Page 64 - ARTEMIS FINE ART GALLERY LA JOLLA - OCTOBER 2021

Nealy May Riley
Nealy May Riley is a contemporary wildlife painter. Her work frequently combines oil and gold or metal leafing harmonizing three-dimensional form and graphic patterns and shape. Nealy creates a balance of expression and realism capturing the spiritual essence of animals and placing them in an ethereal symbolic space.
Nealy has a Master of Fine Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. After a career in Graphic Design and teaching at the collegiate level, she and her family now live in Utah where she paints and enjoys the wildlife of the Mountain West.
“My work focuses on subject matter from wildlife in an effort to capture realities that we often miss in our modern world. Nature is a constant source of creativity and provides a grounding reminder of who we are as humans walking this earth. As many things change in our cultures and societies there is peace within imagery from those natural beings and beasts that stay more consistently connected to their origins.”
“My intension is that the viewer will see these beings that I have depicted and experience a connection. My hope is that the environments I create with the materials (wood, resin and paint) will mimic spaces but ultimately compliment that experience and connection.”