Back to JournalKelley Mogilka is a figurative painter based in Laguna Beach, California. During Modern Masters of the West at John Wayne: An American Experience, October 3–5, in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Her work explores what she calls “the elusive muse,” moments of quiet gesture and sensitivity that invite pause and reflection. She will also present a live art demo, painting from models inside the museum.
Meet the Artist
Q: Tell us who you are in your own words. What kind of work do you do, why does it matter to you, and how does your involvement with the Cowgirl Artists of America connect to that?
A: I am a figurative painter based in Laguna Beach, California. My current body of work is about capturing what I call “the elusive muse”—finding moments of quiet gesture and sensitivity in the female figure that invite pause and reflection in my viewer.
In the same way that Venus in a painting like The Birth of Venus becomes an archetypal depiction of women and womanhood, I try to find moments in the everyday woman that can stand in that same regard. Lately I have been revisiting my Western roots from growing up in Oklahoma. I’ve been looking for that archetypal character of the prairie woman, the cowgirl, and trying to balance that with my experience as a young girl growing up barefoot in the red dirt.
That’s why I call it “the muse.” It takes an everyday woman who, in her most natural and uninhibited moment, can suddenly transform into something universal, emotional, and hopefully relatable.
So when I came across the Cowgirl Artists of America, I really liked that it was an organization that championed women in the arts. It’s not exclusionary, of course, and men who share those same ideals are welcome to join. But I’m a woman, I paint women, so joining that organization felt like a good fit.
Creative Spark
Q: What inspires you most in your work, and how does that shape your process?
A: I’m very inspired by color, and I love to try out different palettes to elicit a mood in my paintings. I consider my work to be very sensual, visually and emotionally. I want the colors and textures to be inviting to look at, and I want the gesture of the figure to be contemplative or emotive in a way that any person can feel what they’re feeling, even if it’s just the hot sun on their skin or the breeze in their hair.
I like those moments when you are present with nature in that way.
Channeling Duke
Q: John Wayne is remembered for qualities like authenticity, resilience, and independence. Which of these values resonate with you, and how do they connect to your work today?
A: I think they all resonate with me. I am a very sensitive woman, and that’s what I like to paint. I don’t try to hide that sensitivity or pretend that it is a weakness. In fact, I think it is a superpower.
Especially thinking about the women who had to exist in the Wild West, during such a brutal and dangerous time to be alive. To be able to bring a woman’s sensitivity to those dark places is nothing but resilience.
The world is still a dangerous place, of course, and it hardens all of us as we grow up. But I think the true grit of a woman is being able to maintain that gentle part of yourself that we are born with, despite how ugly the world may seem at times.
And again, I hope the words “sensitive” or “gentle” are not misunderstood as a weakness. To me, they are profound strengths.
See Her at JWAE
Kelley Mogilka will be featured in Modern Masters of the West during Stockyards Fashion Week, October 3–5, at John Wayne: An American Experience.
