Bonnie Kelso: Finding a Friend in Deep Waters
Exploring the intersection of conservation and storytelling
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In a time when the intersection of art and nature has never been more crucial, certain storytellers captivate our imaginations and inspire us to cherish the world around us with wit, wisdom, and a good dose of wonder. Bonnie Kelso is one such artist. Through her work she reveals the unseen lives beneath our ocean's surface, in our suburban forests, and along a path in life never walked alone, urging us towards conservation and a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Her path is as layered as the ecosystems she loves: an alumna of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, a former Smithsonian exhibit designer, a muralist, an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, at her core, she is an educator passionate about conservation through storytelling.
Guest
Bonnie Kelso is an acclaimed artist, muralist, and children’s book author, celebrated for her unique ability to weave the wonders of the natural world into captivating stories and vibrant art. Born in Florida, Bonnie's early encounters with the ocean and her global travels deeply influence her work, fostering a profound connection to nature's diverse ecosystems.
An alumna of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, Bonnie worked for many years as an exhibit designer, contributing to projects for NASA, National Geographic, and the Smithsonian Institution. Her career reflects a deep commitment to both creativity and conservation, with a special focus on marine life and environmental stewardship.
Bonnie's award-winning children's books, such as "Nudi Gill: Poison Powerhouse of the Sea," bring the beauty and mystery of underwater life to young readers, fostering a love for nature and a call to protect it. Through her public murals in Southern Nevada, Bonnie transforms spaces into vibrant reflections of the landscapes and marine life she cherishes. As an educator and advocate, she inspires a deeper appreciation for our planet's delicate balance.
Bonnie is represented by the talented Liz Nealon at Great Dog Literary.
You can explore more of Bonnie’s work and her efforts in conservation at:
Website: www.bonniekelso.com
From The Library
Extended studies from The Infinite Search library. Dive deeper into Bonnie’s work with some of our favorite titles.
Books
Transcript
[00:00:00] John: In a time when the intersection of art and nature has never been more crucial, certain storytellers captivate our imaginations and inspire us to cherish the world around us with wit, wisdom, and a good dose of wonder. Bonnie Kelso is one such artist. Through her work, she reveals the unseen lives beneath our ocean's surface, in our suburban forests, and along a path in life never walked alone, urging us towards conservation and a deeper understanding of the world around us.
[00:00:37] Her path is as layered as the ecosystems she loves. An alumna of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, a former Smithsonian exhibit designer, muralist, award-winning children's book author and illustrator, BetterCore. She's an educator, passionate about conservation through storytelling. Today, Bonnie shares her journey from childhood memories of the beach to becoming a celebrated author and advocate.
[00:01:01] And we'll explore how her work inspires a connection with nature and young minds and the importance of preserving our planet for future generations. Fellow searchers, thank you for joining us as we dive into a conversation that celebrates creativity, conservation, and the enduring power of art to affect change.
[00:01:24] Bonnie, thank you for making space today for some conversation and a little bit of curiosity. I'm really excited to dig deeper into your story and a lot of your work.
[00:01:32] Bonnie: Thank you so much for that gorgeous introduction. I, I feel like I want to put you in my pocket and like put you out every time I go. So it's just so nice being bathed in, um, you know, You see me.
[00:01:47] You appreciate me. That was so wonderful. Thank you.
[00:01:52] John: Absolutely. Um, I really, I really am. I mean, I'm grateful for all of these conversations that I get to have. It's been a real, um, fascinating. Journey for myself to, to get to experience kind of vicariously all the different wonderful things that other people do.
[00:02:07] Um, so definitely. Thank you.
[00:02:09] Bonnie: Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. I feel like sometimes I'm so in my own bubble. Like, I'm just so focused on what I'm doing at the time that. I don't, I don't step back and look at the big picture as often as I should. I know it's there, like, I know why I'm doing this, but when you get really frustrated and tired and overworked, you start to forget those things.
[00:02:31] John: Why do I have so much hope again? What is that for? Okay.
[00:02:34] Bonnie: Yes. Why am I getting up this morning?
[00:02:36] John: That why is super important to me. And it seems like it's really important to you. You have this interesting relationship for me with, with childhood. Because you're writing children's books, I have this real belief that, you know, every story begins in childhood.
[00:02:53] And so I'm just curious. Stepping away from your current work where that was for you and maybe because we're talking around some ocean and that sort of like water conservation. What was your first memory of the ocean?
[00:03:09] Bonnie: Oh, gosh. Yeah. Well, I was born in Florida. So, um, as a little one, I was always taken to the beach.
[00:03:16] I was, I lived in Hollywood beach, which is very near the water. And yeah. And then even, you know, After we moved away, we always went back to the beach because that's where all my family lived. My cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, everyone was still there. We moved up to North Carolina. Um, so yeah, in Florida, I remember just the waves and putting my feet in the sand and letting them sink down.
[00:03:42] And, you know, I remember walking the beaches with my grandmother and she was really into shell collecting. Um, she would pick up these mollusks, the sand, she knew how to find them because the little tips of the shells would be sticking up out of the sand. And she would put them in a bucket and we'd take them home.
