Hours before most of us awaken, Ken Shue is already creating. Coffee in hand, he begins his workday at 5 am at a framed sheet of paper upon which he paints using a brush dipped in water. The technique is based on Japanese “sumi-e” ink drawing, with an important difference: as the water evaporates, it continues to morph into new and interesting shapes. “I usually don’t care that much what happens, but many times something interesting happens, and I photograph that and work it into a painting.” He uses the same technique on his patio and driveway, and many times these ephemeral images find their way into permanent abstract paintings.
This is just one of the many ways Shue finds inspiration. He and his wife Janice set off on bicycles from their beautifully designed and immaculate Monterey home each morning, pedaling alongside Monterey Bay. Many of the subjects of his figurative paintings are based on scenes he’s observed on these bike rides.
A native Californian, Shue was born on Coronado Island, “Before it was connected to San Diego by a bridge,” he says in his bio. Always drawn to art, he drew cartoons as a young man and eventually landed a job with a firm that produced industrial training films. Barely in his 20s, he was a full-time professional artist. Moving north to Palo Alto, he turned his eye to the publishing world, managing, designing and illustrating for textbook publishers and the then-nescient Silicon Valley tech industry, garnering numerous trade awards. A children’s book he illustrated, “Hiawatha Passing,” caught the eye of The Walt Disney Company, and he became vice president of global art and design development for that entertainment juggernaut. Shue oversaw Disney’s publishing content for Walt Disney Animation, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar studios, a position he savored for nearly three decades. “At Disney, I worked alongside some of the world’s best illustrators, animators and filmmakers.”
All the while, Shue kept his hand, heart and mind in drawing and painting. “I kept an easel in my office and a studio space at home, making images of anything every chance I got. Working at Disney taught me the rigors of drawing. The illustrators who had been there for a long time encouraged everyone to just draw all the time. They called it ‘pencil mileage.’ It’s like musical improvisation and a way to find new ideas and keep their skills sharp.”
Shue’s work is exhibited in Carmel-by-the-Sea by the Carmel Fine Art Modern Gallery on Sixth between Dolores and Lincoln. “I am proud that I’m a few doors down from the Eyvind Earle Gallery,” he says. Before relocating to Carmel, Earle was an influential development artist at Disney, responsible for the design of the Walt Disney animated film “Sleeping Beauty,” and he was among the Disney team that Shue and his wife were fortunate to meet and develop a friendship with. Carmel Fine Art owner Lorelei Gabel’s initial review of Shue’s paintings coincided with her opening of the new modern space located next to the esteemed Weston Gallery, and she subsequently included his paintings. Most of the works displayed here are figurative, mainly large scale, magnificently rendered land- and seascapes—scenes captured on those morning bike rides. Gabel is pleased to devote this space to him. “Ken’s background in animation gives him a firm foundation in drawing which is the backbone of all fine art of high quality, whether it be plein air impressionism or subjective abstraction,” she says. “His versatility bridges both styles in art, making his work fresh and noteworthy. Furthermore, the exposure the artist has had to cinematography gives his work a sense of motion, kinetic energy which is very evident and distinctive. One feels as if they are there on the spot where he is painting, feeling the wind off the ocean and the warmth of the sunlight.”
Shue’s garage contains an area where he and his friends gather to listen to music and converse. Various objects line the space, including a long line of photos of people who are important to him. Walt Disney is there, of course, as is the artist’s father plus musicians Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, a host of artists and other friends and family who he credits with inspiring his life and career. This is indicative of one who is truly absorbed in the process of creating art that he hopes will speak in positive ways. “I’m making paintings that I hope carry a sensation of reality so that seeing them can be an actual experience, not just a virtual or digital one.”
“Ken’s arresting landscapes and abstracts effortlessly draw the viewer in. Each piece arrives at a dreamy intersection of photographic-like realism and energetic, juicy, painterly impressionism,” says gallery Art Consultant Sierra Severson. “Ken is truly an artist’s artist.”
For more details, visit www.kennethshue.com and www.carmelfineart.com.