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Art has the power to overcome many barriers; it can communicate emotions, inspire change and create connections between people. For our talented participant Keely, with a unique voice, art isn’t just a creative outlet. It is a pathway to community, empowerment and self-expression. With her vibrant acrylic pour paintings, Keely has built a thriving career as an artist and become a beacon of inspiration in her community.
Keely was born with intellectual disabilities that hindered her communication skills. Still, thanks to an art therapy program with Creative Resonance, she found a way to communicate, built a career as an artist, and became a prominent voice in her community.
By working with art therapist Leah Robinson, Keely was able to build a strong personal profile and social media presence. Her efforts helped raise awareness about art and disabilities to a wider audience, leading to her gaining greater notoriety in her community. This enabled her to both sell her art and be commissioned to make custom pieces.
Keely doesn’t just sell her work for personal profit; she uses some of the money from sales to donate to charities. Recently, she held a silent auction at which she raised $1600, 10% of which was donated to the International Women’s Day women’s program. This program supports economic freedom and independence for women and girls worldwide.
Keely’s art therapy has also brought immense joy to the people around her. Keely’s parents and sister couldn’t be more satisfied with her achievements. Through her work, Keely has become a valued member of her community, earned an income from her art, winning art competitions, and even became an Abstract Abilities ambassador, which has elevated Keely even higher in her community.
You can check out both Keely and Creative Resonance and maybe give them a follow on Instagram at @art.bykeely and @creativeresonant, respectfully.
This is not a complete list, as Keely is still hard at work developing her craft even further. But we wanted to give some highlights of her art history so far.
In 2023, Keely became a Prizewinning Star of the Abstract Abilities Art Competition. The result of this was drawing the spotlight of the Uniting LAC to become one of their Ambassadors for the Abstract Abilities Art Competition. This competition celebrates the International Day of People Living with Disability. Also, in 2023, Keely raised $655 for the UN Women’s program facilitated by International Women’s Day, showing that art transcends all barriers.
In the first quarter of 2024, Keely held a silent auction that aimed to raise $1,700. She raised $1,600, a phenomenal effort and one to be proud of. She donated 10% of her proceeds to the International Women’s Day women’s programs mentioned previously.
The auction and charity work had a huge impact on her local community, which resulted in several sales of her other work and her new community wanting to purchase more. This is a very personal achievement as it shows that Keely was able to draw in supporters who recognised her as a talented artist and wanted to see her develop further.
Keely’s work is also used to inspire children who live with disabilities in segregated school sections. The goal is to show these children that their disability does not limit them, but instead, they have a unique perspective they can offer the world.
Keely’s work as an artist has also garnered multiple commission requests for custom work. The reward of having your work validated like this as an artist is invaluable, and as a result, it has allowed Keely to see herself as a valued member of society. The extra funds also mean Keely is now able to purchase her own art supplies to continue to produce her art. In the past, her family funded her work, but now, with her own money, Keely has become more independent.
One of these commissions was from the Flintwood Disability Services to make a large print as a gift to their CEO, Jackie Romein, to commemorate her 25 years of service. Keely completed the work, and Jackie loves the finished piece.
Keely was also asked to make a large painting to decorate the living space of another group home within her LAC service. It was a great experience to visit the home to deliver the painting and to meet the recipients, who would now have the art in their everyday living space. This was the first time Keely received direct payment for her work. Seeing her work and talent being equated with a monetary value was an empowering experience for Keely.
Keely makes acrylic pour paintings. This new, exciting, and fun abstract art form involves working with many colours, mixing, and pouring paint to get excellent effects. It’s bright and bold, with lots of expression, movement, and liveliness. Keely uses a variety of techniques to produce cells, stripes, and wispy effects as colours flow and interact. The paint takes on a life as it transforms before your eyes like a kaleidoscope.
Here is a sample of Keely’s work with a message about the inspiration behind the art.
(note the message has been written on Keely’s behalf, not written by Keely herself)
“I created this acrylic pour painting using my favourite fun technique of blowing through a straw using my own breath, my life-force. The painting shows that energy in it. Like the ocean crashing against the cliff face. This painting was inspired by an old photo of myself at the beach looking out over the ocean at the horizon, the memories feeling the wind and feeling peace that day, merging with the relentless and powerful forces of nature.”
“This painting is about my strength and resilience, my ability to rise up whatever my struggles. Whether life feels bitter or sweet, I find myself in a flow of calm movement and layers of careful thought. My heart is always open. I always have hope. I feel the loving support of my family always there. I’m finding peace.”
From start to finish, Keely enjoys every second of her art process. Each piece starts with the preparation of her canvas, the satisfying opening of her toolbox, and the tactile feel of using her tools to hammer pushpins into the back of the canvas. It ends with the meticulous selection of colours and pouring the selection into cups.
But the prep work enjoyment is dwarfed compared to the act of creating. To make her pieces, Keely excitedly uses a metal straw to blow the liquid paint around the canvas. Keely is fascinated to see her actions of blowing result in bright colours fanning out and spreading over the white canvas. From her perspective, it is like she is casting a spell on the blank space.