[00:04:02] And I know this sounds horrible, but we would boil them. And I was fascinated with these little bodies, like, that came out of there. I was just like, like a scientist. I was just like, wow, what does this do? And what does that do? And just trying to imagine, like, how these alien forms lived and evolved down there under the sand.
[00:04:21] It was just fascinating to me. I don't do that anymore because I have a deep respect for mollusks. You said, I don't even eat them or anything. Yeah, also going back to your question about that moment when you knew what you wanted to do, I actually still have this piece of paper that just pulled off my wall.
[00:04:42] I have it framed. But I wrote it when I was, I think, seven years old and here it is right here.
[00:04:50] John: Oh, wow.
[00:04:52] Bonnie: I just found it probably about six years ago because I was going through a box of things that my mom had packed up and given to me. But it says, Bonnie Kelso, when I grow up, I want to write books because I like to draw and write.
[00:05:08] I want two children. I want a dog too. And I have all those things now. And it's just so amazing. But when I read that, I was just beginning to explore children's books. And it has been something that I've always wanted to do and kind of forgotten when I started wanting to do that. And it really was when I was a little kid, I used to make all these little booklets, you know, and try to sell them to my parents or kids on the bus.
[00:05:39] And I remember doing that. And. I guess sometimes you just put these dreams on hold, on hold, on hold, and then sometimes you forget about those dreams and I'm so lucky that I was given the opportunity to look at that dream again and, and pursue it. And I'm so happy that I did because what I'm doing now is probably my And Most favorite job that I've ever had.
[00:06:08] And, you know, I get to sit in my home, I get to wear my pajamas to work. It's just, it's the dream I'm living the dream. Oh,
[00:06:20] John: what an amazing story. It's like the dream was so pervasive that it, it just kept forcing its way through your life in that sense. That's right. Their creative journey has been that process of almost like a.
[00:06:35] A coming home, like you, you went out and did all the things.
[00:06:38] Bonnie: Yeah, it's like I had to surrender to that dream finally, but I think I had to do all those other things first before I would be ready to be still and sit down with this kind of work, because it does take a lot of alone time. And I, it's, it's very, um, collaborative too, which is interesting because you have your editors and your publishers and your critique partners and all this.
[00:07:02] So it is definitely a community. But there is a lot of that just, you know, sitting down, drawing, writing time that needs to happen.
[00:07:13] John: Did you spend a lot of time doing that earlier in your life, like in your teenage years, in that sort of time, thinking that You went into school at RISD, at Rhode Island School of Design.
[00:07:23] You had to have had a rather qualifying portfolio to get into that school. And so I'm curious, if you had forgotten this original dream, what was that dream from the original, Oh, I love books, and I love writing, and I love creativity, and you didn't maybe have the language for it as a seven year old, but you loved design.
[00:07:39] How did you get there into school?
[00:07:42] Bonnie: Yeah, in high school, I was Always interested in creative writing. I took all the creative writing courses that they had. I did not take art in school. I actually was in a band and took up all my electives.
[00:07:58] John: What genre?
[00:08:01] Bonnie: What kind
[00:08:01] John: of music was this?
[00:08:04] Bonnie: Oh, the band, um, marching band.
[00:08:06] Yeah. So it was classical music. And then we'd had a very competitive marching band at my high school. I went to Mount Vernon High School. And we competed all over the place and we were very good, but there was that, and that was just very time consuming. But luckily my dad, he always knew that I loved to draw and paint.
[00:08:28] And he signed me up for a whole bunch of art classes at the torpedo factory, which is a sort of art collective in old town Alexandria. And it used to be a world war two torpedo factory. So it's kind of cool. Has a cool history, but now it's been turned into this art center. It's very well known and they give classes.
[00:08:49] So my dad and I actually took a lot of the classes together. So I have to back this up a little and saying that my dad is an architect and so he always had that appreciation for the arts. And I was really lucky to grow up in a family that encouraged. Pursuing the arts as a career. So in fact, he was like, you need to do some more painting and you need, you know, I know the band's fun and stuff, but this is where you're headed.
[00:09:16] You can see it. I couldn't see it as well. But, um, yeah, because I, I really wasn't that good at playing the flute. That was no one even hears a flute and marching band. It's pretty ridiculous. And I really wasn't good at the piccolo. So, um, We took a whole bunch of classes, some together, some I just took by myself, and it was interesting because I was usually like the only young person in the class.
[00:09:46] It was usually for adults, and I had some amazing teachers. And they really helped me put together that portfolio that ended up gaining me a spot at RISD. And as soon as my dad told me about RISD, I was like, I want to go there. And then we went, we visited and I was like, I want to go there. And of course it was the most expensive school on my list.
[00:10:11] So my dad was like, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it. And he started working these extra gigs. He called them Bonnie bucks. And he started doing my comic. Additions for people and all these side jobs because a lot of his work was commercial, but he ended up doing a lot of extra work just to put me through school.
[00:10:31] So, you know, he always believed that's where I was destined to go. So, and I got in, so it was very exciting.
[00:10:39] John: I like to think that the, maybe the side projects for him were also, um, a place to play to. If everything was commercial side, maybe it was also a little bit for him too. So was nature always a part of those stories that you were writing in your creative writing classes?
