Why ears?

You know how every artist starts out drawing eyes in the margins of their school notes? Well I also started out that way. Then I stopped doodling in the margins of my notebooks and went to college at the University of Arizona to study Math and Science. It wasn’t until I was a senior in college that I realized I wanted to take more “fun” classes to fill up the rest of my units before graduation. This was the year I learned, and hated (sorry Mr. Mantle), ballpoint pen. This was the year I completed my first acrylic painting. This was the year I learned how fun figure drawing classes with charcoal could be.

I graduated from the University of Arizona in 2018 with a Bachelors of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology, accompanied by minors in Biochemistry, Mathematics, and wait for it…. studio art.

Fast forward 7 years later….

I am now an experienced Biology teacher (6 years and counting) and love teaching little minds big ideas. I aim to show my students how they can overlap art and creativity with the sciences.

Two years ago, I picked up a ballpoint pen again… and loved it. I started with noses during my travels over the summer, and progressed to ears as my next “hyper-fixation”. As I have fallen back in love with art, I have been fortunate enough to live in a vibrant artistic city— Austin, TX. While my “hyper-fixation” turned into an entire art niche, I found an underlying purpose. Keep Austin Weird. The Austin I moved to 4 years ago was eclectic and strange. As Austin gets more and more corporate, I aim to spread the weird one ear at a time.

Keep Austin Weird, buy an ear.

And don’t forget to Exist Creatively.

Kelly Orth