Meet Kelley Donnelly

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelley Donnelly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kelley, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Throughout my entire life, up until the last few years, I held this solid and relentless belief that I was worthless and did not deserve a single positive thing to happen to me. I held on to this belief with dogged determination because the idea that I could live to see my purpose come to fruition was so blatantly terrifying and contradictory to what I knew to be the “truth”. However, I always knew, without a doubt, art was in my blood. I knew it was there and I could see it floating ever so slightly above the dark chasm of self loathing. Based on my belief, I unconsciously (and consciously) operated in ways to confirm those terrible feelings I held about myself. So I didn’t create. It was unfathomable.

Simultaneously, I always had one pinky toe in the pool of spiritual, mental, and physical health and had been sober since 1995. As I moved through the years with this staunch belief, I kept taking in messages from those around me and made repeated attempts to overcome these monumental negative beliefs. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, minute after minute, day after day, and year after year. At the same time, my art was this perpetual series of failed attempts and I consistently gave up knowing it was silly of me to even try. But I couldn’t.

My art was an internal battle I had to win. But I didn’t know if I could and certainly how that would happen. Trying to become the artist I absolutely knew I was ,and being able to come to the realization that I was good enough to paint, good enough to be good at painting, and eventually good enough to be confident in that knowledge, seemed beyond impossible. However, one day around ten years ago, I decided to make a vow to myself to stick to only painting for five years. It’s been ten years and I am so outrageously ecstatic that I DID IT. I kept that promise to myself and for the very first time in my life, I was so incredibly proud. That seed spread to other dark crevasses in my mind and I knew I was not only a kick ass painter, but so worth the war I had been raging on my mind all these years. Resilience is an understatement. My options were quitting life altogether and painfully watch the days go by, or try until my last breath to live the most incredibly passionate beautiful life I could imagine and painting through it all. I chose the latter.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My art focuses on the idea that everyone who is willing, can turn their lives around, make changes for the better, and most importantly, have fun in the process. Based on my experiences in the realm of painful and extremely negative emotions, the not so fabulous traits I inherited from my genetic code, the mental health struggles, and addiction, I aim to lead the viewer to a place of hope and to help them understand they are not alone, the path of recovery, in all fields, is well travelled, and that it is absolutely possible to shut down that internal nasty voice of fear telling them to quit at life.

I intend to continue my creative path by spreading messages of hope, empathy, and inspiration. Specifically, I have an idea to contact professionals in the field of mental health and addiction, and research ways of using art (and any form of creativity) to spread specific messages in specific places that prove to be the most helpful. I am reaching out to the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) this week, based on a referral I was given by someone seeking artists interested in this type of project. Furthermore, the state of Rhode Island has an organization specifically geared toward mental health and art.

I currently feel compelled to explore this subject in every way possible and I have recently begun a specific series of paintings that will bring to light the faces of those, for a large number of reasons, are suffering because of a lack of resources, terrified of the palpable stigma rampant in our society, and extremely frustrated by the lack of knowledge by the professionals on how to proceed with a plan for their care.

This subject is massive and the number of options for tackling a campaign aimed at reducing stigma and helping those who suffer with mental health and/or addiction, is astronomically overwhelming. However, starting on a microscopic level to address these issues is better than not starting at all. If one individual who suffers happens to see a message meant for them, it just may be just what they needed that day to start their journey toward loving themself. At the same time, maybe someone who doesn’t suffer with mental health or addiction, might be able to understand that the brittle house of cards our minds and body are constructed, was not something we signed up for.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The repeated act of putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over. Balancing the necessary habits of self-affirmations, being kind to yourself, allowing sufficient time to get better, and practicing as often as your schedule allows, all will prove extremely valuable in your quest as a creative. More often than not I wanted to quit and give up because I was a “terrible” artist who was wasting her time. What I learned not to do was compare myself to other artists ALL THE TIME. I needed to sign off on Instagram and any other social platforms geared to art because the knee jerk reaction was to immediately tell myself I was so much worse than (insert any other artist on the planet). I needed to stop making those comparisons because I never came out ahead. However, find ways to grow in your practice by asking other professionals, taking courses, and did I mention practice:0

I needed to keep moving forward with my head down and paint as many terrible paintings as I possibly could because it was necessary to get better. I wanted to be exceptional from the start and that is impossible. At least for me and I suspect for most others. As much as you want to be incredibly brilliant and successful right out of the gate and have adoring fans knocking down your door, I knew it was just a dream. It doesn’t it mean it won’t happen but certainly not right away. Please stick to whatever it is that brings you joy and never give up. If you can feel it in your soul and can’t go a day without wanting to be doing your craft more than anything else, you must NOT quit.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I would love to connect with other creative folks who have an interest in creating projects or material to help make people/public/professionals aware of some of the daily struggles and obstacles people face with their mental health challenges and addictions. I do not have a scope or direction for this project just yet as I need to reach out to professionals in a variety of fields to understand what is needed and where it is needed.

If you have any interest at all in this topic, I would love to have a conversation with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelleydonnelly.com
• Instagram: #kdmax44
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelley.a.donnelly/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-donnelly-558b5a128/