[00:10:55] Was this relationship to nature always something that you felt or was it something that maybe became more of an influence later on?
[00:11:03] Bonnie: I think I always did feel it, especially growing up. There was the experiences at the beach and the ocean, but then also, like I had mentioned, we, my family moved to North Carolina and we were living in the Appalachian mountains in Dune, North Carolina.
[00:11:16] So it was very. rural area that were a lot of woods around. I remember my parents just saying like, okay, kids go out and play. And my sisters and I would just explore the woods. And we had neighbors who had lots of kids too. And I just remember just being like a pack of kids roaming around the woods together with no adult supervision.
[00:11:39] Um, It was glorious.
[00:11:42] John: It was
[00:11:43] Bonnie: terrifying at times too, because we would, you know, uncover rocks and there would be snakes under there, weird salamanders and so many, um, critters out there in the woods. Um, this woods was populated by bears sometimes. So there was definitely a danger aspect to it too, which I think, I found thrilling as well as it didn't stop me from picking up rocks.
[00:12:08] I always picked up rocks and wanted to see who was living under there. And we used to play in the creek down the street and catch tadpoles and crayfish and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, hang from weeping willow branches and swing into the water and just crazy stuff. Yeah, that was a big part of my childhood and learning that nature is really something to be enjoyed and explored and, and that we are a part of it.
[00:12:39] After that, we lived there for about five years. We moved to the suburbs of Washington, D. C., and I have to say there was definitely a lot less of that. It turned into my friends and I exploring the sewers and riding our bikes into areas that were being developed into townhouses, but we're still partly woods and just exploring that if we could, it would just seem like, you know, the nat the natural world was shrinking around us and so we would just have to find other ways to be adventurous, but yeah.
[00:13:12] It was definitely me who was always like, let's do this. Let's go there. Let's see that. And my friends were like, are you sure? Like, yeah, I know. I already did it. It's fine.
[00:13:22] John: Oh, it's amazing. How was, how did you go from RISD to your first job with kind of Segwaying back to this love of nature. You know, you worked at the Smithsonian.
[00:13:33] I had the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian once and as a kid, and I was totally blown away by it. And I couldn't imagine being an exhibit designer for that. It would just, it just feels like it would be such. Um, you know, every day is just like curiosity.
[00:13:48] Bonnie: It is. It's, it was like my other favorite jobs.
[00:13:53] If this is my favorite job, that was my second favorite job. And it was really a strange way of getting there. Again, I credit my dad for giving me the nudge, but you know, after getting out of RISD, I, I had no prospects whatsoever. I had studied fine art and I really didn't know what to do with this degree.
[00:14:12] I had studied printmaking, actually, and. This is like an ancient art.
[00:14:17] John: I love making stuff.
[00:14:19] Bonnie: I know, it's wonderful and um, but what do you do? How do you make a living? And so yeah, you, of course, you sign up with a bunch of other recent graduates for temporary work. So, I signed up in Rhode Island for temporary work and the only job they had available for all of us was, uh, packing staples.
[00:14:38] So we all worked at King Fastener, which I don't even know if it's still around, but we just sat on the conveyor line and packed staples all day and you just literally, you know, you put earplugs in so you couldn't even talk to each other because it was so loud. It's just like crunch, crunch, crunch all day long because they're making these staples and you're packing them into little boxes.
[00:15:02] So, you know, next time you open a little pack of. Staples and you see them all neatly folded. I don't know if they're still done by hand, but they used to be.
[00:15:11] John: That's amazing. I had no idea.
[00:15:15] Bonnie: Yeah, so pickings were kind of slim for a couple years. I waited tables for a while and I did some part time work for a potter because I ended up going back to Florida and living in Florida for a little while.
[00:15:27] So she was running a pottery studio and I was helping her with that because I did explore ceramics in school. That was the nice thing about RISD is you got to try a whole bunch of different things, especially with a fine arts degree. So I got to, you know, blow glass and make pottery and do woodworking and all these fun things.
[00:15:49] Um, but yeah, then eventually my dad was like, Bonnie, you have to get a job. You got to get a job. It's like creative or something.
[00:15:59] John: I mean, this
[00:15:59] Bonnie: pottery thing's fine, but it's only on weekends or whatever. Yeah. He just saw me, time was slipping away. And so, yeah, so he actually introduced me to a friend of his who we had met through, I think Toastmasters or something.
[00:16:12] And they said, yeah, we're looking for interns for our exhibit design for our exhibit design. And it was an independent exhibit design build company that, that was kind of close to where my parents live. And that was in the Washington D. C. area. And yeah, they did a lot of work for the Smithsonian. And I started out as an intern and loved it.
[00:16:33] I learned everything on the job. I learned how to do computer work. I, first I learned how to draft. Like on the drafting board, so that was all, that was all just learned. And once I finally learned that, then it was like, okay, now we're moving to computers and said, I was like, computers. Okay, why not? So me and my coworker, we self taught ourselves how to use the computers, how to use all the Adobe products and mini CAD we were using for the CAD work and.
[00:17:01] Um, yeah, we started designing exhibits and we did a lot of visitor centers and museum exhibits, a couple of trade show clients. Like NASA was one of our clients and yeah, it was great. I think I ended up working there for like seven or eight years and ended up becoming the design department manager. So went from.
