"'My Own Muse' collection was birthed from a mantra I wrote during a difficult period. 'There came a time I had to choose. Wait for inspiration, or become my own muse.'

"From the depths of postpartum depression, unhealthy relationships, and numerous moves, I found strength and resiliency from within."

Kelly’s collection “My Own Muse” celebrates women who are unapologetically the creators and subjects of their own stories, breaking free from the conventional narrative that places the muse in the reflections of others.

Kelly shares their voice and perspectives through her signature style of palette knives and unconventional tools.

Saunders uses vibrant colors and textures in her work, creating depth and complexity that reflect the rich experiences of the women she portrays. Her art strikes a delicate balance between structure and spontaneity, highlighting the beauty of women's creativity and resilience.

March 2024

Saunders will be featuring a piece from her latest collection, My Own Muse, born from a poem that she wrote during a difficult time in her life. “I know how it feels to have to pick myself up, refusing to wait for external validation or inspiration,” she says. “From the depths of postpartum depression, unhealthy relationships and numerous moves, I found strength and resiliency from within. I became my own muse.”

March 2024

Kelly Saunders, known for her signature style of layers of textures and colors, captures a woman in a quiet moment of introspection in her painting “Empowered Elegance” – part of her latest collection, “My Own Muse”.

March 2024

This March, in honor of Women’s History Month, the Asheville-based painter will debut a new series of work titled “My Own Muse.” The series is a “visual testament to women who aren’t just mere observers in life; they are unapologetically the creators and subjects of their own stories.”

Asheville-based painter Kelly Saunders is proud to announce the release of her latest collection, "My Own Muse.” This distinctive series spotlights women who courageously embrace themselves as the source of their inspiration, breaking free from the conventional narrative that often places the muse in the reflections of others.

March 2024

Kelly Saunders left the corporate workplace to become what she had always wanted to be: an artist.

Saunders’ distinctive style is marked by her use of palette knives and unconventional tools, a method developed from being self-taught and experimenting without formal constraints.

Febuary 2024

“With the top-notch art and abundance of attendees, BLISS exceeded all of my expectations. Although the event is behind us, this is just the beginning,” said Kelly Saunders, BLISS artist and planning committee member.

“We began planting seeds for cultural and economic opportunities in Western North Carolina and beyond.”

July 2023

Recently, we chatted with Asheville-based artist Kelly Saunders to find out what inspires her to put paint to canvas, capturing the melodies and musical experiences that she has collected as memories across her lifetime. Her unique style and ability to make past musical memories a tangible work of art help her stand out from the crowd of the bustling Asheville, NC art scene.

June 2023

For most of her adult life, Kelly Saunders worked in corporate marketing. But her passion has always been painting.

“Messiness is forgiveness,” she says as we walk into her creative space — filled with new and half-finished paintings of drum sets, keyboards and vintage records — to discuss her unconventional journey.

May 2023

In this interview, artist Kelly Saunders describes her journey of taking a risk on her dreams of creating art and starting a business from scratch.

“I would rather try and fail than never know what might’ve been. That eagerness, along with baseless confidence, has propelled my art business. I grew from having an ambitious dream to selling nationally and having gallery representation within my first year.

June 2023

For Kelly Saunders, music and art have been intertwined for as long as she can remember, but it wasn’t until about two years ago that she brought them to the forefront in the form of paintings.

The music she ingests registers deep inside, revealing itself later in her art.

March 2023

“As Canton continues to grow, we’re presented with a timely opportunity to shape the area’s creative growth, attracting galleries, art education, art businesses and more that will position Canton as an arts destination,” says Kelly Saunders, artist and member of the BLISS production team.

April 2023

“BLISS is an important celebration of the creative work being produced in our Biltmore Lake community,” said Kelly Saunders a neighborhood resident and participating artist.

She emphasizes, “We’ve added guest artists to the mix to ensure outreach from across the region and a regional audience.”

April 2023

With myriad galleries, arts and crafts fairs for nearly every season and the vibrant River Arts District, to name a few, Asheville is ripe with opportunities for area artists from all mediums to find ways to show and sell their work.

BLISS, the Biltmore Lake Imaginative Studio Stroll, is the latest entry into the more intimate world of meeting artists where they are - their studios.

April 2023

Kelly Saunders had an untypical path to becoming a full-time artist. Now she’s using the marketing and event planning skills she honed during her 20+ year corporate career to launch the first-ever Biltmore Lake Imaginative Studio Stroll.

April 2023

When a group of artists living in Candler’s Biltmore Lake neighborhood gathered in December 2019 to talk about their shared interests, they found many of them were eager to show and sell their work.

“ I think it’s the first time everyone has been brought together like this, so I feel like there’s a higher mission,” Kelly Saunders, an acrylics painter and planning committee member.