Artists James and Susan Kelly to Feature in AMR Open Studios Tour

HALCOTTSVILLE — Artists James and Susan Kelly will be hosting their art as part of the AMR Open Studios Tour July 24-26. The art will be at display at the Mill House at Susan's Pleasant Pheasant Farm at 1 Bragg Hollow Road in Halcottsville.

James Kelly said he sees his “greatest art as the property in Halcottsville, including the trails and how we’ve made it into a living work of art.

He added that he and Susan have always been supportive of the AMR Open Studios Tour.

“We’re honored to be a part of the tour,” he said. He added that arts in the Catskills have been a key way to display the “heart of the artists.” It helps to showcase the beautiful landscape and bring more artists to the area.

The art has received a “great reception,” said James Kelly.

Kelly spent more than 35 years in midtown Manhattan founding and running a corporate signage company.

“I traded the world of architectural graphics and exact measurements for the Catskills. It was a process of working in the city and every weekend and most vacations in Halcottsville. Today my wife Susan and I are full time residents where we run our recreational kayaking business Susan’s Pleasant Pheasant Farm”, he said.

“The water and the land on our property are my greatest sources of inspiration. For me, art isn’t just something made inside a studio—it’s about how we interact with our environment to really connect with the diversity of the terrain. When it comes to my physical pieces, my work expresses a lifelong passion for original design,” James Kelly said.

“I love experimenting and challenging traditional techniques, shapes, and functions. I often incorporate various methods and unexpected natural materials into my work to create surprising effects across a wide range of mediums—including glass, ceramics, metals, wood, crystals, and stone. While I spent a number of years focused on ceramics, my current studio work is all about hot glass (which I craft at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass) and creating sculptural messages using salvaged materials from my New York City signage career. It’s a fun, full-circle process for me: taking the structured, polished remnants of my corporate days and giving them new life alongside the fluid movement of glass and the rugged landscape right outside my door.”