[00:17:24] Lowly intern to
[00:17:27] John: the
[00:17:27] Bonnie: head
[00:17:27] John: honcho, then, you know, everyone's job, right?
[00:17:32] Bonnie: Yeah. Although I have to say that was a lot less fun because you had to have some of those tough conversations with people. And, you know, but I was still a designer at heart and just loved being around creative people. So it always, it was always sad when I had to hurt their feelings, but
[00:17:52] John: that was part of it.
[00:17:54] Were you still pursuing any of that part of the creative writing stuff from high school time?
[00:18:00] Bonnie: I always kept a journal and like to write stories, but yeah, once I got into the exhibit design stuff, it was very time consuming. We something about the nature of that business. It's like everything happens at the last minute and you know, there's always more work to do, but you never finish your work.
[00:18:19] And I just remember spending so many like all nighters getting stuff done. Putting together proposals. I mean, there's so many things that fill on our desk all the time. Um, so yeah, that just became like, if I could eke out a few hours for a social life, that would be great. I think
[00:18:37] John: that happens to a lot of designers where you lose that, um, that sense of your own creativity and, and what, why, what am I, why am I doing it?
[00:18:47] You know?
[00:18:49] Bonnie: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:18:51] John: It really
[00:18:51] Bonnie: is hard to juggle both and then, and then a family. Yeah. Do you want to, you want a family too? Oh, okay. Let's see how that works. So getting to the Smithsonian. Yeah, I just, um, I left. The place I was working and I worked for a trade show company for a little while. Little mom and pop trade show company.
[00:19:12] And then from there I launched into the Smithsonian. They just happen to have an opening. That was good for me because I had been looking for a while. So it was always kind of like. Everyone who worked where I worked was like, it'd be great to work at the Smithsonian directly, you know, because they did hire, they had so much work.
[00:19:31] They would, you know, contract out a lot of work. But, but yeah, I got to work for the Office of Exhibits Central at Smithsonian. That was a lot of fun. No, just getting to go behind the scenes more and see like those big basements full of shelves with jars of things, drawers of fossils. And so the collection is just so incredible.
[00:19:59] John: I could only imagine it's just an iceberg and 98 percent of it is that you can't even imagine all the things that are actually there.
[00:20:08] Bonnie: Yeah. And then they even have offsite warehouses and stuff that are full of stuff. So it's so cool.
[00:20:16] John: Yeah. I, I see that's really interesting parallel between exhibit design and design and what you do now in that you, you distill information into very accessible things, accessible ideas.
[00:20:32] And I'm curious if there was any sort of, Relationship or, or benefit you got that you kind of took from that process of learning exhibit design into writing children's books.
[00:20:44] Bonnie: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I talk about that a lot because, um, yeah, that's what we were basically doing was taking really complex scientific information sometimes.
[00:20:57] And trying to get to break it down into little pieces and chunks that either kids or the general public could understand and get some kind of understanding of. And then also the using of photographs or illustrations and maps and, you know, we did lots of other graphics that added into it. And if you read a scientific paper, there's usually No graphics, there may be some charts or something, but you're still looking at it.
[00:21:27] Like, this is makes no sense. So the whole idea of infographics, you know, was really starting to get popular when I was doing that. And that was a lot of fun was making those images. Just trying to, yeah, make the impossible seem possible.
[00:21:48] John: What was that process like of going from exhibit design into, did you just start to.
[00:21:54] Illustrate for other people, or was it I have all these ideas and stories in my head, or I'm curious what that process was. Yeah,
[00:22:02] Bonnie: I think my process was really odd and different. I actually left my job at the Smithsonian because I wanted to travel. That's what I wanted to do. I was like, I, I'm seeing all these things from my chair, you know, and it looks so cool and I wanna be like, Wallcot out there on the Burgess Shale, you know, , right?
[00:22:25] I wanna be there conquering the mountains. And, and I was like, okay, how can I do this? And I literally was like, trying to think of a way to do it. And I remember. I was working at the Smithsonian under a grant or something that they had gotten, and it was up in the air whether or not my job would even exist the next year.
[00:22:47] So I thought, Oh, maybe this is the time to do it. And so I really started investing some time and, you know, okay, if I sold my condo, how can, how much could I get for it? And then how could I use that money to travel and where would I go and where would I want to go first? And do I have to get insurance and all this stuff?
[00:23:03] I guess I've never done anything like this before. I did spend a, um, a semester in Rome when I was in college, which kind of, you know, I had that travel bug in me. So I had done some traveling alone and stuff and I thought it was really fun. So I was like, okay, I can do this, but I'd never taken on the whole, you know, round the world trip before.
[00:23:27] And, um, yeah, so. I remember doing all this research and then when it came down to it, I was like, okay, I'm leaving and selling my condo. I'm doing it. And my friends threw me a party and everything. And Smithsonian was like, we just got you the grant. You
[00:24:01] can stay another year. And I was like, no, I can't like, I'm going, I'm leaving the country. And they're like, what? That's amazing. Have fun. They're so awesome. They're, you know, really happy for me. So, yeah, I spent like a few years just wandering around the world and climbing things and, um, being in precarious, dangerous situations as a tourist and
[00:24:33] John: yeah,
[00:24:34] Bonnie: that's just, um, yeah, realizing that, you know, There's so many amazing places out there and, you know, experiencing different cultures and talking to different kinds of people and the language barrier and all of that.
