KELLY SOOTER

Contemporary Landscape Painter  I  Experiential Landscape Artist

ARTIST STATEMENT

Kelly Sooter creates Experiential Landscapes that begin with her own lived experiences and invite collectors to discover their own within each painting. Rather than depicting a specific location, her work reflects life's journey through recurring imagery of pathways, water, distant horizons, and changing skies—offering moments of clarity, perspective, quiet strength, and hope.

Grounded in more than two decades of classical training with four European Masters and two nationally recognized American landscape artists, Sooter's work combines disciplined craftsmanship with a contemporary voice. Every painting is created through a deliberate multi-layered oil process that includes a refined reductive technique, allowing color and meaning to emerge gradually over time.

Working in cohesive collections and maintaining a limited annual output, Sooter creates paintings intended to become lasting companions rather than simply decorative objects. Her work is collected by individuals and placed by advisors seeking enduring emotional presence in private residences, executive offices, and contemplative environments.

Training & Education

Select Exhibitions & Projects

Extensive private study with European and American artists, including:

  • Slava Letkov — Master Zhostovo Artist, Artist Emeritus of Russia (10 year apprenticeship)

  • Sergi Terentiev — Professor, Fedoskino School of Art, Russia

  • Misha Lebedev — Associate Director Zhostovo Art Factory, Russia

  • Bjorg Kleivi — Master Artist, Norway (15 year apprenticeship in Baroque & Rococo forms and a large church artistic renovation)

  • Nancy Bush — Nationally recognized Tonalist landscape artist, Fredericksburg, TX

  • Scott Christensen — Nationally recognized landscape instructor and artist, Victor, ID

Additional Study & Materials Exploration:

  • Peter McGrain — Vitri-fu-saille (traditional stained glass painting)

  • Pratt Fine Art Center — Glass and material studies

  • Manhattan Arts International, Healing Power of Color (2026)

  • Women Artists of the West — Early Show (2026)

  • ArtHouse.NYC, Flow, New York, NY (2025)

  • Hockaday Museum of Art, Member Exhibition, Kalispell, MT (2025)

  • Two-Person Exhibition, Goodey Gallery/Western Art Association, Ellensburg, WA (2019)

  • Berkeley Arts Council, Art & Earth National Juried Exhibition (Best of Show) (2019)

Selected Articles & Interviews

Where available, Where available, publication titles link to the original online publication.

Selected Recognition

  • Influential Women Magazine / Certified

  • Artistic Recognition, 2026 Abstracts Competition, Art&Color 365 Magazine

  • Best of Show — Berkeley Arts Council, Art & Earth Exhibition

  • Award of Merit — Manhattan Arts International

  • Judges Choice — Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center

Collections

Work is held in private collections throughout the United States.

Professional Affiliations

  • Women Artists of the West (Associate Artist)

  • American Women Artists

  • Influential Women (certified)

  • Women Out West - Professional Artists of Utah