Short Stories of Thought and Wonder

Born and raised in rural West Virginia, artist/author, Avonelle Kelsey (1931-2009) defined creativity. She attained BA and MA degrees in Art, Literature and Educational Psychology from BHSC in Spearfish, SD. Later, Avonelle relocated to San Diego where she was a well-known artist, a published author, as well as an instructor of art, creative writing and ceramics for Mira Costa College, spending several decades in and around her beloved Carlsbad/Oceanside community. She returned to The Black Hills of South Dakota upon her retirement, living out her dream of owning an old sandstone building by the river in Hot Springs and painting her days away in her final gallery.On November 22, 2009, Avonelle Kelsey lost her long-fought battle with breast cancer. At that time Avonelle was the owner of The Kelsey Art Gallery in Hot Springs, SD. As her final gift to the world, she left behind this 8,000-square-foot gallery, which was packed full of her paintings, sculptures, collages and written works.Avonelle (Avi) often designed sculptures and paintings to go together as sets. A written work, from a brief poem to a book or screenplay, was also part of these sets. Characters inspired paintings. Sculptures inspired poems. Art illustrated imagined book covers. The wheels of her creativity never stopped turning.Over the years Avonelle had many studios and galleries in California and South Dakota. Now her artwork rests in private homes and collections across North America and from Spain to Thailand. Her massive collection of poetry, novels, essays and more is now being slowly sorted through by her daughter Nola, who is publishing the works as time and resources allow in order to keep her mother's legacy of creativity alive.