Provocative and compelling. That is my first reaction to the work of fine artist Kelly Reemtsen. The unexpected pairings of pretty and powerful depicted in her paintings are at once arresting and demanding of a response. From the moment I first laid eyes on her work, Reemtsen had both my rapt attention and my most sincere admiration. She also had me brimming with questions and the desire to sit down for coffee with her for a conversation that would no doubt be utterly fascinating.

I wanted to know if Reemtsen was being literal or ironic; direct or subversive. As it turns out, Kelly is not making an ironic statement about feminism. She is not theorizing about housewives. Rather, she is painting modern day empowerment as she sees it.

Grace and strength, beauty and empowerment are juxtaposed and yet entirely at home together in fit-and-flare silhouettes, pearls and “any tool necessary to get the job done.” I believe Kelly in her sincerity, and yet still I wrestle with my own personal tensions as a woman and the ways in which I see them threaded throughout these prim and unexpectedly powerful narratives.

Clearly, Kelly’s subjects are women who will do whatever it takes to be extraordinary. They are the kind of women I admire; the kind of women who intimidate me; the kind of woman I’d love to become in my more polished moments.

I think the questions Kelly’s work calls to mind are how I can more aptly marry beauty with fierceness; fearlessness with gentility; pretty with powerful. I love that she has me asking these questions. It feels to me as though she’s saying we don’t have to choose between these worlds. Pretty girls can get their hands dirty. Fierce girls can wear pearls. Graceful women can use power tools. We can get the job done and look good doing it.

Thank you, Kelly, for your compelling and beautiful paintings and the conversation they spark within me. I am sincerely inspired by your courageous, feminine strength and am honoured to have encountered your work.

xo
s.

P.S. Would you believe Kelly actually wraps gifts in maps just like me? And phone book pages, too. The best.