Hey, my name is Kelly Buice Deal. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1983. I have always loved creating, drawing, and imagining. As a young adult, this “talent” or “gift” became a handicap in my education due largely to my arrogance and ego. I was an unteachable art student. I felt that because I could draw well meant this was all I needed to know. (Years later, I can humbly admit…there is much more to it. If you feel you know more than your teacher, you should go ahead and leave the room because you are wasting everyone’s time.) I studied art at North Georgia College and State University (today, known as North Georgia University). As a member of the Toccoa Artists Guild I studied soft pastels. The bold marks and the way the colors could pack into the sanded paper intrigued me. All of my art at that time was completed in the Appalachian foothills in soft pastel, acrylic or graphite. In 2020 my family left northeast Georgia for Port Saint Joe, Florida. I am the art teacher at Port St Joe Elementary.  Having been so inspired by the bay and the colorful lifestyle of the panhandle, my personal style has evolved. My colors are ever brighter and lighter. The joy I see daily around me has influenced a whimsical shift in my content.  I have experienced a fantastic renaissance of my own and I create with childlike passion now. I have never met a color I didn’t like.