Shark Brains
Standing at a tall five feet and three inches with platinum blonde hair, Kelly Groce has anchored herself in a small paradise island on the beloved Texas coast, filled with grafitti, trash, shit brown water and an assload of historical shit. She’s got an Anchor tattooed on the back of her right ankle which represents being “bound to the sea”, which is true to many of us who grew up on the third coast. A daddys girl with a love for punk rock, she paints skateboards and surfboards because “canvas can be boring.” That’s her style. It’s random and spontaneous and messy… on purpose.
I moved in with Kelly and Andi almost 3 months ago. On the outside of the house, which has a white picket fence around the perimeter of a wooden porch wrapping around the front of a home built in 1865, with the white wooden porch swing included. You would think the fucking Brady Bunch lived here, but instead it’s just three twenty something year old chicks trying to make it with a tuna fish plate in a world that has a caviar taste. Instead of sculptures and ikea wall hangings, we’ve got a life ring, slabs of wood, and surfboards that Kelly has painted hanging on the walls. Classy with a splash of fuck you, I’d have to say it’s pretty inviting.
I have wanted to do a small feature on Kelly after seeing more of her paintings. It finally came about when we both had the day off from our jobs and we did a shoot for her blog. She posts her paintings in hopes of selling them.
After sitting on our ancient porch smoking a cigarette after the most productive day either of us have had in a month I just asked her, “How old were you when you started painting?” She laughs nervously weirded out about how random my question is.
“Six. My mom painted. I took summer painting classes at UofH whenever I was a kid. Every summer.”
What was your first painting that you remember being siked on? She sits there quietly and I could see it in her eyes that she began to think pretty far back. She begins to laugh hysterically again.
“It was a drawing but it was for League City Elementary yearbook art contest. The school mascot was a mustang. I drew a horse underneath an oak tree and I won. It was third grade.”
What made you want to start painting boards?
“I don’t know. I guess because that board broke so what else am I gonna do with it? And canvas can be kind of boring.”
What do you want to paint next?
“Brian Brewster gave me a bunch of skateboards. I’m gonna paint one of his.”
We sit there in silence for about thirty seconds, zoning out when curiousity crept up and I asked, “What will you paint?” After being relaxed she gets bashful and says quietly as if she’s embarrassed and whispers,
“I want to paint a Pistola.”
You can see more of her work at Kellgroceart.blogspot.com
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