writer/illustrator
Julia Kelly
“The West, its landscape, history and people have always moved me in my art and writing, but so
have other places in my travels. We truly live on an amazing planet!”
Julia Kelly grew up in the mountains of Colorado. Born in Boulder and living in Aspen, her family
eventually settled in Loveland, where many days were spent following her brother through the
foothills near their grandma’s cabin in Waltonia, up the Buckhorn and later, near their parent’s cabin
in Glen Haven.
She received her BA in Art from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where her future
husband introduced her to the aspen covered mountains of the San Juans. But even though
Southwest Colorado had claimed her heart, they returned to Northern Colorado to fulfill her
girlhood wish of being married in St. Bartholomew’s Chapel near Estes Park.
Today, the Kellys live “a rocks throw” from the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and
New Mexico and are introducing their children to the wonders of not only the mountains, but also
the canyons and deserts outside their backdoor.
Although classically trained, Julia Kelly also returned to her childhood pursuit of creating with
fabric and thread, to find her medium of expression in “fabric collage”, putting a new spin on a
traditional American art form. Not able to work a sewing machining properly, she stitches by hand,
finishing with embroidery embellishments, preferable in a comfy chair listening to a good movie.
Her other “enjoyable pursuits” including strolling through mountain towns, “feasting” around a
table with friends and family, and teaching art to Navajo and rural kids at Battle Rock Charter
school, a historic one room school house down in McElmo Canyon near the Utah border, where
Butch Cassidy hid his first attempts at rustling.
have other places in my travels. We truly live on an amazing planet!”
Julia Kelly grew up in the mountains of Colorado. Born in Boulder and living in Aspen, her family
eventually settled in Loveland, where many days were spent following her brother through the
foothills near their grandma’s cabin in Waltonia, up the Buckhorn and later, near their parent’s cabin
in Glen Haven.
She received her BA in Art from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where her future
husband introduced her to the aspen covered mountains of the San Juans. But even though
Southwest Colorado had claimed her heart, they returned to Northern Colorado to fulfill her
girlhood wish of being married in St. Bartholomew’s Chapel near Estes Park.
Today, the Kellys live “a rocks throw” from the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and
New Mexico and are introducing their children to the wonders of not only the mountains, but also
the canyons and deserts outside their backdoor.
Although classically trained, Julia Kelly also returned to her childhood pursuit of creating with
fabric and thread, to find her medium of expression in “fabric collage”, putting a new spin on a
traditional American art form. Not able to work a sewing machining properly, she stitches by hand,
finishing with embroidery embellishments, preferable in a comfy chair listening to a good movie.
Her other “enjoyable pursuits” including strolling through mountain towns, “feasting” around a
table with friends and family, and teaching art to Navajo and rural kids at Battle Rock Charter
school, a historic one room school house down in McElmo Canyon near the Utah border, where
Butch Cassidy hid his first attempts at rustling.
