Riley McClellan is an artist from Arizona who always had a passion for creativity. What started as a dream to become a fashion designer in elementary school later refined into a inspiration to become a fine artist in high school. Riley then went to Nothern Arizona University where she studied printmaking, ceramics, oil painting, and watercolor. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in Studio Arts, with an emphasis in Painting.Her concentration for her senior show revolved around color and emotion in oil paintings. Through her work in college, Riley strove to highlight how we can all have hidden emotions that we don't express on the outside and that we can have conflicting emotions at the same time. Her Color and Emotion series serves as a reminder that emotion is what makes us human and encourages the viewer to ponder their own life and emotions.
Riley opened her own Etsy store after graduating and hoped to connect to fellow artists in Colorado, but then the pandemic hit and she wasn't able to find her way as an artist at the time. In 2021, Riley moved to Jacksonville, Florida and continued to make art in her free time. After some personal trials and tribulations, Riley was finally able to enter the art scene in Jacksonville through participating in local art markets and making connections. Now, Riley regularly vends at the Riverside Arts Market and is creating an online presence for herself and her work in hopes of living her dream as a full-time artist.
Riley's work varies from all different mediums, styles, and themes because she lets her excitment and interest lead her. She's pursued a watercolor series entitled "Beautiful Bodies" to show that all body shapes and sizes are beautiful and deserving of love. She's continued some of her oil painting studies and added a piece to her Color and Emotion series. Through her hard circumstances the last few years, she's enjoyed making whimsical and fun art to remind herself and her viewers not to take life so seriously. She's loved making "cute" art as a way to bring herself and others joy. These pieces are often watercolor, but she also creates mini oil paintings in this style as well. Now Riley is dabbling in woodburning and revisiting relief printmaking.
Who knows what her work will consist of next!
Who knows what her work will consist of next!