Meet Kelsea Fischer | Classically trained Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsea Fischer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsea, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am a Colorado native that grew up loving the visual arts and knew it would be in my future. My grandmother was a Sunday school teacher and always did arts and crafts with her students and I always helped her. This instilled the love of teaching and art within me. As a grew up I always knew I wanted to be an art teacher. As the years went by I did everything to become the best art teacher I could be for my students and that dream came true. I was a k-5 art teacher at American Academy in Castle Pines for 4 years and it was everything I could’ve hoped for. I won 2018 Rookie Art Teacher of the year from the Colorado Art Education Association and was nominated for an Apple Award for my Douglas County School District. I had multiple magazine publications on what I was doing in my classroom and everything was amazing until I met Mandy Theis in 2017. Mandy taught a master class on traditional drawing and painting skills and I was shocked about how much I didnt learn in college. I began researching the classical ways of drawing and painting and realized it was the perfect foundation for my students to learn from. In all other programs they have something you have to master before you move on. For example in music class, students have to be proficient in the basic songs like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’, ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ etc. So why isnt it that way for art? I am all about teaching creativity but teaching my students how to draw and giving them new skills will give them the tools they need to draw whatever they want. I taught these new drawing skills for 2 years in my classroom and my students won the highest ribbons both years. I saw such an outstanding difference in my students work that I decided I had to dive in and fully learn the skills of classical drawing and painting. After doing my research I decided to quit teaching for a little and move across the country to Jersey City, New Jersey to attend the Florence Academy of Art. Of course a year later covid hit and I had to move schools to Grand Central Atelier in Queens, New York. Grand Central Atelier is where I graduated from in 2022. This past year has been especially hard because I got pregnant in my last year of higher education. GCA is a very rigorous program where you are there 8 hours a day and can do night classes and work on the weekends in order to finish your work. Doing this with my first born baby girl was a huge challenge but one I knew I must take on and finish. I am currently back with the Florence Academy of Art and helping them run their brand new Masters program where Art teachers across the world can get their masters in studio arts. This summer I will be traveling back to Florence, Italy to help our first group of students graduate with their masters. Until then I am creating my own works, working on a few commissions, illustrating a book and raising my daughter.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a classically trained artist where I studied for three years at two different Ateliers. The Florence Academy of Art and Grand Central Atelier. I studied drawing for 2 years straight and had to show proficiency before moving on. These Ateliers were extremely challenging and very different from when I was a k-5 art teacher. They were about self motivation, tons of hard work and the passion to keep going. It was not easy to gain these skills but I showed up every day for 8 hours a day in the studio and worked most weekends. I would start my days by drawing a cast for 4 hours and then drawing from the figure in the afternoon for 4 hours. Drawing from life is incredible and it is something I do in my work today. Today my drawings and paintings are mostly portraits and figures. I am also working on some plein air paintings when I go out with friends. I paint once a week with a great group of artists at Daniel Sprick’s studio.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my friend was visiting the area for a week I would recommend coming to visit in the fall so we could start by driving up to the mountains to see the beautiful trees changing, go for a hike and hopefully getting a painting or two in. I would probably take them to Bea Jo’s on the way back for some good pizza. I would then do a day at the Cheyenne mountain zoo with my daughter and after go to dinner at the Broadmoor and drinks at the Golden Bee. We would probably catch a movie at the Alamo drafthouse. Go visit the Cherokee Ranch and castle. If its the summer we would go to the Renaissance festival in Larkspur.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have met the most incredible and influential people along my journey and I couldn’t be more thankful for each and every one of them. I am constantly surrounded by such supportive friends, family and colleagues. Some of the people that have transformed my life are my family, Mandy Theis, Amaya Gurpide, Jordon Sokol, Cornelia Hernes, Colleen Barry, and Jacob Collins,

Website: kelseafischer.com

Instagram: kelsea_fischer