For years, Sandra Keely worked primarily in oils, but her recent artistic evolution has led her to a strikingly tactile process: carving into acrylic paint. Each piece begins with over 100 layers of different paint colors meticulously applied to birch wood. Once the surface is built up, she uses carving tools to incise deep, expressive designs. The resulting works reveal a dynamic interplay of color, texture, and depth—each groove exposing unexpected combinations and hidden histories within the layered paint.
Keely worked as a professional character animator in commercial studios for decades, during a period when the industry still relied heavily on the hand of the artist. She began as a cel painter on the assembly line, learning her trade on the job through employee art classes such as live model drawing, and later continued her training through night courses in fine art to advance her skills. Keely went on to teach animation at Collins College in Tempe, Arizona, offering instruction in animation fundamentals, sketching, drawing, and portfolio development.
Keely received her BFA in museum studies from Arizona State University. She lives and works in Redwood City.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Maximize your exposure and power-up your event with an enhanced Calendar listing on the Peninsula's home page smdailyjournal.com
By upgrading your event, you can promote it to more local visitors every day.
For a nominal investment of $42, your calendar listing will appear on our home page, as well as at the top of the Calendar page, for seven consecutive days.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.