Welcome to Cherished Memories Fine Art. My name is Kelley Gruver and I currently reside in the beautiful state of Idaho. I am married to a wonderful man and we are blessed to have three amazing kids. My days are filled with homeschooling, managing the home and shuttling my kids to various classes, events and appointments. Somehow I find time in the midst of all of my daily obligations to fulfill my desire to create.
I have a passion for many artistic styles. My love for the arts started at a very young age. My mother introduced me to classical music from the moment I was born and I watched her practice oil painting while I was growing up. Drawing became a favorite pastime and I took art lessons in Middle School and High School. In High School I added a photography class to my schedule and learned more about how a camera works, how an image is captured, how to use the light to produce the image I wanted, and how to process film in a dark room. In those days , there were only film loaded cameras.
After high school, I let the lessons I had learned slip away as I focused on raising my three kids. My love for art never left me, though. I passed on the little knowledge I have to my children and now my daughter is becoming quite the artist. Up until recently, I had focused my photography on capturing the many events that happen in our home and during outings we have made as a family. Now my focus has been to try and learn the art of photography again and with the use of the new digital cameras, it is so much easier for me to understand the nuances of photography.
I enjoy taking pictures of my children, our family activities and my garden. While out and about in the Treasure Valley or during our wilderness excursions around Idaho, I like to shoot anything that interests me. This includes a wide range of things. Sometimes I am blown away by the awesome power of God through nature, and other times I am struck by the beauty or even the strangeness of a man made object. I also have a deep love of architecture and silly things like antique wallpaper and carpet! I have been known to walk through an old house decorated for the period and take pictures of decorative woodwork, old windows and doors.
My love for drawing and painting stayed with me over the years but as the children grew and I got busier, it became harder and harder to find the time to work on anything. The last time I attempted to paint on canvas, I flicked paint all over my dining room wall in an attempt to corral a little one and that was the last time I got my paints out. Those frustrations coupled with the fact that I had no room to keep an easel up with an unfinished piece on it for weeks at a time lead me to digital art work. This move to digital opened up the creativity I had stifled for so many years. I don't feel complete unless I am creating something.
My tools of choice are really not my choice but more what I have found I can use without breaking the bank. I produce digital art on a Lenovo Computer with Art Rage software (read a review about Art Rage here), Gimp Software and a Wacom tablet. I also use a Canon Power Shot A630 to shoot all of my photographs. I am constantly looking for free software that can help me produce the look I am after. I keep a space for art at Fine Art America and at Imagekind. You can also find me on Facebook.
I look forward to learning more as I continue this journey and I hope you enjoy my view of the world.
