but if what you create makes you feel good, that’s all that counts. I try to help people develop their style, not mine.”

Q: What are some of the biggest lessons or takeaways you’ve carried with you all these years being involved with the arts?

“To me, it’s how you can interpret something different than somebody else… I like challenges. I think when you challenge yourself and do something different or paint outside your comfort zone, then you grow as an artist.”

For more information about the Valley Arts Alliance, visit valleyartsalliance.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com