Ben Keys earned a degree in Marketing at Virginia Tech and worked for a start up during the dot-com bust of 2000 before changing course to pursue his passion of painting. He went back to school to study painting and drawing at the Torpedo Factory, the Art Institute of Chicago and the International School of Painting in Umbria, Italy. While in Chicago, Keys apprenticed at Tres Jolie Studios creating murals & interiors. In 2005 he moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina to begin a series of architectural portraits for Wright Holman Construction Company. Today he lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
Keys' approach to painting is grounded in his academic training and professional experiences in the plein air landscape, inspired by the brushwork and interest in light of French Impressionism, but in his own signature voice. You may have spotted Keys at his easel on outdoors in the southeastern states interpreting the changing moments of light and shadow in paint.
Keys original artwork is included in countless private and corporate collections. He and his artwork have been featured in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides Magazine, House Beautiful, Cottage Style Magazine and Garden and Gun.
