A.D.Kelley
a “Short” Biography

Red Text = historical / cultural context

Born - Miami Beach

  • Hollywood, Florida US (Age 0 – 4)

  • My little brother was borne 3.5 years after me.

  • Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower / Richard M. Nixon ‘53 - ‘61

  • Vietnam war was underway since November 1, 1955.

  • Democrat John F. Kennedy / Lyndon B. Johnson ‘61

  • Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space and the first to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961

  • Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, piloting the Freedom 7 capsule.

  • The NASA Apollo program initiated on May 25, 1961 with President John F. Kennedy's challenge to Congress to land a human on the Moon before the end of the decade.

Birmingham, Alabama US (Age 4 - 5)

  • My father got a job In Birmingham as an aricraft mechanic for the owner of a small private plane.

  • A focal point of the Civil Rights Movement, with the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 playing key roles in challenging segregation and paving the way for desegregation and equality. 

  • Cuban missile crisis

Clarksville, Tennessee US (Age 5)

  • My father went here for technical training classes.

Saint Charles, Missouri US (Age 5 - 6)

  • Assassination of John F. Kennedy - 11/22/63

  • Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson / Hubert H. Humphrey 11/22/63

Marietta, Georgia US (Age 6-7)

My dad started working at Lockheed (Marietta) as jet aircraft mechanic (the C-141 program).

My dad then became a Lockheed Field Service Representative with the C-130 program.

Primary / Elementary School

  • Belmont Hills Elementary School, Smyrna, GA.

Ndola, Zambia in Africa (Age 8 -9)

  • My Dads first Lockheed “Field Service” assignment.

  • I went to Kansenji Primary School in Ndola, Zambia

  • I learned how to swim

  • Kenneth Kaunda the first president of Zambia

  • Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee 4/4/68

Smyrna, Georgia US (Age 9)

  • Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy 6/5/68

Pembroke Pines and Hollywood, Florida US (Age 10 - 13)

  • My Dads second Lockheed “Field Service” assignment.

  • I played Little League Baseball, Football (Pembroke Pines Rams) and started to learn to play classical guitar

    Middle School

  • Pony League baseball

  • Certified Red Cross Lifeguard

  • Started swimming competitively (olympic style meets)

  • Hollywood Christian School (Now - Calvary Christian Academy)

  • The 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention riots - clashes between anti-Vietnam War protesters and police August 23–29, 1968).

  • Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson / Hubert H. Humphrey 11/22/63 - ‘69

  • Republican Richard M. Nixon / Spiro Agnew ‘69 - Gerald Ford 12/6/73

  • Apollo 11 Launch July 16, 1969,

    • Moon Landing - July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Neil Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC

  • May 4, 1970, Kent State demonstration against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, the military draft, and the presence of the Ohio National Guard on campus where Guardsmen killed four students and wounded nine during a peaceful rally.

Tehran, Iran in the Middle East Age (13 – 17)

  • My Dads third Lockheed “Field Service” assignment

  • Middle School

    • Swam on the High School swim team in an international meet the day after we arrived. Won Gold and Silver.

    • Middle school football league (Tehran Youth Football - Jets #82). Played Center, Kicker, and defensive end (never came off the field during games).

  • High School

  • Activities

    • Summer baseball league (Tehran Youth Baseball Association - Padres) The only player in the league to hit a home run. Made the Allstar team

    • Snow skiing - Dizin International Ski Resort, Gajereh, Alborz Province

  • Tehran American School (TAS)

  • Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - Shāhanshāh of Iran (Emperor - “king of kings”)

  • NASA Apollo program ended on December 19, 1972, with the successful splashdown Apollo 17.

  • Watergate scandal - result of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C

  • Nixon resigned August 8, 1974

  • 1974 Republican Gerald Ford became president September 8, ‘74

  • Vietnam War Ended - U.S. started withdrawing combat troops from Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. Vietnam War officially ended on April 30, 1975 with the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces.

Smyrna, Georgia US (Age 17 – 18)

  • Campbell High School - 11th grade. Learned mechanical drawing (drafting) and lettering.

  • Democrat Jimmy Carter / Walter Mondale ‘77 - ‘81

Guam - a US territory in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. (Age 18 – 19)

  • My Dads fourth Lockheed “Field Service” assignment

  • Graduated High School - https://www.gwhsgeckos.com

  • Quarterback of the football team - Geckos #12

  • Played semi-pro baseball in an adult baseball league against military unit teams and foreign and domestic civilian teams

  • First Job - J&G Payless - Operated the forklift in the wear-house and bagged groceries.

  • Certified as an open water scuba diver (PADI)

  • Iran hostage crisis started - November 4, 1979.

After high school:

I went to visit my moms’ side of the family. Lived in in Livingston, Scotland and Edinburgh, Scotland (Age 19 – 20)

College:

  • Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW)

    Americus, Georgia US (Age 20 – 26) 10 miles from Plains GA (Jimmy Carter)

    • Graduated with BFA in painting and drawing

    • President of "Artists Associated"

    • On-campus housing Resident Assent

    • Student Body Chief Justice

  • Job - Pat’s Place in Americus, GA

  • Democrat Jimmy Carter / Walter Mondale

  • Iran hostage crisis ended January 20, 1981

  • Republican Ronald Reagan / George Bush ’81

After College (“Adulting”and Making Art):

Atlanta, Georgia US (Age 26 – 28)

  • Married my first wife Julie

  • Started painting, drawing using pastels and making mono-prints

  • Started using my first computer to make art. A Commodore 64 that used to be my dads.