[00:24:48] And trying to communicate when you can't speak to someone like that was really fun. I remember drawing a lot of pictures.
[00:24:56] John: I bet that came in real
[00:24:57] Bonnie: toilet paper. Yeah,
[00:25:01] just anything like that. And having so many laughs because they realize that you don't know what you're trying to do and they're trying to help you, but they don't know how to help you. And, and just realizing that there's so many good people out there in the world. And it's just so heartwarming to know that even you are like a stranger out there in the world, and this person's looking out for you.
[00:25:24] It's just so much of that happened. It was great. Either that or I'm just really lucky. I don't know. But I had a great experience.
[00:25:31] John: Incredibly
[00:25:31] Bonnie: friendly. It's incredibly
[00:25:33] John: friendly. Yeah. And then
[00:25:36] Bonnie: after all that traveling, I said, Oh, I think I'm going to do some painting. So I was back in Las Vegas. I got a boyfriend.
[00:25:47] So that really, like, put a wrench in my traveling. And he was really into climbing and canyoneering and all the nature stuff out here in the desert. And so he was taking me all over the place. We did a lot of canyoneering, a lot of rock climbing, just, it was so much fun, a lot of hiking. There's just so much to do out here in the southwest.
[00:26:08] And so at the time I was like, okay, well, I'm going to get a studio and I'm going to start painting. And so I did that. I was using some of my leftover funds that I was going to use to go to South America, which I didn't go to South America, but I used it to rent a studio and do some painting. And so I did that.
[00:26:26] And then lo and behold, I ended up marrying this friend of mine and we had some kids. And. Then we did get divorced, but you know, we're still friends. We're still in the area. We're still raising our kids together. But yeah, I feel like at that time I was like, okay, now I'm moving into this part of my life and everything's different.
[00:26:49] It's like, I almost felt like, okay, I'm going to miss traveling, but that's okay. I did a lot and I kind of got that out of my system. And now I've done all this local adventuring, which was great. Cause I never would have been doing this if I hadn't done that. Already and you just level up and then it's like, okay, I go from taking week long trips, backpacking to now I'm having a kid.
[00:27:13] It's kind of like the brakes it.
[00:27:18] John: Yeah, big time, big time.
[00:27:22] Bonnie: And honestly, like, okay, so I think I was 49 when I had my 1st and 50. Or no, no, 39 when I had my 1st and 41 when I had my 2nd. Um, so a little bit of older mom, but yeah, I felt like. It was very taxing on my body. I felt very exhausted. So even though I was in excellent shape because I had been doing all this stuff, like the whole process of getting pregnant and carrying that child and, um, having, um, I had had to have a C section and all that surgery and stuff.
[00:27:57] It was, it was really hard. Um, so that definitely slowed me down. And, um, I loved being a mom too. So I wanted to be with that kid all the time So I think that might be part of it too is like there's just something about like when you have a baby And you're carrying it around It feels like a part of your body still like it doesn't feel like a different person it feels like part of you that you need to Love and take care of and protect and so I think that's why for me I had to just Go all in and be with that little person for as long as I as long as they would let me
[00:28:45] That's how it feels now like they're like tweens now
[00:28:50] John: Yes, I had two boys.
[00:28:52] Bonnie: Yes Mom, leave me alone. Okay, we're hugging please. Oh my god I miss hugging you.
[00:29:01] John: My understanding, they come back around, so.
[00:29:03] Bonnie: Yes, that's good, that's what I hear, so.
[00:29:09] But yeah, when I had more of that downtime and slow time, that was when I started, we were going to the library a lot, we were reading a lot of books, they were drawing, I was drawing with them. It's like, I got to relive. My early childhood through them. And I think if you let it, you can see the world that way again.
[00:29:30] John: Did you have any epiphanies of your own? Like, Oh, I, that's why, or, Oh, Oh, yeah. All the time,
[00:29:38] Bonnie: all the time I was having those feelings and I feel like after I had kids, I did have kind of a spiritual awakening of some sort. I felt like all the time I was seeing things they were doing and it was bringing back memories of my childhood.
[00:29:55] And then I was doing it with them and I was thinking about the things I wish I had done for me and then I was doing it for them and so it was almost like auto correction or something. I don't know what to say, but I just all the time. I felt like this is such a different experience for me, all the experiences I've had.
[00:30:22] John: So is that where you started really pushing with writing books and trying to get into the publishing side of things? The creative world and that side of it.
[00:30:32] Bonnie: It really wasn't until after my kids started school that I had more time to do this kind of thing. So when the kids went back to school, I started painting more again, and I was also exploring teaching.
[00:30:49] So I became a teaching artist. For the Nevada Arts Council, and they have this program where they put you on the roster and then it's a lot easier for you to get grants. So I started getting a lot of grants so that I could go into the community. And teach workshops and facilitate art classes. So I was, I did all kinds of things.
