Jeff “Skele” Sheely was born and raised in Virginia where he excelled as a soccer player. But at age 19, he suffered knee injuries that abruptly ended his bright future as an athlete.

This became a period of reflection and transition for him. As he searched for what he would do next, it became clear that his “next” was emerging from a sketchpad. As he continued to recover from his knee injuries, Skele worked odd jobs around Virginia Beach, sketched in his downtime, and gradually built up a collection of work. After meeting some local graffiti artists and surrounding himself with creatives, he was inspired to focus more on his art and begin showing work.

Skele’s 2013 relocation to Dallas was the final push to live off his art full time. In less than two months of his arrival in Texas, he was showing work in a gallery. Skele became a fixture in Kettle Art Gallery, entered numerous arts festivals and live-painting events, and honed his skills as a studio artist before moving to Austin–his current home–in 2017.

If you had to put Skele in a category, you could say he is a neo-expressionist artist. He loves working in various mediums, but primarily layers spray paint, house paint, and oil pastels for his works on canvas and wood panels.