There is little to suggest from the outside that Kim Kennedy's house
is anything other than a quaint suburban home. But step inside and
the first thing you'll notice is the smell.
Paint fumes pervade every corner of the house.
In the front room, floor to ceiling
canvasses are crammed together between complicated sculptures and a
paint-encrusted chair and table. Kennedy's studio is a work in
progress.
"It has become too small in here so I
am building an extension along the side of the house but I think
that will be too small eventually also," Kennedy says.
Busily preparing his paintings for shipment
to the Sydney Home Show, Kennedy is excited at the prospect of
selling his work and having studio space to fill with his next
series of paintings.
"I like doing home shows and at a good
show I can get 30-40 commissions. That type of work keeps you
honest," he says.
"What people are asking me to do I
wouldn't normally do, but it brings you back to reality. You really
need that variety in your life. I get a lot of good contacts from
commission work, too."
In Kennedy's lounge, two abstract
paintings, framed in distressed timber, dominate the wall space
while a more traditional lanscape leans against the wall.
His large-format works are on
exhibition at Gainsville Furniture in Southbank and at the
soon-to-be opened Cavali in St Kilda.
"I feel very comfortable doing big works, and with the Cavali
dealership they have the big open spaces for me to display my
work.They can give me a big exhibition space."
Kennedy admits he often has little idea
what the subject matter for his next painting will be.
When faced with a blank canvas he begins to
develop ideas and usually completes the work within two days.
"I might just have a blank canvas, so
the result is spontaneous," Kennedy says.
"An average painting usually takes me
two days to complete, from stretching the canvas to the finished
product."
"It is like a good book, once you pick
it up you can't put it down until you finish it."
"If I start to think too much about
what to paint then it usually doesn't work. Nine out of 10 times I
get what I want. When it hasn't been what I want, I have got
fantastic effects by experimenting; from scraping off the paint or
using my hands."
Last month Kennedy painted in front of the
Sheraton Towers for a charity event. He admits, even with his back
to the audience, he was paralysed by stage fright.
"I went down there to paint and my
hand was shaking. I thought 'What is the big deal I have been doing
this for 16 years'," he says.
"Sometimes I have to pinch myself, but
if you don't make the effort you don't get the results."
