I started painting with watercolours in 2015 and started selling work commercially in 2016. I am a full-time livestock veterinarian with specialist qualifications in ruminant nutrition and Iwork predominantly, by day, with sheep and cattle farmers in the Coonamble district. This
work informs and inspires my art practice – the animals, the landscapes, the community and the bush characters all feature in my work. At night and on weekends I paint!

To date, I have worked mainly on a commission basis, painting around 60 commissions a
year for clients across Australia and internationally. I also have turned my artwork into a
range of greeting cards, prints and wearable art. I donate up to ten artworks a year to charityand have run fun, intimate watercolour workshops for rural communities. In October 2019 I was featured on Buy from the Bush’s social media campaign and my online presence and commercial sales really took off.

In 2021 I completed Contemporary Watercolours through the National Art School’s Term 4
short course with Tanya Bailey. Throughout 2021 I also worked under the tutorage of Jude
Fleming at the West Wing Studio, Warren.
In 2022 I was selected as a finalist in the Inside This Box Group Exhibition at the Corner
Store Gallery, Orange.

In 2022 I exhibited two pieces in the Aspects Art Show, Goondiwindi and received Highly
Commended in the Watercolour Section for my piece entitled “Succession”.
My work is about my life as a female in the bush – a little bit tough and dirty, a little bit
fancy. This is the life of many bush women. I am deeply inspired by the place that I live, the
people that I meet and the situations that I find myself in!

Jillian Kelly - Ride Like a Girl