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Finding My Purpose as an Artist & Wedding Painter. Spoiler Alert: Art is Not Frivolous

Writer's picture: Kelsey ShieldsKelsey Shields

This one’s a doozy! I’ve never had such clarity on why I do what I do. Explaining that will take us on a journey through my work and my Christian faith. I've enjoyed finding a way to write out my purpose as an artist and wedding painter. Let's start with the basics. For those who are new around here, I’m a live wedding painter, offering services like canvas and paper ceremony paintings, as well as watercolor guest portraits. I also paint landscapes—typically from Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region—which I then turn into prints and sell in shops. There’s a lot going on, and I absolutely love it.


From Teaching Art to Full Time Artist

I started painting landscapes and wildlife while working as an Elementary Art Teacher. The job was mentally and physically exhausting, and painting became a way to refill my cup. At the time, I was surrounded by friends planning camping, rafting, backpacking, hut trips, and road trips. It’s impossible not to use “trip” for each of those adventures—fitting, because that’s exactly what life is: one wild and precious trip.


students sit in a field of sagebrush while painting the Grand Tetons in Wyoming
Taking campers to paint the Tetons in 2012 during a college job in Wyoming as Craft Shop Kels. This was before working in a school and was an extremly enjoyable teaching job that filled my cup to the brim.
Painting of the Tetons is bright and colorful on an easel with the same mountains behind the panel in a summery scene
Returning to plein air paint the Grand Tetons in 2020 while on a road trip around the American West.

I had spent enough time as a teacher to know that was not how I wanted to spend my life's trip, which led me to a career as a full time artist. As many of us new entrepreneurs do, I tried everything to see what might stick. I was "throwing spaghetti at the wall" as they say.


I’ve created murals, painted weddings, sold at markets, drawn houses and pets, and, of course, painted my go-to subjects—western mountain landscapes and wildlife. Over time, I’ve narrowed that list down quite a bit. Now, the core of my art career revolves around the practices I mentioned at the start of this doozy.


Seeking Purpose

When I was teaching, I never questioned whether my job was making the world a better place. Even though I struggled with the day-to-day, I never doubted that I was making a difference or that my work had purpose. As an artist, that question was always in the back of my mind. Or rather, I should say—it used to be.


A message in church began to bring clarity to my purpose as an artist. Our pastor was starting a new series on Heaven, and one idea stuck with me: we can assume that we will all be creating as a form of worship in Heaven. Why? Because God is the Master Creator—the Creator of Heaven and Earth, of colors, mountains, and that unmistakable look in our favorite person’s eyes.


This idea that every piece I’ve ever created is, in some way, a reflection of the Master Artist has always been woven into my work. It’s why I’m drawn to mountains. I love spending time in His creation, and I love attempting to capture it in paint. For me, it is a form of worship.

This deeply influences my personal work, painting on adventures where I feel closest to God and surrounded by love. I truly believe there’s nothing quite like spending time in nature with your favorite people or even with people you just met for that matter.


girl sits with a paper as she looks at a clear matterhorn
Sketching the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
a cloud covered matterhorn is behind a watercolor drawing of the view
By session's end.

The second week of the Heaven Sermon Series brought my work full circle, tying in my role as a wedding artist. As our pastor spoke about longing for Heaven while also doing good on Earth, it suddenly hit me—weddings are a glimpse of Heaven. I kid you not, just as I had this thought, he said, “While we’re not necessarily talking about a wedding here, I think weddings are similar, and in 1 Corinthians, we can read…”

Is each wedding its own glimpse of Heaven? When I’m standing on the literal top of a mountain, feeling the vastness of Creation and how small I am in comparison, I can’t help but believe that weddings give us a preview of what Heaven might be like.


What Then is a Wedding?

Really take a moment to think about a wedding. Not just the most luxurious celebration, but what all weddings have in common. A gathering of people who love each other, elated—beyond happy—for the new couple. The power of nature, of Creation, is undeniable. The busyness of life has faded away. If you’re lucky, there’s no phone service. Devices and work are forgotten, and all that matters is this moment. Being here.

Everyone is dressed in their best. Florals adorn every surface. The lighting is warm, the music shifts between soothing and celebratory. The food and drink are abundant—the best you’ve had in a long time. And then there’s the joy. It is palpable.

Tell me that doesn’t sound like Heaven.


a white tented wedding reception has greenery and happy guests sitting and chatting with a live painter in the background
Live Painting at a Tented Wedding Reception.

Now, let’s circle back to the act of creating. If we are meant to create in Heaven—copying and worshiping the Master—then it only makes sense that someone would be at a wedding, artistically capturing the joy in color and interpreting each beautiful moment as it unfolds. Just as music, singing, and dancing belong in these celebrations, so does art.


Art is Not Frivolous

With that, I’m brought to a place of complete awe. This career as an artist isn’t frivolous; it does make the world a better place. Painting Creation is a form of worship. By extension, wedding paintings aren’t frivolous either. I get to be part of celebrations that offer a glimpse of Heaven, and I get to paint the beauty as it unfolds. I get to contribute to the celebration with an artistic creation—an act of worship. What is frivolous about a painting that captures this slice of Heaven, a piece of someone’s story they can return to for decades? Imagine their loved ones, too, getting a glimpse into that special day.


I know that live paintings—and art in general—are often thought of as a luxurious add-on. But let me pose this question: what if it’s not? What if it’s actually the purest way to capture something that is not only beyond beautiful but perhaps even a little beyond this life itself?


a mountain wedding ceremony shows guests a quartet a live painter and the couple getting married from a drone image
Live ceremony painting at a beyond beautiful slice of Creation in Telluride, CO.
a girl in black clothes stands at an easel painting while surrounded by green mountains
Live painting a mountain wedding ceremony at Camp Hale outside of Vail, CO.

Kelsey Shields is a Wedding Painter and Western-inspired artist based in Colorado.

Join for updates on wedding painting as well as original pieces and prints that capture a bit of adventure.

View the gallery of completed wedding paintings.


Image credit:

Jaclyn Valentine at Palmyra Lookout in Telluride, CO.

Gillespie Photo at Camp Hale in Vail, CO.

Hannah Henke at our outdoor wedding ceremony in Longmont, CO.




a couple in bridal clothes walks back to their wedding reception together
A slice of our wedding day Heaven.
a painting of a couple walking back to their wedding reception
A painting on paper of that heavenly moment.


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kelseyshieldsart@gmail.com

 

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