KELLY FISCHER’S INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF AN artist began when she was 6 years old, after her mother enrolled her in a Saturday morning art class series. “At the end, we had an exhibition, and someone’s uncle came in and bought one of their paintings,” Fischer recalls. “I loved the whole process—that we could paint and then we could sell it. I think that just really sparked my interest.”
Her interest, once piqued, continued to grow. Fischer studied art throughout her years as a student and into college. After studying art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and the University of Memphis, she moved to Switzerland to continue her studies in the 1980s, where she met her husband and later founded a Montessori school. During that time, she established her career as a whimsical abstract expressionist, infusing her work with bold colors, fanciful images and expressive, joyful brushstrokes that are reflective of the energy she draws from her surroundings—especially during her travels.
“I pursue shapes and colors,” says Fischer, who divides her time between her primary home in Bern, Switzerland, as well as Weehawken, New Jersey, and Folly Beach, South Carolina—each of which are also locations for her working studios. “There are two things that happen a lot in my work—the first started with this little village in Switzerland, so I make little villages with their little houses. Second, I do a lot of circles in my very abstract work—which represent people. I travel quite a lot, and every time I travel to a new location, I study the architecture. I get a feel for the people, the energy. I look at the kind of colors they use on houses, and I start creating in my mind. I think about what kind of new series I want to come up with, and then, when I get into the studio, there are no rules. I just let it go from there.”
That “letting it go” and lack of rules isn’t Fischer’s lack of training or even ignorance of what the so-called “rules” are. She knows them well. She just chooses to break them—to listen, instead, to what the energy of a place or her mood is telling her. “These things just seem to find me,” she says, laughing as she speaks the words.
It’s a common feeling among artists, that a creative flow has taken over and supersedes conscious thought or intention as the brush moves across the canvas. Being the creative that she is, Fischer’s brush is never idle—even when she finds herself facing a block. “I paint quite a lot,” she notes. “I’m usually in my studio by nine every morning, and I’ll stay there until four in the afternoon. I might take some breaks and go for walks, but I show up. That’s the best way I know to work through a creative block: Go to my studio and sit there and doodle or just start painting anyway. I paint, and I’ve found that I do some of my best work with the blocks.”
Such discipline has served Fischer well. Her pieces have a global audience, and she exhibits all over South America, North America and Europe, and has gallery representation across the world. Currently, her work can be found at Khawam Gallery in East Hanover, New Jersey; Vogelsang Gallery in Brussels; Vesaniart in Malaga, Spain; and Artvice in Cartagena, Colombia.
In Fischer’s estimation, her years as a successful artist, combined with the bravery to exercise her creative muscles, have led to the evolution of her work over the last 40-odd years. “I wouldn’t really say the subject matter has changed, but I definitely went more abstract,” explains Fischer, whose exploration of her own creativity has yielded 12 children’s books that she wrote and published. “My body of work has developed and evolved over time, with much of the outcome being driven by my own creative impulses. Years ago, my work tended more toward semiabstract. But as I sold paintings—especially the big ones that I considered to be my bolder pieces—I felt like I just got braver. It allowed me to do whatever I wanted—paint whatever my emotions dictated. Of course, I want my work to appeal to people, but that’s not what drives me.”
Often compared to—and even mistaken for—Jackson Pollock, Fischer and her body of work are a study in boldness. Her color choices, her brushstrokes, her use of shapes and figures speak to a confidence that has led her throughout life, forging a career and a life for herself in places that most people only dream of visiting. The paintings that result give viewers a glimpse of the places that she sees, the experiences she treasures—through the lens of unbridled emotion.
As much as she wants to evoke emotion, controversy is not an emotion Fischer wants to spark. Instead, she reaches for the lighthearted, the cheerful. Playfulness is a common theme underscoring her work. “Everyone describes my work as happy,” she says. “Vibrant and happy. I may not be happy every time I’m painting, but, in general, I’m a pretty optimistic person. I would say that my personal experience figures in heavily to my work, but I wouldn’t put politics or religion or anything like that into my art. It’s not what it’s about.
“I was recently in London, and the colors represent how I felt in London. My most recent series depicts Notting Hill, which is such a colorful place. There are red doors, purple doors, yellow doors—I was able to take so many liberties, just using whatever color palette I felt like using. It’s about the feeling the colors leave you with—when people look at my paintings, I just hope they have that feeling of, ‘I don’t know why, but I just love this, and I want to take it home.’ My portraits tell a story of whimsical spontaneity. The landscapes pull the viewer into a world of color, light and emotion. There are many, many layers of intensity in them.”
Fischer’s work is more than just paint on canvas—it’s a boldly colored, vivacious and emotional journey shaped by a lifetime of curiosity, exploration and daring creativity. Her art captures the essence and energy of the places she visits, the architecture she studies and the inspiration she feels to her bones. With each stroke of the brush and every vibrant hue, Fischer invites viewers into a world where color isn’t just seen—it’s felt. From the cobbled charm of Notting Hill’s rainbow of doors to the soft, marshy shores of Folly Beach, Fischer’s artworks tell stories that blur the line between abstraction and feeling, whimsy and reflection.
Looking forward to her second year showing at Art Miami and the possibility of a studio gallery in Charleston, Fischer is still deep in her artistic journey. Her discipline, passion and unshakable belief in the power of creative intuition continue to drive her forward—producing art that speaks not only to where she’s been but also to where her heart lies. For Fischer, the “rules” were made to be rewritten, and the canvas is her greatest means of expression. With every new series, she proves that art isn’t just something you create—it’s something you live. *
Liesel Schmidt lives in Navarre, Florida, and works as a freelance writer for local and regional magazines. She is also a web content writer and book editor. Follow her at X at @laswrites or download her novels, Coming Home to You, The Secret of Us and Life Without You, at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
