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Petra Kelly Art
Mixed-media art. Focus on portraits and murals.
Murals
About Petra
Petra Kelly is a self-taught artist whose work includes portraiture, murals, mixed-media painting, and digital design. Born in Melbourne, Australia, she has lived and studied in Milwaukee, Chicago, at Duke University, Monash University, Australian National University, and Illinois Institute of Technology.
She has not received formal art training. Instead, she has studied and reproduced the works of painters she admired. Influences include Van Gogh, Degas, Cézanne, Delaroche, Escher, Cassatt, Klimt, Manet, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Mucha, and Vettriano. Elements from these artists are present in her use of color, approach to portraiture, and compositional style.
After completing a Master's degree from Australian National University, Petra returned to Chicago. She currently lives and works there.
Artistic Timeline
Petra's artistic path involved various locations and studies.
1
Melbourne, Australia
Born and raised in Melbourne.
2
Milwaukee, WI · 1998
Moved to the United States at age twelve. Began painting, including early murals.
3
Chicago, IL
Completed high school in Chicago. The city's environment contributed to her artistic interests.
4
Duke University
Attended Duke University, continuing her engagement with art.
5
Monash University · Melbourne
Returned to Australia to study Law and Commerce Economics, alongside her art practice.
6
Chicago · 2020
After completing a Master's in Legal Practice at Australian National University, Petra returned to Chicago.
7
Chicago · Today
Petra is currently completing her second Master's degree in Cyber Forensics and Security at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Portraits
Featured Work
Petra's portraits are created through observation. She has studied the work of artists such as Degas, Cassatt, and Vettriano.
She works primarily in acrylic, sometimes including mixed-media elements like texture, collage, and layering techniques. Her portraits explore light, skin tone, and expression.
Murals
Community & Public Art
Petra has been painting for more than two decades. She has painted murals in schools, personalized portraits, furniture and outdoor sculpture for a range of charities, while experimenting with mixed media and different subject matter.
Most of the murals shown here were done at the request of others and are reproductions of famous paintings.
Paintings
Petra's painting practice reflects various artistic influences. Her work includes intimate still lifes, landscapes, and abstract compositions using acrylic paint.
Drawings & Sketches
On Paper
These sketches were done with charcoal, fountain pen and ink. 
Design & Digital Work
Many of works were illustrated almost completely in Photoshop, using a tablet and stylus to draw the designs from scratch. There are some photo manipulations below that have scenes of Melbourne transposed over 19th century text from the local newspaper, The Age.
Most notable among these is the illustration of the Welcome Stranger gold nugget, commissioned in 2012 as the new mineral emblem of the State of Victoria, Australia.
Body Painting
Live Art & Performance
On March 27th 2010 Petra painted her volunteer model, the wonderful Ria Georgeson for the Body Canvas body painting festival to benefit The National Breast Cancer Foundation. The theme she chose was Melbourne, elements of Luna Park, Flinders Street Station, the MCG, Federation Square, and Port Phillip Bay were featured. The headdress gum leaves are made out of old train tickets.
In September 2011, Petra participated in the same event with another fantastic model, Bree Rizzato under the overall theme ‘Elementals’.