A coastal artist returns to the shores where he spent his youth, for a feature exhibit at the Santa Maritime Museum
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A coastal artist who grew up on the local shores has returned to be featured on the walls at at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
Kevin Short opened his exhibit last week in a building he used to play near as a child. He lived in Santa Barbara and Goleta between 1965 and 1973. After that he spent time in New Mexico and many parts of Southern California for school and his art career.
The exhibit is called "The Peaceful Sea." It covers about 25 years of paintings from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County to Point San Mateo in San Diego County.
With his paintings Short says says, "I am reacting to something that I have joy in."
Short says, "people will look at my work and say 'that's glare. I know that glare. That is the glare when I sat down at the beach and thought fondly of something'. So I have noticed that the people who respond to my work I have a connection that I didn't know before with them and I didn't have to go look for the connection."
The exhibit is featured on the walls of the second level of the museum and in the theatre.
About 30 seascapes and ocean-themed landscape are being shown.
Short's works have been shown in galleries and publications throughout Southern California. Some were borrowed from existing displays and collections.
"This is the best exhibit that I have ever had," said Short.
On the wall next to one of the paintings is a review from a museum director.
"Kevin's paintings are easy to spot due to their intensely bright colors and their thick, heavy impasto brushwork. His paintings are filled with the persuasive energy of intense natural light and are markedly brilliant, full of light and color. Kevin is a gusty colorist, said Irvine Museum Director Jean Stearn.
The paintings will be on display until the end of the year.
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum was founded in 2000 inside the harbor’s historic Waterfront Center Building (formerly the Naval Reserve Building), the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum creates exhibitions and hands-on, educational experiences that celebrate more than 13,000 years of maritime history in our region—from Chumash culture to today’s surfing scenes and environmental movements. Nearly 8,000 square feet of gallery space showcase special presentations and changing displays culled from the museum’s artifact collection, all dedicated to instilling love and respect for our Santa Barbara Channel, for the people who make their living on its waters, and for the abundant marine life that calls these waters home.
