Joanne Tubbs Kelly

As a kid, Joanne Tubbs Kelly moved around a lot, but she always felt at home when she had her nose stuck in a book. As an adult, she provided marketing communications services to high-tech companies. Now that she’s retired, she lives in Boulder in the home she and her husband, now deceased, remodeled from top to bottom. She delights in puttering in her garden and walking and hiking where she can wallow in the beauty of Boulder’s Flatirons and Colorado’s high peaks. Whenever she’s not in her garden or out walking, you can usually find her up to her old tricks: hiding out somewhere with her nose stuck in a book.

Twitter: @JoanneK56191454

What is your favorite non-reading activity?

I am happiest with dirt under my fingernails and a bouquet on my dining room table. I love to putter in my garden, even though the climate in Colorado can be challenging for gardeners. This year we had snow on May 21, and even though it ruined most everything that was blooming at the time, we were grateful for the moisture. I grow organic vegetables (peas, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, basil, raspberries and more) and lots of low-water flowers.

Is there a work of art you love? Why? Have you ever visited it in person?            

Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings are dear to me. When I was in high school, I was an exchange student to the Netherlands. One evening my host father was invited to a reception at the Kröller-Müller Museum, which is tucked away in the middle of a national park, and he invited me to come along. At the time, I believe the museum housed the largest collection of Van Gogh’s work anywhere. The museum was closed to the public for the evening, so while my host father drank punch and hobnobbed with the dignitaries in the reception hall, I had the museum to myself. I was a Van Gogh fan before I went, but afterwards, I was besotted with him. I love his brushstrokes and the colors he uses and his perspective on the world around him. I have since visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which opened after my initial stay in Holland, and was equally enamored.

Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing?

My undergraduate degree is in ceramics. When my kids were little, I threw pots while they were at school, and sold them at craft fairs in the summer. Every time we moved, I dragged along my kick wheel and my kiln, both of which are too heavy for a single person to lift, and all my other potting gear to the new house. I’d set up shop in the garage or basement or wherever I could find room. When I was divorced and needed a steadier income, I temporarily hung up my potter’s cap, but I still lugged around my wheel and kiln every time I moved. I kept saying “When I retire, I will throw pots again!” But when I retired, I spent my time writing a book instead. My kick wheel and my kiln remain in my garage for the time being. Someday, I will get back to them. During my clay-free years, I belonged to an art group called the Divas, and we experimented with collage and mixed media, both of which I love. But mostly, my garden is my canvas today.

If you could create a museum exhibition, what would be the theme?

Peonies and iris. That way I could have at least two Van Gogh’s in the display, since he painted both.  Or maybe it should be roses, iris, peonies and echinacea, so we could call it the RIPE exhibition. Or maybe we should add narcissus to the list so we could call it the RIPEN show. Oh! We have to have sunflowers, too, so we can get Van Gogh’s sunflowers in and it would be the RIPENS Exhibition. That’s it! We would borrow works by all the impressionist painters of the flowers on the list, but the centerpiece of the exhibition would be Van Gogh’s work.

What brings you great joy?

Great joy is in short supply at my house. I lost my beloved husband in January 2020, my sister in August 2020 and my son in February 2022. As I learn to live with these losses, I find it helps to concentrate on things that give me little sparks of joy. It might be the sound of the birds singing in the quiet morning when I go out to get the newspaper, or the sweet aroma of my mock orange bush in full bloom. It might be dawn’s light shining on the Flatirons, or a hug from a neighbor who stops to say hi on her way past my porch. When nothing else will cheer me up, there is always very dark chocolate. I make sure I have a healthy supply at all times. These little sparks of joy are what I can let in for now. I am sure they are paving the way for great joy in my future.