  • Job - House of Frames Marietta, GA

Chicago, Illinois US (Age 28 – 32)

  • Moved to Chicago supporting my wife’s desire to be near her dad’s extended family.

  • Job - Artists’ Frame Service 1867 N Clybourn Ave. Art Conservation of private and corporate Art collections.

    Made some promotional videos of the Art conservation process quality measures employed using the Commodore 64 that I got from my dad.

  • Started Creating Computer Art "ADK Graphics"

  • Became a member of ACM SIGGRAPH

    • Aquired a Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA) board created by Truevision (now part of Avid Technology). Targa (.tga) is the native format of TARGA and VISTA boards, which were the first graphic cards for IBM PC compatibles to support high color or true color display. Mine was running on a Windows DOS 386 Gateway Computer, 40 MB HD 5..5 floppy drive.

    • Republican Ronald Reagan / George Bush ‘81 - ‘89

    • The fall of the Berlin Wall 11/9/1989

    • Republican George Bush / Dan Quayle ‘89

Atlanta, Georgia (Age 32 – 37)

  • Moved Back to Atlanta so support my wife’s desire to be close to her ailing father

  • Jobs -

    • Light Visions - 3D animation

      • Animator using Digital Arts DGS (Digital Graphic System) with an early version of Pixar’s Renderman animation render code (all command line, no GUI available). I did the storyboarding, set designs, backgrounds, modeling, animation paths, cameras, lighting, shading, raytracing, atmospheres and graphics and animations rending to film and video. I also did post production editing of animations.

      • AMC Theaters, General Cinimas, United Artists, National Association Of Theatre Owners (now Cinema United).

      • Project Manager, Computer systems administrator and film processesing

      • Worked on post production projects with Vanderkloot Film and Television

        Orion Pictures: Robo-Cop 3, CNN Promotions and the Cartoon Network

    • Spectragrafika Corporate Communications

      • Producer, Production Manager, for trade shows and corporate meeting. System Administrator, Film processing systems.

    • Video Equipment (Sales / Consulting)

  • Democrat William J. Clinton / Albert Gore, Jr. ‘93

Smyrna, Georgia US (Age 37 – 42)

  • Jobs - Multisoft and then BellSouth (FTE - Project Management and IT Management) that leveraged my art, project management and computer management skills and experience.

  • Got my first motorcycle, a Yamaha V-Star Classic - Toured and photographed the Blue Ridge and Appellation Mountains

  • Wife’s father passed away

  • Separated from my first wife

  • Achieved 2 professional Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL V2) certifications

  • Democrat William J. Clinton / Albert Gore, Jr. ‘93 - 2001

  • Republican George W. Bush / Richard Cheney ‘01

  • September 11, 2001. attack World Trade Center Towers

Decatur, Georgia US (Age 42 – 47)

  • Went on a 3 week spiritual, arts and cultural tour of Japan by my self during “Golden Week” spring celebrations 2005

  • Job - Electronic Data Systems (FTE - IT Management)

  • Republican George W. Bush / Richard Cheney ‘01 - ‘09

“Adulting”, making Art and living in the south (Atlanta) was inconsistent with what I wanted out of life.
I divorced my wife, quit my job. left Atlanta moved to Edgewater NJ for a new job in Manhattan, NY.
Thanks to Franklin Covey - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and “What Matters Most” mind mapping exercise leadership training provided by my employer - BellSouth.

Edgewater, New Jersey (Age 47 – 48)

  • Job - AXA Equitable (FTE - ITIL / IT Management) Achieved a professional Six Sigma green belt certification

Manhattan - New York, NY (UWS) (Age 48 – 61)

  • Married Christine the most wonderful woman on the planet.

  • Jobs :

    • AXA Equitable (FTE - ITIL / ITSM, IT Management)

      • Achieved a professional Project Management certification.

    • Major League Baseball - Office of the Commissioner (FTE - ITIL / ITSM leader - Management)

      • Achieved 2 new professional ITIL V3 certifications and a Governance Risk and Compliance Certification (GRCP - OCEG).

    • TEKSystems (IT Management Consulting)

    • Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data Inc.(FTE - ITIL / ITSM leader - Management)

    • Infosys (IT Management Consulting)

    • Kintyre / Turnberry Solutions Inc - Bluebell, PA (IT Management Consulting)

    • ITPeople Network (ITPN) (IT Management Consulting)

    • Cognizant (IT Management Consulting)

    • CS Technology (IT Management Consulting)

  • Democratic Barack Obama / Joseph Biden ‘09 - ‘17

  • Republican Donald Trump / Mike Pence ‘17 - ‘21

  • Democrat Joe Biden / Kamala Harris ‘21

West Shokan, Near Woodstock, NY Age 61 - to present

  • Got my second motorcycle, an Indian Scout 60

  • Started snow skiing again. Belleayre Mountain.

  • Acquired a professional mirrorless digital 35mm camera and started doing photography again

  • Jobs -

    • Arch Systems Inc. (IT Management Consulting)

    • Sun Technologies (IT Management Consulting)

    • Burwood Group Inc.(IT Management Consulting) - Achieved professional Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Web 3.O / Metaverse certifications.

  • Started 80kArt.Studio - Fine Art, Digital photography / astrophotography, and digital Art.

  • Democrat Joe Biden / Kamala Harris ‘21 - ‘25

  • Republican Donald Trump / JDVance ‘25