Where I came from . . .

I was born in 1928 and lived in many, many houses in many towns in Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada before I left what was then San Francisco State College to start teaching in Mono County, California.
 
I married an engineer and we continued moving in the same pattern while having three babies. California to Texas to Oregon back to California, to Albuquerque . . . and then I moved to Nevada County with my three children.
 
As an only child I had always said I wanted to stay in one place and have a tribe of my own. I've lived and worked in Nevada County since 1965, more than half my life now and I have not only my family tribe (three adult children and their spouses, six grandchildren aged thirteen to thirty, and three great-grandsons, all living in the County, but other equally dear tribes of friends.
 
My life as an artist is the thread which has run through all my existence; something I was serious about from the time I was nine or ten.
 
With all the house-moving, child-raising, school-teaching, land-reclamation and gardening, I still continued drawing and painting, participating in shows, selling enough to be encouraged. I continued my art education at the University of California at Davis and Berkeley, and at Sacramento State.
 
During my teaching years I managed one major painting every Easter vacation and one in August just before school started, which meant that I was never able to pursue any particular theme satisfactorily. Since I have retired it is heaven to be free to continue to work on whatever question is in my mind and itching to get out my fingers.
 
If you follow the tracks of my paintings on this site you'll find more about my life as it emerges in my work.

Teddy Kell, January 2008

P.O. Box 904
Rough and Ready, CA 95975
(530) 272-5204
tkell@ncws.com