Coming soon!

This memoir is for everyone who has had to redefine themselves in the face of grief or change, longing to fully become who they’re meant to be. Framed by one remarkable man’s art and unusual career choices, The Artist, Ladoga, Indiana is the story of how his daughter sought to craft her very own extraordinary, ordinary life.

Although Rob O’Dell’s art is distinct and easily recognizable, there is nothing ordinary about the landscapes that he painted or the way he related to the world.

When he died in 2017, his daughter moved into his restored, turn-of-the-century building in a small Indiana town. As she studied the paintings he left behind, traveled the same roads between her house and his studio, and merged her work as a graphic designer and writer into the storefront that now belonged to her, Kelly was searching for something she couldn’t yet name.

Along the way, she discovered what it means for art to transcend—which has very little to do with brush strokes or techniques. O’Dell found the beauty in that which is broken, and his work bears witness to the importance of making others feel seen and known, in being fully and completely ourselves, and in doing what we are made to do.

THE ARTIST, Ladoga, Indiana, is about how one daughter was inspired by the creative impulse, imagination, and legacy left to her by her father. Through vignettes highlighting details of Rob O’Dell’s life, art, relationships, and techniques, plus stories shared by people who were moved by his work, Kelly shares her story of facing loss—and finding herself.