Kelly Frohnauer: Painter, Creator, Inspirer
Growing up amid the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, Kelly Frohnauer developed a deep connection to the strength, beauty, and gentle rhythms of the natural world. That connection continues to shape her work today. Through her paintings, she invites viewers to pause, breathe, and notice the meaningful moments often overlooked in daily life.
Kelly studied at the Milan Art Institute, where she strengthened her technical skills and deepened her understanding of art as a way to communicate beauty, hope, and reflection. Working in watercolor and oil, she draws inspiration from birds, wildflowers, wildlife, and the landscape surrounding her Southern Oregon home.
Guided by themes of peace, restoration, and spiritual reflection, Kelly creates paintings that bring warmth and harmony to the spaces they inhabit. Her work is represented in a local gallery and is held in private collections.
In addition to her studio practice, Kelly teaches watercolor workshops, encouraging others to experience the restorative joy of creating and the beauty of slowing down.
Kelly’s desire is to create more than art for the wall. She hopes each painting will nurture the soul, awaken a sense of wonder, and help make the home a place of peace, beauty, and belonging.
Artist Statement
Art has long been a way for me to create beauty, slow down, and notice the meaningful moments that can easily be overlooked. Living in the country beside a small creek in Oregon, I find constant inspiration in the birds, wildflowers, wildlife, and changing seasons of the Pacific Northwest.
My work is rooted in peace, hope, and restoration. Working in watercolor and oil, I create in a style of abstract realism, combining recognizable subjects and carefully observed details with expressive color, softened edges, layered texture, and areas of abstraction. I enjoy balancing looseness with refinement and softness with strength, creating paintings that feel both grounded in the natural world and emotionally alive.
Having walked through difficult seasons myself, I understand how deeply we need beauty, comfort, and moments of rest. My hope is that each painting reaches beyond the surface and stirs something meaningful within the viewer…awakening a treasured memory, offering a quiet pause, or bringing hope to a weary heart.
I create each piece to bring warmth, gentle joy, and a lasting sense of belonging to the spaces where it lives.
-Kelly Frohnauer
Some Fun Facts About the Artist
- I live in a woodland meadow nestled among huge pine and madrone trees in a small town named Merlin, located in southern Oregon, U.S.A.
- My favorite colors are blue, purple and green, and earth tones.
- I love cats and currently have a beautiful long hair grey and white kitty with a wild and playful personality. We also have a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd that brings a bit of wildness to our lives!
- I like to hike in the forest, relax at the river, go to the ocean, draw, paint, listen to worship music, be with my grandchildren, gather and prepare my own herbs for tea and medicine.
- I was a traditional midwife attending home births from 1986 – 2023 and have participated in over 250 births.
- I own a small home business manufacturing organic skin care products that has provided all natural, anti-aging products for over 23 years. My skin care website is https://nfbotanicals.com