Jean Kelly’s Fine Art Studio is her passion, By Ginny Raue West Milford Jean Kelly is passionate about her art and her music. Her artistic talents provide her with a fulfilling career and her music feeds her soul. Brooklyn-born Kelly, 49, operates her business, Jean Kelly’s Fine Art Studio, from her home at 40 Center St. in West Milford, the house she grew up in. She shares the home with her 81-year-old mother, Mary Kelly, also a gifted singer. Kelly graduated from West Milford High School in 1979. She went on to study at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and several years later she joined the staff there as a water color instructor and portfolio reviewer after a former professor recommended her as his replacement. “That was a tremendous honor,” she said. Over the years she also taught at the Yard School of Art in Montclair and later at Queen of Peace grammar school in West Milford. Kelly has known since childhood that she wanted to become a professional artist. She made that dream come true and found her life’s work in fine arts. “When I was in kindergarten I was class artist. When I was in high school I was class artist - but also class clown,” she said. After teaching for years Kelly decided to go it on her own and opened her studio. The freedom she enjoys now gives her the time and opportunity to travel with her sister, entertaining world-wide under the name CRY Ministry, a Christian rock music duo. In their desire to spread the word of the Gospel to foreign lands, the sisters have traveled to far away locations in Europe. They’ve been to India on several occasions and had the experience of a lifetime when they visited Bahrain and were entertained by the ambassador. “God got us into places like a miracle,” Kelly said. In their effort to reach out in compassion to people of all nations the sisters have performed for thousands, often times entertaining from a bamboo stage. They have learned to sing hymns in other languages and their audiences sometimes traveled by foot for days to listen to their music. Back home in West Milford, Kelly enjoys sharing her artistic gifts with her students. She teaches basics to advanced water color, oils, drawing, and pastel drawing to students of all ages. When Kelly meets a prospective student for the first time she does a quick evaluation to determine the skill level. She advises a new student to bring in whatever art supplies they may have. She can provide beginner packages, if they prefer, and they can add to their supplies as they progress, which keeps the initial outlay down to a minimum. Her classes are small, just five students at a time, and each budding artist or student who is already skilled in their chosen medium gets individual attention, she said. “When adults come in two hours a week it’s time just for them and they love every minute of it. It’s like therapy,” she said. Many of Kelly’s students have become blue ribbon award winners and some have gone on to further their studies in the arts at the Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology and Cooper Union. “You get into those schools with your portfolio,” she said. When Kelly feels creative she most enjoys color pencil sketching and painting in oils and water colors. She no longer sells her own work but she truly revels in her God-given talents, she said. Her ability to pass it on to others brings her great joy. For further information about Jean Kelly’s Fine Art Studio call 973-728-9675.