High school senior's works on display downtown through end of November

A cozy library scene, a discovery of treasure, a fox among the flowers.

The artistic scope of 18-year-old Timberlake High School senior Kiana Kelly is as boundless as her creativity. Once she imagines it, she finds a way to bring it to life.

“I love making colorful things and pieces that make you feel something when you look at them, no matter what that feeling is," the Athol artist said Tuesday. "I want people to feel this when they look at it."

Kelly began her artistic journey at a young age, wielding colored pencils and acrylic paints to translate images from her mind to paper or canvas.

"I would dabble with those the majority of my life," she said. "I still do."

She began to take it more seriously about six years ago.

"I went to Sorensen Magnet School. It's very art-based there," she said. "I think that sparked my interest and my love for creating art.”

Some of that interest has a literary origin story. As well as an artist, Kelly is also an aspiring author in the midst of penning a novel.

"My entire life I've always loved to read," she said, "so I think that’s a part of it, taking inspiration from stories."

Kelly's mediums have evolved along with her talents. She has grown to become a digital artist, using the Apple program Procreate to produce her works. Mastering the tech and the switch from paper to screen took a bit of time.

“It’s very different. You wouldn’t think so, but when I started doing digital it was definitely a learning curve because it was so different," she said. "You use a stylus. You have a bunch of different brushes programmed into the app. You have a bunch of different styles of what you can use. Once you get it, it transfers back to doing it on paper or on canvas."

The conversion from analog to digital has been successful for Kelly, who is showing her works in a solo exhibit for the third time in a public venue. Her digital paintings, which are printed on metal, will be on display in the Century 21 Beutler and Associates office at 207 1/2 E. Sherman Ave. in downtown Coeur d'Alene through the end of the month. She appeared with her pieces Nov. 14 during the Second Friday ArtWalk.

“Her original digital paintings are whimsical yet carry a romanticism in the narrative images she creates,” said her art teacher, Lindsey Davis-Smith. “This young professional artist certainly deserves notice and celebration.

"Everyone at Timberlake High School is just so proud of Kiana," she said.

    "Flowery Fox," a digital painting by Kiana Kelly, is one of the Timberlake High senior's works on display at Century 21 in downtown Coeur d'Alene.