On the surface, Steve Kennedy is a complete contradiction; and yet then again, he is not. Words like swashbuckling, ruddy, and pioneering are apt descriptions of his physical demeanor. Yet when his whiskey voice describes his art, his process, and the world that inspires him, all in his excited cadence, it is beyond doubt that he is an introspective erudite at his core, is undeniable. Where then is the intersection of these opposing forces? On his canvas.

Kennedy’s first love has always been art, but a close second has been his love of auto racing; specifically stock car racing, where he was able to  regularly witness the live action at a local track two miles from his childhood home. Being a visual artist at his core, later in life he embraced the  opportunity to photograph these dynamic cars in all of their rough and tumble glory for many publications. As a child, he loved the smell of linseed oil as his mother was a painter, and in high school, his first real exposure to art classes was peppered with moments of accomplishment, and moments of disappointment. Four years of art school at Paier College in Connecticut provided Kennedy a solid foundation of understanding, technique and approach to become the artist he is today.

“My family used to come to the Cape every summer, so after college my parents let me live in their house in Brewster, the original intent was to stay for one year. That was 1981, so it has been quite a while,” he laughs. Kennedy has lived in a variety of enclaves across the Cape—many on the Outer Cape, where his penchant to paint was encouraged. His work has been a staple in some the longest-running and most renown galleries at that end of the Cape. In 1983, Kennedy showed with Myra and Walter Dorrell at Kendall Gallery. “It was a wonderful experience,” remembers Kennedy. “Myra later told me, ‘You were a natural, we could see it right away.’ I was awed by that, one of the greatest compliments I have ever received.”

Given the subject of most of Kennedy’s work—working waterfronts, beleaguered trawlers and other work boats—Kennedy says he had always dreamed of showing at Connecticut’s renowned Mystic Maritime Gallery, later renamed The Gallery at Mystic Seaport, but never presumed he was good enough to be among the ranks of some of the country’s most important maritime paintings and sculptures created in the U.S., “And then when they called me, that felt pretty good.”

He says his art has evolved mostly by doing it: creating hundreds of drawings, black and white watercolor and oil paintings; mostly plein air. His depiction of the toil and strife exhibited in these scenes have become emblematic of his art; a sort of Steve Kennedy branding through his strong, deliberate brush work and dramatic moments captured in time. “I’m not sure why I gravitate to work boats exactly,” he muses. “But I think there are multiple reasons. One might be the colors, another might be the inherent danger that I find kind of interesting in a backward sort of way; it’s sort of in the back of your conscious mind that you realize this is a dangerous profession.”

When asked about his technique, Kennedy says he finds it difficult to articulate exactly what he does, and then contradicting his statement, proceeds to explain exactly what he does. “I try to get good light in my paintings, and by that, I mean subdued light. I want to create something that hangs on your wall and every time you walk by you might see something a little bit different. I’m trying to learn to paint simply, but still keep a subtlety and try to develop sort of a mystery to the way I work.”

Kennedy says when he first arrived on the Cape, there were endless discussions about Cape light. “To the extent I understand, it has kind of an airiness to the shadows and almost a slight mist which brings a range of color into the skies and other expanses. And it changes all the time. For example, in August, looking east with the sun setting behind you in the west, the sky will take on a kind of purplish hue. You get all of those rich colors, against the cool colors of the greens as they recede in the space. It’s quite wonderful.” 

Steve Kennedy’s work can be found at Kiley Court Gallery in Provincetown, klieycourtgallery.com, at Chapman Gallery in Cotuit, chapmanartgallery.com, and online at stevekennedyfinearts.com.