“Having kids is like having your heart walking around outside of your body,” says Kelly (hearkening a quote from author Elizabeth Stone). “What started out as an outlet, has turned in to a love story of sorts to my girls, myself, and anyone who feels judged, excluded, or bullied by their peers.”

Kelly Cyd Schnabel

Inspired by the challenge of instilling her two teen-aged daughters with a strong sense of self-worth, confidence and independence, Artist Kelly Cyd Schnabel started painting and has not been able to stop. Faced with constant social media negativity infecting nearly every aspect of teen-aged life, and frustrated by the inability of school administrators to recognize or cope with “social combat” among teens, Kelly began messaging through her paintings. The works primarily feature female faces, with haunting eyes, surrounded by short mantras of self-confidence, strength, resiliency, or vulnerability. Each piece tells a story to be felt by the observer.