[00:31:12] I was really starting to get interested in different populations. Like addiction recovery was one of them where I would go in to programs where they were already sober and trying to work through different feelings and issues that they were going through because of their addiction. We decided to do these art projects with them so that they could do things more collaboratively as a group.
[00:31:39] And it was supposed to be fun for them too. And it was, I mean, they loved it. They'd get in here and a lot of them had never even spent any time being creative or allowing themselves to play around with paint and canvas and, um, and then to do it with other people and drop all that self consciousness about it and just laugh and have fun and play around with the materials that was just really fun for them.
[00:32:08] And. And the more I saw that it was really the process of art healed, not actually making a beautiful piece of art, I was like, wow, this is gold here. This is good stuff. And people need to know more about this and they need to try it more often. Because there's so many people I would come up against all the time who were like, this is ugly.
[00:32:37] This is, you know, what is this? This doesn't make any sense. And I was like, you have no idea, like, this was so much fun to make and you should come to the class and you should try it and just have fun with us and be creative. And sometimes they would and they would be like, okay, I think I get it now, you know.
[00:32:56] This is fun.
[00:32:58] John: I've never met a person who hasn't gone to some sort of art class and walked away going. That was terrible. I'm never doing that again.
[00:33:03] Bonnie: Right. Right. That's stupid. They might say it before they go in, but
[00:33:10] John: yeah, I'm not an
[00:33:10] Bonnie: artist. Oh, yeah. Because you hear that a lot. Like, I'm not creative. I don't have a creative bone in my body.
[00:33:17] I can't draw a stick figure, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you're like, okay, well, we're not going to draw stick figures. So you're off the hook.
[00:33:25] John: We're drawing, we're drawing, uh, turkey hands. We're doing hand turkeys today. It's different. Right,
[00:33:29] Bonnie: right. Yeah. We're just like using straws and blowing paint.
[00:33:35] John: What do you think it is about play or that process that instills confidence in people?
[00:33:45] Bonnie: That's a good question. I think it just lets them let go of their inhibitions. You're so set on, I'm going to draw a portrait of my dog, right? It's going to be beautiful. It's going to look just like my dog. And they're so set on that final product, like what it's going to look like, like they have a vision of what it's going to be when they're done.
[00:34:09] And if they just let go of that, And say, I'm going to think about my dog while I'm painting. And what does that, what does that make me feel? And how, how do I feel about my dog? And what colors would make me feel like, oh, this is, this is Rex, you know? This is, this is what he would like. And if you approach it from that way, it's like, you don't know how it's going to end up in the end.
[00:34:39] So you're letting go of that, that idea of what it should be. And so anything that results from what you're doing is fine. It's acceptable. I hope that answered your question.
[00:34:54] John: I think it does. Right. There's, um, if there's no right answer, if it's just play, then
[00:35:01] Bonnie: yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's exploration.
[00:35:05] John: Did you have an end result or an end idea in mind when you were creating Newty Gill?
[00:35:12] Bonnie: You know, when I made that dummy for the first time, it just kind of came out really quickly and I ended up not even changing that much. So I think it was because I just felt really familiar with the animal, and I knew that I wanted other people to discover this animal if they didn't know it already, you know, everyone kept saying, because I was taking a lot of classes at the time, and I was part of SCBWI, and we were, I was very focused on learning more about the industry so that I could find a way to break into it, which is, it's very competitive.
[00:35:49] So I remember them saying, like, just, just write and draw what you know, like, something you know a lot about and just do it and make it, you know, for kids, like, how would you tell a kid about this? Or how would, if you were a kid, how would you discover more information about this thing? And so I just kind of said, Oh, okay, I know I'm going to do, I'm going to do nude pranks.
[00:36:16] John: Why, why was that such an easy decision for you?
[00:36:19] Bonnie: It was because I discovered nude pranks when I started scuba diving. And that was, um, probably a few years before I left for my world trip. And so when I was on my world trip, I did a lot of diving all around the world, and that was one thing that I always loved seeing wherever I was.
[00:36:38] It was like, oh, there's a nudibranch, you know, or someone pointing out a nudibranch. If I had a dive master and they were like doing this, like making the inch. Signal. That means like there's something really small and cool over here. And so I, I was the first one over there, you know, what is it, what is it?
[00:36:56] And then it could be a seahorse or, you know, pipe fish, or it could be a nudibranch. And then it was like, Oh my God, it's a nudibranch. Because they're just so tiny and they're so beautiful and colorful and I feel like I've always been drawn to them because of their shape and their form and they're very flowy, almost like flowers, and I've always been a fan of Georgia O'Keeffe, and so when I see, you know, her flowers and her landscapes, I, I see the curve, the same curves and colors and, and that fleshiness to them.
[00:37:28] They're just, they're so cool. And I think, you know, nudibranchs also inspired a lot of my personal artwork that I made. So I had a lot of abstracts, but kind of these organic, um, sensual, curvy shapes in my work. And. And I always say, yeah, they're, they're new to brinks. People be like, what is that? I'm like, it's a new to branch.
[00:37:52] John: Okay.
[00:37:54] Bonnie: And they're like, what's that? I'm like, you don't know. I would love to tell you about them. They're really cool. Sea slugs. Um, and so, yeah, when, when it came to writing a picture book, I was like, I need to write a picture book about sea slugs because people just don't appreciate sea slugs as much as they should.
