Shelby Keefe paints in a bold brush, realistic style uniquely her own. Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she earned a BFA in 1981 then embarked upon a career as a graphic designer. She became a full-time fine artist in 2005 and now travels around the country painting in plein air competitions, teaching workshops, and producing work in her Milwaukee studio.
Her unique style is becoming noticed nationally, having been published in Southwest Art and Plein Air Magazines–both being honored as the cover artist. Shelby is a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society and American Women Artists and has gallery representation in Door County, WI at Fine Line Designs, at Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery in Crested Butte, CO and Castle Gallery of Fine Art in Fort Wayne, IN.
Some recent achievements:
• Received three awards for one painting at the 3rd Annual Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, 2017
• Earned a Distinctive Merit Award, Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational, 2016
• First Prize Winner-Quick Draw, Plein Air Easton! 2016
• Grand Prize Winner, EnPlein Air Texas, 2015
• Awarded $20,000 Dorothy Dreihaus Melins Fellowship for Midwestern Artists, at Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, 2015
• Featured Artist/Cover Artist, SouthwestArt magazine, March 2015 issue
• PleinAir Magazine Salon Competition Grand Prize Winner, 2013
“I am passionate about drawing and depicting my subjects with honesty as well as expressiveness. My goal is to create a fresh perspective to the recognizable world without being predictable or mundane. Being comfortable at rendering in oil paint, I enjoy tackling complex subjects from cityscapes to the figure in the ala prima method of wet on wet. Utilizing a vibrant underpainting technique of complimentary colors, my oil paintings are complex, but not overly-worked. As I continue to grow as a representationalist painter, I plan to develop my ability to say more with less.”