Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kellianne Jordan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kellianne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
I have been a professional photographer for 20 years, photographing weddings, families and branding photos. I absolutely loved growing my business into a thriving, full time, bill paying career. I even went on to coach other photographers in business and marketing. There are many problems I have faced, but the biggest one was the onset of 5 autoimmune diseases over 4 years. As I began to get sick and be more open in my community about it, I noticed that 8 out of 10 full time photographers in my circle had an autoimmune disease likely brought on by the stress of the job. Then I faced another problem: shooting. I have been a photographer since I was 16 and now I am 40, putting down my camera was never something I thought I would be forced to do. I am still photographing 2 sessions a month because I don’t want to fully let go and give up on everything I’ve loved and worked so hard to achieve. The reality is that every session I photograph requires me to rest for at least a half day before and a full day after the shoot. Because of this, I spent two years trying to figure out what else I could do as a creative to earn an income. I focused on coaching my students, on helping them build thriving websites and marketing campaigns, and then did a self discovery journey. In that time of mediation and journaling, I went back to what I’ve always said, I became a photographer because I couldn’t paint. I grew up in a family of artists so being able to paint and draw was the goal and always praised. Me and two of my cousins constantly felt like outsiders and were always in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. I knew I wasn’t great so I picked up a camera. Now, decades later, I am face to face with what I always truly wanted for myself: to be a painter. I picked up a paint brush simply as a stress relief tool for my body to help manage my Multiple Sclerosis, PoTS, Fibromyalgia, and Migraine symptoms. People began to ask for commissions so I dove even deeper into my craft, took classes to get better and only 6 months later, my art is in it’s first gallery show. Because I paint everyday, my symptoms are mostly managed too. It feels amazing to be freely doing what I always wanted to do. And then best part is I no longer feel I am bad it. Of course my family still hasn’t seen much of my work :)
Kellianne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I became a photographer because I didn’t think I could paint. I became a painter because I could no longer be a photographer. It’s funny how life works out.
I grew up in a family full of exceptional artists, so much so that I judged my work harshly. I never thought I was any good at drawing or painting. In 4th grade, during my after school art class, I painted flowers in a vase. I still remember painting it and even more, I remember knowing at that moment that I would never be a painter. I recently found that painting and it’s actually pretty good. But we are our worst critics.
Fast forward to high school where I was entertaining myself with a camera. I had my first and second art shows featuring my photography. I submitted to the fair and won 1st place ribbons (which is a big deal when you are a kid). When it came time to choose a college, I went to Brooks Institute of Photography.
After college I started my own photography business: Kellianne Jordan Photography, and was greatly successful even with two moves from California to Oregon and back again. I began teaching marketing to other photographers and helped launch their careers. It was in 2020 that my symptoms began to present themselves.
Over 4 years, I was diagnosed with 5 different autoimmune diseases including Migraine, Multiple Sclerosis and PoTs. When I kept photographing clients and noticed that it was taking me 1-2 days of bed rest after each shoot to recover, I started backing off and looking for a new way to be creative. I started painting for fun. I created a painting of all my mom’s past dogs, which look just like them, and realized I might be good at this painting thing. I entered the dog painting in the fair and did not win a ribbon. But I entered. I kept painting and even took on commissions for friends and family. In Jan of 2025 I decided to take myself to a new level and began taking some classes online to figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it.
My art has become a therapy for me and a way to help others shine a light on their own pain, enabling them to share how they feel with others. While I create a lot of work based on my own emotions, I also offer FREE commissions to anyone with an autoimmune disease, helping them by making their invisible pain visible. People can apply through my art website: KelJordanArt.com. Art allows us to feel the pain and the beauty without words (which can be hard for those of us with brain fog). My goal is to help others in my autoimmune afflicted community by giving a visual representation of their pain that can be shared with others to promote connection and understanding. It has been a huge blessing to be able to share this gift.
I am proud to say I am an abstract artist whose work embraces chaos and movement while bridging the world’s of chronic pain with God’s beauty. Based in Ventura, California, my life and art are deeply inspired by the desert, beach and Southwest lifestyle. The work I create blends my passion for warm and earthy tones with layering techniques and the freedom of random strokes full of emotion and expression.
My creative process begins with a reflection of emotions of living with chronic illness: at times a mix of raw pain and frustration in abstracts, at other times embracing hope or melancholy in my landscape and wildlife art. My work is a way to process my own pain, while also giving visibility to invisible pain through colorful pieces, inviting viewers to connect and find their own story in the art. My 20 year photography career further enriches my artwork, allowing me to see the world not as it is, but as it feels. I also draw on my years of photography capturing emotions in people to see into the heart of the creatures I paint, allowing for deep emotional connections to each piece.
It’s been only a few months and my paintings are in their first art show. I feel like a 4th grader in art class again, not sure what the future holds, but this time confident that I am on the path God always intended for me.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
For me, the goal with my paintings is to create connection and understanding. I want my viewers to feel the pain and agony or peacefulness, joy or struggle for freedom in each piece. I want them to see that even if someone is disabled, they are still beautiful, while also understanding that living with chronic illness is a painful. I want to create pieces that begin conversations about invisible pain. When I paint abstracts, for me it’s all about communicating an emotion. When I paint animals, it’s about a deep longing to be free from the pain. I know that autoimmune diseases are on the rise. I want my community to feel seen and understood. I want them to have art pieces that they can see their own pain in and can share that with those around them. I want them to be able to point to a painting and say, “This is how I feel each day” even when others say, “You don’t look sick.” I want to bridge the gap between the disabled and the able bodied, helping them to see life the way the chronically ill sees it. I think about this with each piece I create. Some pieces are full of joy instead of pain, to simply get away from it all for a while. Other paintings are full of brush strokes, each with their own emotion.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
To make invisible pain visible is something I think a lot of people might not understand. For me it’s about feeling my true emotions and then letting my mind stop thinking and simply paint. I like to think of it as God guiding my hand and my brush. I am simply in the moment.
When I create invisible pain pieces for other’s, I reach back into my 10 years as a kid actress and I am able to feel who the other person is and what they have been through. I become them while I paint, truly capturing their pain on the canvas.
Good art always makes a deeper connection with the viewer. We may not be able to put words to it, but we feel it. I feel it with every piece I make – and those pieces I don’t connect with, I paint over.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keljordan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keljordanart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keljordanart/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kelliannejordan
Image Credits
Kellianne Jordan Photography