[00:38:11] And so, yeah. And if they do, then they're going to love this book too, because they'll be like, I know what one is. Whenever I go to visit a school or a class or something, I'm always like, does anyone know what a nudibranch is? And usually a couple of kids will raise their hands. I'm like, cool. What are they?
[00:38:28] And they know.
[00:38:30] John: That's amazing. It's awesome.
[00:38:32] Bonnie: Yeah. And then I get the pleasure of introducing nudibranchs to the rest of the kids.
[00:38:37] John: It almost reminds me of an underdog story of since that there's this tiny little thing that's still just as valid and important as every other big thing in the world. And there's something about that I just absolutely love.
[00:38:48] Bonnie: Yeah, and they're fierce. That's the other thing is there these beautiful little things, but man. They're little carnivores, right? They're not each other.
[00:39:00] John: Yeah, they're full of poison and don't mess with them. There was a word that I've noticed in a lot of your reviews that they're, um, that they're sassy.
[00:39:09] And I love that word.
[00:39:11] Bonnie: Yes. They are sassy in my mind. I think of them as sassy.
[00:39:17] John: You have some upcoming books that are in the similar vein that they Or about nature and they have a gentle conversation around conservation. And I'm curious why that through line is played out through the writing that you're doing, or the work that you're creating.
[00:39:33] And if you could speak any more to the future work that you have in store beyond
[00:39:39] Bonnie: I would say that's definitely my why I love nature. I love being in nature. I want nature to still be around for future generations. Nature conservation is huge for me. And I think the more you fall in love with different aspects of nature, whether it's specific animals or a specific environments or habitats, the more you want to protect them.
[00:40:04] And so I feel like wherever you are in the world, just looking and being more aware of the natural places that are around you and appreciating them is the first step in trying to save them. I think back to when I was riding my bike through those neighborhoods it was like, wasn't it nice when those were all woods?
[00:40:23] But they're gone now. All those woods are gone. And what happened to all the animals that were there? They're just gone. It's very sad when these things just disappear and they're not there anymore to enjoy. So I think kids get that for sure. And I just want them to keep remembering that, you know, as they get older.
[00:40:44] And so we spend a lot of time talking about those things. I'm trying now with this new series that I'm having published. The first one was see smiles. And it, it combines sea animals with childhood milestones. So, the first childhood milestone is losing a tooth. So, SeaSmiles, you know, she loses her tooth, and she feels really weird and awkward, but then she meets these animals that have really weird teeth.
[00:41:10] And so they make her feel better about her teeth, which feel weird. And so it's like, oh, if I learn more about Narwhal's tooth. Narwhal has a tooth that's even weirder than mine. So, you know, like they have this giant tooth that just comes right out of their lip. Like, how weird is that, right? Then maybe that information will stick with them longer if it's like they're able to relate the animal to themselves or something that they've gone through personally.
[00:41:39] So then my second book will be Sleepy Sea, where it talks about a little girl who can't, just the same little girl, she can't fall asleep at night. And then she learns through her dolphin friend, all the different ways that animals can sleep. Underwater sleep. And then the third one is sea suds, where it's more about bathing and, um, taking care of yourself, hygiene, but also the weird ways that animals who live in the water actually do have to kind of bathe and groom themselves and take care of themselves too, even though they're in the water.
[00:42:10] It's always about trying to find something that's kid relatable, and the more you can do that, the more I think the information sticks with them. I do have another book coming out this fall called Wonder of the Woods, and um, that one really is basically my experience wandering around the woods. When I was growing up in North Carolina, so I even dedicated the book to my boom kid Friends all these kids that we the fact that we used to run around with and so it's just a little girl who's she's in Her backyard basically and she wanders into the woods that are back there and just discovers all these different types of animals learns that she can find other animals by looking at the tracks and Listening to the sounds and looking for the signs of life, basically, and then I have quail trail that's coming out in November, and that one is about the quails that, you know, we have here in the desert, and they're just so much fun to watch, and especially when you have a whole brood, and you've got the adults, and they're, like, shaking their little They're a little tough, not at the little ones and then the little ones go running across really fast, like you can't even see their feet.
[00:43:22] They're running so fast across the trail. And so, yeah, this one, it's about the quails and you learn a lot about the quails, but it's also about hiking and being responsible when you hike and not leaving your group. To wander off on your own, like I did as a child, like, don't do what I did. If you get in some trouble, stick with your brood.
[00:43:43] John: I grew up in South Texas and it's a semi arid area where I grew up and we had tons of quail. My family, they were big hunters, but I was terrible at hunting because I was a vegetarian and I couldn't, I just couldn't handle it. And so I remember these hunting trips to hunt these tiny little birds, um, and remembering that I couldn't, I couldn't shoot them.
[00:44:05] So I just went off into the air and misfire and all that stuff. But I always remember their top knot.
[00:44:11] Bonnie: He got away. I don't know what happened. You're like, run, run.
[00:44:17] John: My king,
[00:44:18] Bonnie: George, run, George, run.