For Keely, the act of creating her artwork is one of empowerment. She uses the life force of her breath to create something so personal to her. Being able to create such beautiful things with the use of her body with no outside assistance gives her immense gratification in her art.
We classified Keely process of colour selection as being “meticulous” that wasn’t just hyperbole, every time Keely picks the colours for a piece, she bases her choice based on a theme and her mood at the time. Keely has a keen eye for colour and knows how to best build a colour pallet that will suit ever project.
Her colour choice is also influenced by memories, which she draws on by looking at recent photos of events in her life. It could be herself drumming at her music therapy class, the birds at the beach while on a family holiday, a horse-riding day out, or a night at the football game with her dad.
Once the colours have been selected and poured on the canvas, Keely blows the paint with a straw, spreading it around the canvas. The way the colours play with each other is like magic, creating soft gradients and bold, striking effects. Her favourite part of making art is seeing the colours flair out over her work.
She continues to work on her craft, learning new techniques to expand her work. Keely has mastered the art of composition by tilting the canvas to reveal the colours and stretch out the designs.
No one thing prompts Keely to paint; she simply likes to paint in the moment. In a way, the act of creation inspires her artwork. She is enthusiastic and proactive in her art sessions; from the point she sits down, she is ready to create. For her, the fun of being in the moment and making art with colours is what inspires her.
Keely’s enjoyment of her art and its benefits are apparent to everyone around her. Her dad, Mark, says, “Keely loves doing art. Keely loves to create her art.” Doing things she loves helps balance the difficulties she faces living with her disabilities.
Enjoyment isn’t the only thing Keely gets from her art; it also gives her a greater sense of independence. Art therapy empowers Keely, allowing her to explore and expand her skills, social connections, and confidence. For Keely, the act of creating art has become a vital form of communication, allowing her to connect with others in her community.
“I’m sure art is a huge part of Keely’s communication. The art she produces means something to her that she can show to other people and inspire other people. People can look at her art and say, that’s fantastic! They communicate with Keely, and through her art, communication goes on with those people and herself.” Vicki, Keely’s mother.
As she developed her identity as an artist, it has also bolstered her confidence. Selling her work, receiving commissions, and fundraising have allowed her to participate in the community around her. Recognition from her community and beyond, such as becoming an ambassador for art competitions like Abstract Abilities, as well as her other achievements, helped to boost her self-esteem.
Vicki said, “Probably it was never a belief that Keely could produce artwork and be so enthralled with what she’s doing and providing some happiness and worthiness.”
Beyond the positive impacts on her mentality, artmaking has had other health benefits for Keely, improving her dexterity, increasing lung capacity, and developing her fine motor skills, just to name a few. For Keely, making art is beneficial to her physical and emotional well-being.
Her art can inspire others and establish her as a role model in her community. Check out this video on Keely’s Instagram page to get a sense of how much her art means to her: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFZitHhSy9U/
While Keely enjoys creating things in the moment and finds value and empowerment in how others interpret her work, she still has a few things planned. She is looking forward to exploring her role as an Ambassador for the Abstract Abilities Art Competition, with some plans for new art events in 2025. This includes an art auction of her work, which will aim to raise funds for Riding for the Disabled, A volunteer-led horse-riding centre in Richmond, Western Sydney.
Keely is also eager to communicate and engage further with her community through her art. She dreams of starting a website that she can use to sell her art online. She also aims to be further recognised as an artist by exhibiting her work in mainstream art galleries.
(note the message has been written on Keely’s behalf, not written by Keely herself)
“Hi I’m Keely
I am an artist. A daughter. A sister. An aunty. A friend. A challenger of norms. A lover of life and all that it offers. I have a unique communication style, and I enjoy expressing myself creatively with colour. Art is a time and a place of mindfulness, where I can be present with my thoughts, be alone with my dreams. I can be a voice for myself. When words are not possible, through the colour and materials choices I make, I am communicating to the people around me, my feelings, my mood, my needs and desires, my worries or concerns and my joys too.
I celebrate my life with art and colour, when words are not possible, I can be a voice for myself”
Vicki said “I’m so proud of Keely as the person that she is. She has showed so much resilience in her life, more than I could ever imagine. And she has now become an artist in her own right.
Keely puts a lot of confidence out there into the community and to her peers and her friends and to other people in the community that may feel they can’t do things. I think Keely has shown them that with their own heart and their own support, they are able to do anything they put their mind to. I think for me, International Women’s Day means that we need to look broadly and globally at all women from all areas of life, not just the inspiring greats of the world, but the people, the women who are underprivileged who need more help and empowerment and resilience than what’s being offered to them at the moment.
I think for people that don’t count Keely in for me, in my heart, I feel really, really sad, but probably more sad for them because they miss out on the beautiful connections that Keely brings with her, if they do count her in.”
Original video: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4dZRLHSbGD/
Vicki said, “To be an inspiration to other people will be an important part of her being an ambassador.”
Mark said, “Keely touches a lot of people in a lot of ways. So yeah, I think she’ll be good at it.”
We acknowledge the connections of First Nations People of Australia to the land, sea and community on which we live and work. As custodians of this sacred land we respect and acknowledge Elders, past, present and emerging.