Irish artist's fans include Amy Huberman and 'The Real Housewives of New York City'

Irish-Mexican artist Jess Kelly creates paintings that appeal to interior designers and celebrity fans in Ireland and across the globe

Wed, 31 Jul, 2024 - 08:23

Carol O’Callaghan

You know how Clark Kent is a reporter for the Daily Planet but has his Superman side hustle by night and no one suspects a thing? Well, there’s a superwoman in Carlow who works part-time in marketing, is raising four children aged 17 to one year and, in her own words, “is running from the sidelines of a football pitch to changing nappies”.

By night she morphs into abstract artist Jess Kelly whose clients include Irish celebrities Una Healy and Amy Huberman, and cast members from The Real Housewives of New York City and The Real Housewives of Dallas, along with interior designers and private individuals.

It might never have happened, however, had it not been for the phenomenon in lockdown of hidden talents emerging and time to explore them taking many people off in new and interesting directions in their working lives.

For Jess, it was an opportunity to work on her art and get her first sale through Instagram at a time when home interiors became a hobby.

Think about art in places other than high-traffic areas in the home. The Luz with its moody tones and gold accents ties in with the black bathtub for a coherent interior design.

It’s been a progression since, creating a collection of adaptable artworks which has attracted interior designers looking for art to complete projects, in addition to one-off commissions. “My niche market is interior design,” Jess says. “My art is abstract and timeless and can be adapted in terms of colour and texture to work with a design.”

Abstraction and texture characterise her work inspired by architecture, interior design, fashion, and the childhood influence of her Mexican mother. “I have an Irish dad and I grew up in Ireland but spent my summers in Mexico. Mam painted as a hobby and she always encouraged me.”

Four years after making that first sale, she has just completed seven works for a mansion in the UK commissioned by an interior designer. “I support clients in creating a piece for their home,” she says as she describes the process for choosing one of her existing artworks and how it can be adapted colour, texture and sizewise to suit.

The Riviera is mixed media, acrylic, stretched on premium Italian cotton canvas.

“They’ll send me a picture of their room and I can put in the size of painting they want in a mockup. Some will buy what they’ve seen but with a different colour or texture, and others need their hands held.”

“It’s a collaborative process that starts with communication," she says — which isn’t surprising coming from a marketeer.

“To give me a sense of their space and style, they sometimes send me their mood boards, fabric, a sort of bible of their home. I have a client who is back and forth between Ireland and San Francisco and she sent me pictures of clouds taken on the plane.”

Jess also stresses the importance of having timeless art which doesn’t age with décor but focuses on other considerations.

“I want to create something that gives them a feeling when they see it. I ask what emotion they want from the piece. Definitely for bedrooms try to commission something calm, and for the living room a sense of relaxation. The hall is where I see louder pieces with more colour and texture.”

With prices starting at €595, Jess is accommodating for clients on budgets.

“I have lots of people who save up or have instalment plans over four months, or if what you want is too expensive, size down the piece.”

The trend for brown and cream interiors can be accented with gentle colour in art to lift the neutral look.

She’s just finished two paintings for Donegal’s five-star Lough Eske Castle Hotel and her work is also in the Baltimore Michelin-starred restaurant Dede, as well as commissions from clients across Europe and the US.

Friendly and warm and keen to make sure she understands clients’ needs, be they celebrities or home interior enthusiasts looking for something special, Jess wants to be as accessible to everyone as possible. “I’m extremely approachable,” she says. “I’m talking at 10 o'clock at night with clients asking as many questions as possible so they get what they want.”

Jess takes inspiration from architecture, interior design and fashion in making her art.

It means that what started in her kitchen and moved to a garden studio is now an ever-increasing workload, with 12-15 commissioned pieces on the go right now and ambitions to take her art in new directions. “I’d like to do more work for shared spaces and I’d love to see it in another industry, on cushions and in fashion and develop limited edition prints to make it more accessible.”