Earning recognition as a young artist and continuing to grow professionally, Ramon Kelley, credits Russian artist Nicolai Fechin as a major influence on his strong figural painting. Kelley says "there is no more beautiful landscape in the world than that of the female figure" (Southwest Art 5/98).

He spent four years in the Navy and then got a scholarship to the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver to train as an illustrator. But his favorite class was the life-drawing class taught by Charlie Dye, one of the founders of the Cowboy Artists of America. After the birth of his first child, he went to work as a catalog illustrator but continued painting at night. A gallery in Taos began carrying his work, and this exposure launched him as a fine artist.

He is a resident of Denver, Colorado.

Source:
Art of the West

Kelley was born one of ten children in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1939. He has lived much of his life in Colorado and is of Mexican American descent. He worked as a ranch hand and served in the US Navy. He began his art career in 1963 and later, coauthored Ramon Kelley Paints Portraits and Figures.

Although largely a self taught artist he was influenced by Fechin, Sargent and Boldini. He received a scholarship to and studied at the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver.

His work has been featured in more than twenty invitational shows including the highly respected National Academy of Western Art in Oklahoma City. He was elected to the Pastel Society of America's Hall of Fame. His works are in many museums including the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts and the US Military Academy Museum at West Point. His work has been featured in many magazines including Southwest Art and Art of the West.

The artist paints mostly Mexican subjects and Southwestern scenes. He goes on sketching trips around Taos, New Mexico. He is regarded as especially successful with portraits of young people and older people.

The art career of Ramon Kelley began early when he drew in the margins of his school books in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After four years in the Navy, he won a scholarship to the Colorado Institute of Art. For many years now, he and his family have lived in Denver where he has built an award-winning reputation in various media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, conte crayon, pastel and sculpture.

Kelley is a member of the American Watercolor Society, the Allied Artists of America, Pastel Society of America, National Academy of Western Art, Knickerbocker Artists and Oil Painters of America, Representational. In 1985, The Pastel Society of America designated Ramon a Master Pastelist, and in 1986, Ramon was elected to the Pastel Hall of Fame.