Brain Kelk was born in Peterborough, Ontario, and spent the first 17 years of his life on his family farm. In 1976, he moved to Calgary, Alberta where he later raised two sons. Self-taught in wood and clay sculpture and stained-glass design, Kelk enrolled in the Alberta College of Art and Design Hot Glass program and graduated in 1994. He states that he "faces the same challenge as everyone else: time, and the lack of it," making the perfection of his sculptural craft an important pursuit. His greatest satisfaction comes from people's enjoyment of his craft and his ability to transform elements from his imagination into reality. Kelk's studio is located in a provincially-designated heritage site on a college campus in southeast Calgary. He has established a strong customer base that includes galleries across the country and private, corporate and government commissions.