Warm, layered still life works arrive with Kelly Fontanarosa

Adelaide based artist Kelly Fontanarosa paints from her home while living as a stay-at-home mum. Finding time between parenting and life to follow her passion for creativity. Kelly is endlessly inspired by flowers, nature, texture, light, and the emotion a space can hold when it truly reflects the people living in it.

I love to work intuitively with brushwork, line work and paint scraping to create movement through my work. I love warm earthy tones with vivid colours to create warm florals and landscapes.

Did you follow a formal fine arts education, or are you self taught? 

Self taught. Learnt everything I could in high school art classes but then have been practicing ever since.

I've lived in Adelaide my entire life. Have loved crafts and finding various creative outlets everywhere I can. I live in Adelaide with my husband, kids and dog in the hilly parts of Wynn Vale, with lots of walking trails and nature surrounding us. 

I used to bake celebration cakes as a side hustle. Wedding cakes were my favourite to create.

My mum was always a creative, she drew before she had us kids but then used everyday moments for creativity, whether it was quilting us blankets, throwing the most extravagant birthday parties and simply giving us the space to be creative ourselves. That's how I live now. I love to paint but when I can't, I find creativity in everyday moments with the kids.

I used to paint everything. I didn't have a style, I just painted anything. I eventually found that desire to find my style and I let previous works of mine and mentors lead me to where I am now.

I initially have a structured process but it often turns into an intuitive process as so many factors can lead me in different directions and I just end up following the paint's lead.

I love warm earthy tones paired with various hues to complement them. I love that warm, lived in feeling my art gives.

I want them to feel open to interpretation of my art. I don't want to put my art in a box and hope it's translated that exact way to the audience. But one thing I hope they feel is warm and at home with my art. I love to create a feeling of wanting to linger and creating moments of intrigue.

Being a finalist in the Unearthed Art Prize in 2026 and having the privilege to be seen in such an amazing gallery. I also got to meet some of the most amazing artists and build some wonderful friendships.

Being a stay at home mum while building my art practice has been challenging at times. I'm learning how to fit in my art without losing the ability to be present with my kids. It's not always smooth sailing, finding the balance is sometimes a challenge. Ive found it's shaped my art in a positive way though because I try to be more efficient with the time I've got and often end up painting with more freedom, oddly, because of it.

How do you balance creative freedom with commercial success? I want to be driven by my creative freedom and let that take the lead. On the side I hustle and reach out to commercial opportunities when they present themselves and if Im successful then that's a bonus. I just have to keep reminding myself that I get the privilege to create and selling is just a bonus.

What advice would you give to emerging artists?
Keep painting, fall in love with your work and you'll gain the confidence to put yourself out there. It's not always easy but when you believe in what you do then others will too. Also grow your community of artists and get behind each other every day.

I painted a vase with florals recently that I just painted with the colours that I had picked out but realised afterwards that it reminded me of some vintage vases my late Oma would always put away high on a shelf. I loved her style, her house was always warm and full of character full of beautiful handmade pottery. So when I see that painting I feel that warmth.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be?
I've admired Jessie Breakwell for years. I love her use of colour and layering to create the most unique artworks, she can put together the most obscure elements and they just work so beautifully everytime. 

To ride the wave of this creative journey. There are highs and lows and it's when you're in the lows you forget about the highs you've had. So whenever you hit a high, you just gotta ride that all the way.

Being a stay at home mum. I've never wanted to be anything other than a mum or painting. 

I want to start collaborating with other artists, content creatives etc. I'd love the experience of working with others.

I love going for walks, playing with the kids, walking to the local coffee shop. I love that slow lifestyle.

At the moment I work in my dining room, it's cramped but I've learnt to use it efficiently. I find it helpful always having my art around, while I'm in the kitchen I can just stare at it and figure out what it needs in those in-between periods of painting. 

I use acrylics and also sometimes use copper leaf. I find acrylics perfect for working in layers, adding mediums to create translucent effects and i love the copper leaf for adding a touch of extra individuality. 

I've loved painting for years and I used to just paint for family and friends but my husband was the one who has really pushed me to pursue it as a career.

I paint in my dining room currently, I love that I can be near the kids while Im painting, I like to set up the table with watercolours and a big roll of paper for them to create on while I paint. I love that I can also duck in and out if wanted to paint in little bursts throughout the day.

If I paint in the day I'll set the kids up with some watercolours next to me or when I paint at night once they're asleep I put my music on and paint until I'm happy with where my painting is. I struggle to leave my pieces in a place where I'm just going to be constantly trying to solve it while I've stepped away but I do like to cap my painting time before bed otherwise I can't sleep as I can only think about colours.

I have always loved florals and landscapes, the colours and movement they both have and the endless possibilities for colour and texture.

I have lots of different brushes but one of my secret weapons is my paper towel which I use to wipe paint off the canvas to create the most amazing textures and movement. It's gotta be Viva paper towels though, it scrapes the paint so differently and adds such a beautiful dimension. 

I love that emerging artists have so many opportunities to be seen. Lots of art prizes and collaborations.

Ive had so many jobs but they weren't unusual jobs but they were unusual for me, I worked as an administrative assistant at a blinds store and it was absolutely not for me. I couldn't sit at a desk all day and not think creatively.

If you could acquire any artwork—historical or contemporary—which one would it be and why? 
I would absolutely love to own a Heidi Maunder piece, particularly her landscapes. She can capture the most magical moments and imagery on her canvases. I particularly love the way she paints flora and the creates such depth, it literally stops me in my tracks when I see her work.