Every morning, Jill Kettler says she awakens “itching” to paint. Nothing other than her family gives her more zing than sitting in her home studio, getting ready to spread colorful acrylics or oils on a fresh canvas.
Today, a typical day for this artist is going straight to work on a painting or thinking about what she wants to paint next. But Kettler’s days weren’t always like this.
In fact, despite enjoying an early education in the arts, it would be decades before she seriously picked up a paint brush. Like many late-in-life artists, Kettler first needed to juggle college, marriage, raising a family and employment, which in her case meant a full-time teaching career.
“I only started to paint again since 2019,” says Kettler, while sitting in the plush conference room of Manor Auctions of Vero Beach.
Kettler’s paintings were to be auctioned there for the third time, alongside those of the famed Highwaymen, for eager international buyers to bid on.
Its owner, Paul Barattini, had first seen her artwork at the Vero Beach Art Club’s Pointe West Fine Arts Festival, where he purchased three of her paintings. After also buying several pieces at the Art Club’s Art in the Park exhibits, which take place select Sundays during season at Humiston Park, he told her that he felt she could make more money by auctioning her work.
It was his positive reaction that furthered her determination to refine her painting techniques. It also fanned the realization that in addition to being a rewarding creative pursuit, her artwork had some real income possibilities. That was especially brought home when one of her paintings sold at auction for considerably more than she had expected.
“I was thrilled when the bidding reached $5,000 and when the bid went to $7,500, I cried,” Kettler confesses, reliving the thrill of the sale.
The path to her artistic success had actually begun many years ago, as a middle school student in a suburb of Pittsburgh. She was among a select group of art students from around the area chosen to take art lessons at the prestigious Carnegie Art Institute, where such notable students as Andy Warhol and Mel Bochner once studied. Scholarships, and her innate talent, enabled Kettler to attend for four consecutive years.
“Mr. Joseph Fitzpatrick was the art director of Pittsburgh Public Schools, who also taught on Saturdays at the Carnegie Institute of Art. He was professionally trained and studied in France,” says Kettler.
“We were instructed to observe and learn. His teaching was very structured. We were assigned to choose an object and draw it from every angle.”
However, despite that early entrée, Kettler did not pursue a career in the visual arts.
“Coming from a Pittsburgh blue-collar working family, an art career wasn’t encouraged. Teaching was a more practical and reliable path. It has been a very satisfying career to teach an underserved population.”
Kettler earned a bachelor’s in education at the University of Clarion, known today as PennWest Clarion, and earned a master’s in education from the University of West Florida. Continuing her studies, she became certified as a specialist in education from the University of Florida and was later employed as the education supervisor at the Florida Department of Corrections.
She and Howard, her husband of 51 years, who is retired from the University of Maryland and Tufts University, have resided in Florida for more than 40 years.
Upon retirement, following that four-decade-long hiatus from painting, Kettler willed herself to relearn her craft. She credits her husband with encouraging her to paint again. He also assisted by framing her early works, and continues to transport her paintings to exhibits.
Kettler says that even all these years later, her earlier lessons with Fitzpatrick as a teenager influenced her tendency to paint in the style of realism. She explains that he inspired generations of students “to look, to see, to remember, to enjoy.”
Kettler says she continues to embrace that precept, often studying photographs of seascapes and lake views, and then painting them with the emotions that rise to the surface.
“I’m not a plein air artist, but my photographer friends share their discarded outdoor photos with me. I then create an original scene by incorporating a little from each photograph,” says Kettler.
She notes that her favorite subjects are water scenes, along with colorful tropical fauna, birds, sunrises and sunsets.
“I use my paintings to remember a moment and take inspiration from nature. I was trained to observe details and look from different perspectives. I am in awe of beautiful skies and majestic trees,” says Kettler.
“Sometimes I laugh at the antics of the birds in my backyard. I am most happy to express myself with my brushes. My goal is always to keep improving my art, and to create more movement and color variations.”
The Manor Auction aptly describes her work as, “Captivating, detailed oil paintings, where pastel-colored waters gleam under a soft settling mist among the lush vegetation … creating a serene yet adventurous landscape … inviting viewers to immerse themselves in nature’s exquisite beauty.”
In her leisure time, Kettler has a full family life with her husband, daughter, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and enjoys traveling with them to take in scenery, explore new restaurants and socialize with friends.
Kettler is a member of the Sebastian River Art Club and the Vero Beach Art Club. She has exhibited at shows at the Pelican Island Audubon Society, Vero Beach Museum of Art, VBAC’s Under the Oaks Fine Arts and Crafts Show and at the Old Town Art Show in St. Augustine.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
