Kelly Clause Is Coming to Town

Kelly Clause knows the virtue of patience. The Santa Barbara native waited in the wings — and worked hard — while her dream slowly took shape. Now, it seems Clause is exactly where she wants to be: a stone’s throw from the cerulean Pacific that features prominently in her oeuvre and defined her upbringing.

That’s no exaggeration — from her new gallery and studio on Anacapa Street in the Funk Zone, you can smell the ocean in the air and feel it on your skin. Clause aims to give those same sensations with her art, be it a watercolor, oil painting, linoleum block print, enamel mug, or the side of a building, where she painted a marlin for Bluewater Grill. Some pieces capture the fluidity of a humpback whale about to puncture the water’s surface or a foamy current pushing toward the coast; others, the stoicism of a swordfish or yellowfin tuna like those mounted high at a seafood joint. “There’s a powerful mystery in marine life that people are drawn to,” Clause said at her studio last week. “I think the more we become in awe of what’s around us, the more likely we are to protect it.”

She was reeled in quickly. The daughter of a UCSB-trained marine biologist and fisherman, Clause grew up surfing, fishing, and observing tide pools. “A lot of my love for the ocean was influenced by my parents and how they raised us,” she explained. “My mom would take us down to the low tides — she would know the scientific name of every marine organism.”

Not so obvious was Clause’s path to art. She first took to drawing, entering kids’ contests at the Santa Barbara Fair and Expo and doodling during her classes at Dos Pueblos. Working with kids had been a passion, so after wrapping up undergrad at UCLA, she earned her master’s in Elementary Education from UCSB, teaching for three years. But the creative itch needed scratching, and life was marching on. “I’m seeing my sisters with kids, and [realizing] there’s a unique time in life that I think some of us are given, where we can afford to pursue our dreams and take huge chances in life. And I just kind of had this urge inside to pursue art in some way,” Clause mused.

It turns out painting, like sea legs, runs in the family. A few years ago, Clause’s grandmother was downsizing and found her own mother’s watercolor set. Clause and her mother had been wanting to spend more time together, and they enrolled in a free watercolor class at SBCC. “We shared this watercolor set sitting next to each other, and I painted my first whale in that class. For some reason, it just flowed, and I went, ‘This is my medium,’” said Clause.

A tiny garage on Islay Street led to other humble spaces before Clause opened the doors to her first bona fide studio earlier this month. Still cozy, it’s nevertheless a prime slice of real estate between Brass Bear and Corks ’n’ Crowns that she’d been eyeing for some time. After a chance conversation with Brass Bear owner Lindsay Anderson, “She was the first person I told about my dream to get a studio space in the Funk Zone, and she had heard of this studio becoming available,” Clause said, amazed, and she reached out about the building. The broker replied that it might be a while. But Clause was set. “I just had this gut feeling, like that’s my space. But I was willing to wait.”

The tenant was actually another local artist, DJ Javier, who scuttled just one door over for more room. “He literally just wheeled his stuff over. And for me, this is what I’ve dreamed about — this location, the exposed beams, the history … several artists have come before me in occupying this space. That feels really special to me,” said Clause.

Just as special was it not being gobbled up by commercial development, Clause acknowledged. “It meant a lot to me that [the owners] chose a small local artist to be in this space.”

A notoriously tough industry — it’s “starving artist,” not even “starving poet,” after all — Clause has found the business acumen takes work. And while these days she’s more often mired in reports than paint, this Santa Barbara daughter wouldn’t want to be doing it anywhere else. “It’s easy to do business when you love people. And people show up for each other out here.”

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Visit Kelly Clause Art at 28 Anacapa Street, Suite B. Tentative hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5 p.m., though contact Clause at kellyclause.com to confirm.