[00:44:22] And then they're so loud too. Like they're so easy to find because they're like, you
[00:44:28] John: can, you can actually have the conversation with them. You know, they'll start to.
[00:44:31] Bonnie: Yeah. So that, that book actually started out as Chicago. Cause it was like, that's one of their calls is Chicago, that's how they like, they talk back and forth.
[00:44:40] It's like, how can you not hear that when you're out in the woods, right? Never going to unhear
[00:44:45] John: that now.
[00:44:50] Bonnie: They're so cute. Yeah,
[00:44:52] John: as we're wrapping up and talking around some of these ideas, one of the things as you were talking around the books that you have coming up made me think about what can adults learn from From a children's book, because I think that their philosophy on life and logic reasoning is so much more profound than 98 percent of humans who have, um, entered adulthood.
[00:45:16] So I'm just curious if you have any thoughts around that.
[00:45:19] Bonnie: I think there's tons to learn from children's books. And I think anyone who sits down and reads one realizes that you'll feel something, you know, when you read a children's book and that's what it's all about is it's capturing those emotions.
[00:45:33] And as an illustrator, you know. The art directors are always looking is to see if you can capture all those different expressions and human emotions. And so there's a lot of feelings that are captured through the color palettes and the scenes and, and we have the words saying one thing and then the art might be saying a different thing and just those juxtapositions.
[00:45:56] And if you really look at the nuances of children's books, there's just so much that goes into it. And kids naturally Just they absorb it all like a sponge. They get it. They might not know why they get it, but they do. And then as an adult, it's just, it's fascinating to just really pick it apart and say, wow, I love how they did this because then on the next page, it's revealed that this happens and you can really.
[00:46:23] You can appreciate the storytelling on a new level. So I, as an adult, I always loved looking in the children's section. Like if we ever went to a bookstore, that was the first time I went and started seeing, Oh, what's new here. And what illustrators do I like? And, and maybe that little dream in my head was always still there percolating.
[00:46:43] What do I want my art to look like when I do a book? And, you know, what can I, what can I learn from this? But I do know a lot of adults and probably because I'm associated with a lot of these people now, but adults who love children's books and they have really large children's book libraries and, um, they go back a long time and I still have my children's books from when I was a kid.
[00:47:07] Like they're still sitting on my shelf and. They're wonderful. And I love going back and looking at them and especially the ones that are signed. I'm like, oh, that's amazing. My mom got that guy to sign a book. So yeah, I'd say go to a reading or something where a children's book author is going to be there and see how they do it and how they do it.
[00:47:30] interact with the kids and it's magic, really. We had a book festival here in Henderson not too long ago and Mac Barnett was there and I felt like a kid just sitting there listening to him tell his stories and just the way he was. Expressing, and the little side jokes he would throw in also, his little side looks, or, he's like, wow, there's so much to learn from this guy, he's been doing this for a long time, and he's really good at it, um, but yeah, the kids were just, they were right there with him the whole time, it was so cool.
[00:48:01] John: Uh, that form of communication that is more than just reading something or writing something, but truly embodying something is, um,
[00:48:08] Bonnie: it's performance. Yeah. It's a
[00:48:10] John: really beautiful thing when you see it, it really is.
[00:48:12] Bonnie: Mm hmm.
[00:48:13] John: Mm hmm. Bonnie, I just want to say thank you for joining me on this conversation. It's been fascinating to learn about what you do and how you do it.
[00:48:20] And for me, at least most importantly, why you do it. And I'm really grateful that you weave the story of conservation into the work you do. So thank you.
[00:48:29] Bonnie: Yeah. Dan. You're welcome. Thank you, John. This has been a lot of fun.
[00:48:34] John: Bonnie Kelso is an acclaimed artist, muralist, and children's book author, celebrated for her unique ability to weave the wonders of the natural world into captivating stories and vibrant art.
[00:48:43] Born in Florida, Bonnie's early encounters with the ocean and her global travels deeply influence her work, fostering a profound connection to nature's diverse ecosystems. An alumni of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, Bonnie worked for many years as an exhibit designer. contributing to projects for NASA, National Geographic, and the Smithsonian Institution.
[00:49:02] Her career reflects a deep commitment to both creativity and conservation, with a special focus on marine life and environmental stewardship. Bonnie's award winning children's book, such as New to Go, Poisoned Powerhouse of the Sea, bring the beauty and mystery of underwater life to young readers, fostering a love for nature and a call to protect it.
[00:49:20] Through her public murals in Southern Nevada, Bonnie transforms spaces into vibrant reflections of the landscapes and marine life she cherishes, and as an educator and advocate, she inspires a deeper appreciation for our planet's delicate balance. You can explore more of Bonnie's work and her efforts in conservation at www.BonnieKelso.com. If today's discussion moved you or sparked a thought, Please share it with us and with someone you know. You can also join our community on Instagram to continue the conversation and connect with fellow listeners at infinite. search. To delve deeper into this topic and explore additional episodes, visit our website at www.theinfinitesearch. com where you'll find extended show notes, further readings, and a full transcript of today's episode. The Infinite Search is a Hearts Center Production of Chamber. A creative studio specializing in purpose driven branding, design, and experiences for clients of every size. For more information, visit www.thisichamber.com.