Kelly Walker – a Hoosier transplant to Crabtown who dropped out of school in the 9th grade to follow the Grateful Dead – paints beautiful pictures on the walls of rich people’s homes. That is how she makes a living.

Her marquee clients include Ravens’ football star Ray Lewis and baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer.

But like the Renaissance artists who survived on commissions from the Pope while sculpting masterworks in private, Walker has an interior artistic life in which she creates for the only patron that counts – herself – and then hopes an appreciative buyer comes along. Like=20 a lamp made out of Halloween “Candy Corn,” now in the private collection of noted designer Patrick Sutton.

“I seriously didn’t know what being an artist was until I realized that I was one,” said Walker, currently seeking gallery representation. “Then it was like – ah-ha, that’s what’s wrong with me. I’m eccentric!”

She began by making gifts for people – shadow boxes and dioramas – and by 1999 was doing decorative work and making a living at it.

“I found a career as an artist painting on walls and furniture and ceilings in the homes and offices of the upwardly mobile,” said Walker. “It’s an adventure.”

Her commercial jobs include gilding and recreating Old Master themes in oil to wall accents and non-traditional plaster work and adding stenciling and fabric to walls.

In addition to her big time sports star jobs, her portfolio includes a job for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at his McLean, Virginia home.

“After a hiatus a few years ago, I started working on canvas and wood and made my first piece for my mother,” said Walker. “She’s a successful realtor in North Carolina and quite conservative. “I matched her massive open floor plan to hardwoods, a wrought iron staircase, formal dining room and Tuscany inspired kitchen,” said Walker, who has put down roots as a  homeowner in Hamilton.  “Using her established color (scheme) and matching it to my own vibe became my goal.

“I want,” she declared without guile, “to be an art star.”