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Kelli Klymenko is currently the Marketing and Events coordinator and a faculty member at Sedona Arts Center. He made his first major debut as a visionary photographer in 2003 at a private gallery showing known as "The Nemesis Collective" in Manhattan, New York. This spawned the completion of four published photography books formulated from over 19,000 images.
The arts in general have always been an integral aspect of Kelli’s life and his immediate family, with professional musicians, writers, actors, photographers, architects, even a pastry chef making their impact. As a child he studied percussion with renowned jazz drummer Steve Bagby and played in the high school band. The fine arts, however, were a part of every waking day, from sketching to experimenting in all mediums since early childhood. As a teenager, he was recognized in his community and school as “the artist.” He painted large murals for his school and created a claymation video of Beowolf. As a high school senior, he enrolled in a special program for upcoming graduates at Parson’s School of Design in New York City, where he continued to study intermittently with various artists throughout his artistic development. After completing his initial studies in sketching, human form, portraits, etc., he had his first commissioned offer from Clio award winning composer and musician, Mark Price, who asked him to paint an oil portrait of his friend, singer and actress, Barbara McNair. Then he began sketching houses for a real-estate broker. Following those experiences, Kelli spent a summer abroad in Greece, visiting ancient sites and museums, which brought a new appreciation and understanding of great masters and of pursuing his own artistic dreams.
Kelli has had an eclectic career, working as a marketing and art director, including webmaster for several high tech companies, where he received accolades for his work by the marketing and technology industry. In addition to the usual corporate websites, brochures, newsletters, tradeshow designs and planning, and technology design illustrations, his corporate photography and art have been featured in industry magazines such as Business Trends Quarterly, Workspan and HR Executive Magazine. Additionally, like many artists who have had to earn a living in other areas to support their personal artistic dreams, Kelli has over the years worked: for independent motion picture and television producers and directors creating storyboards and designs for production projects; to branching out into other artistic endeavors such as writing screenplays; to writing his first novel, Finding Angels and first published on August 1, 2005 [US]. Those close to him knew this as “the seven year project”. Kelli also owned and managed a metaphysical shop on the East Coast for a number of years, creating scents for incense and oils that are exclusively his and still marketed through his venture, Spellbound Originals.
Kelli relocated to Sedona, Arizona in 2004 for a year, then spent a brief three-year period in Beverly Hills and returned in 2008 to enjoy the beautiful scenery, weather, people and art scene. He lives locally with his family and enjoys seeing his son create art the same way he did when he was young.
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