KENNY MCKENNA

For better than two decades, Kenny McKenna's career as a musician was his means of support. Life as a musician also meant extensive travel. During this period, Kenny painted for his own enjoyment and gradually music took a back seat to his pursuit of art.

Kenny favors painting cloud patterns, mesas, canyons, mountains and especially the way light plays upon them. He creates illumination in his paintings that enhances the already dramatic vistas. "I strive to create a painting that you can be a part of, some place I would like to be. By thinking and painting in this manner, I have created a mood which I believe is the most important ingredient in a piece of artwork."
Recognized for his oils of Southwest landscapes, a challenge was presented to Kenny that involved painting his favorite subjects, the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. It was a project for the owner of the Grand Canyon Railway located in Williams, Arizona. The permanent display in the Fray Marcos Hotel is of paintings that range in sizes from 28" x 38" to "The Trip", an attraction of four feet by twenty-four feet.

McKenna has participated in numerous national and one-man shows. He has been an invited artist and participant in the annual Thomas Gilcrease Museum's Art in Miniature Exhibit since 1995. His work has been published in Arizona Highways.