Kay Reed picked up a paintbrush, pretty much out of an unconscious drive to create after turning in her keys at the University of Tennessee. Kay considers herself a student of painting after getting such a late start on the process. She develops her skills as an oil painter through courses at the Arkansas Arts Center Museum School, attending workshops in the region, and working with individual instructors in Little Rock, Arkansas, such as Barry Thomas, Holly Tilley, and Jeremy Couch. Kay has also been mentored by Dianne Mize, from Clarksdale, Georgia, through online workshops and coaching.  Kay has exhibited her work in juried and judged exhibits in Arkansas.  She was awarded a first-place ribbon in Animal/Wildlife at the 2019 Arkansas League of Artists Show, awarded “Best of Show” in the 2020 ALA Winners’ Show, awarded the “Best of Show” in oil painting at the Arkansas State Fair in 2021, and awarded “Best of Show” at the Grand Prairie Fine Arts Show, 2023, in Stuttgart, AR.

Sandra Kay and her husband Greg live down a gravel road in the piney woods of Grant County, Arkansas on property that had been her grandfather’s family farm. They share their home with Daisy, their foster dog, and Grey the Cat.