Kelly J. Egan is a right-brained dreamer living in a left-brained body.
Born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, her early interests were entirely focused on music and theater. She took her trumpet and vocal talents to college with the dream of becoming a music teacher. After teaching and performing at a small school near her hometown, she realized performing was her new dream and off she went into the United States Air Force where she won a coveted audition with The Singing Sergeants in Washington, DC.
Kelly wore many hats in the Air Force: vocalist, librarian, executive assistant, public affairs administrator, trainer, and both finance and personnel manager. She blossomed within the military structure and developed strong managerial and leadership skills, which led to her promotion to the highest enlisted rank. Still, she was demoralized being forced to endure “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s discriminatory policy against homosexuals. After 20 years of overachieving service to an organization that really didn’t want her, she retired a bitter and broken woman.
Art was never a consideration for Kelly since military service meant little free time to pursue other ventures. Once retired, she was able to fulfill yet another dream of working with clay. She developed enough skill to be accepted into art school, leaving the humidity of D.C. for the wonderland of Oregon.
Now a mixed media artist in Portland, Kelly uses the experiences gleaned from the first half of her life in service to the second half, creating work that mirrors the transformational changes and struggles she has both enjoyed and endured. She is influenced by the geometric and imaginative works of early abstract artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Paul Klee, Naum Gabo, and David Kakabadze finding in their pieces a thought-provoking structure inoculating her from a viral world.
Kelly may gravitate toward the comfort of an orderly, reasoned, logical existence, but she will always be a dreamer.
Born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, her early interests were entirely focused on music and theater. She took her trumpet and vocal talents to college with the dream of becoming a music teacher. After teaching and performing at a small school near her hometown, she realized performing was her new dream and off she went into the United States Air Force where she won a coveted audition with The Singing Sergeants in Washington, DC.
Kelly wore many hats in the Air Force: vocalist, librarian, executive assistant, public affairs administrator, trainer, and both finance and personnel manager. She blossomed within the military structure and developed strong managerial and leadership skills, which led to her promotion to the highest enlisted rank. Still, she was demoralized being forced to endure “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s discriminatory policy against homosexuals. After 20 years of overachieving service to an organization that really didn’t want her, she retired a bitter and broken woman.
Art was never a consideration for Kelly since military service meant little free time to pursue other ventures. Once retired, she was able to fulfill yet another dream of working with clay. She developed enough skill to be accepted into art school, leaving the humidity of D.C. for the wonderland of Oregon.
Now a mixed media artist in Portland, Kelly uses the experiences gleaned from the first half of her life in service to the second half, creating work that mirrors the transformational changes and struggles she has both enjoyed and endured. She is influenced by the geometric and imaginative works of early abstract artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Paul Klee, Naum Gabo, and David Kakabadze finding in their pieces a thought-provoking structure inoculating her from a viral world.
Kelly may gravitate toward the comfort of an orderly, reasoned, logical existence, but she will always be a dreamer.