COCA Spotlight: Kenneth Kenke “Watercolorist roams with the buffalo”

COCA Spotlight: Kenneth Kenke “Watercolorist roams with the buffalo”

Western paintings populate the walls of watercolorist Kenneth Menke’s buffaloinspired room in his Tallahassee home. There’s also a sculpture from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and living over the fireplace is a set of longhorns from Dallas, Texas. His wife, who is an artist as well, even bought a buffalo-decorated throw to adorn the loveseat where Menke spends his time reading and letting his imagination motivate his artwork.

Currently, his favorite painting is the one that greets him upon entering the room’s interior. Titled, “Shade of Thunder,” this work features a buffalo in mostly tans and browns, creating the essence of the animal. While he doesn’t paint in the room due to low light, Menke much prefers using the sunroom where he has set up his supplies.

Nonetheless, these knickknacks and western memorabilia all pay homage to Menke’s Nebraskan roots.

“I’ve painted quite of few buffalo and I’m running out of titles,” smiles Menke. “I like to be a little imaginative when I title my work. One I’ve done for the Tallahassee Watercolor Society Tri-State Show is in wilder colors than I usually use, so it’s titled ‘A Lot of Bull.’” Color theory ranks high in importance for Menke. He prefers using the three primary colors in what he terms as a limited palette. He’ll mix and skew colors based on what he identifies as the dominant hue in a painting. However, he openly admits that brown has always been his favorite color. As a child, his coloring books were full of earth tones, with the tan-colored crayon worked down to a nub. Menke believes this was the first of his fledgling attempts to emulate leather.

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