Kit Gentry • Village Galleries Maui
Originally from Michigan, Kit Gentry received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan School of Art. After a 16-year residence on Maui, Kit now lives near Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, but continues to produce landscape paintings with island themes, inspired by his experiences throughout Hawaii and French Polynesia.
He works primarily with oils, pastels and a variety of drawing tools, with an emphasis on fine craftsmanship and the use of archival materials to ensure the longevity of his work. He's found that certain subjects lend themselves to the qualities of certain mediums, so the choice of subject can often influence his choice of working materials.
Most of his pictures feature landscape or other natural elements as subject matter. Whether depicting a cloud hovering over a Maui pasture, or hot lava flowing near the coast of Hawaii, Kit's subjects are typically invested with an otherworldly quality that often suggests an association with his interest in legend and folklore. Despite this imaginative element in his work, he consistently pursues disciplined realism from an observation of nature, striving to capture his subjects faithfully in order to preserve their real-life credibility.
Artist's Statement…
“In all of my work, I prefer to practice disciplined realism from an observation of nature, because I feel that our dearest emotions are attached to the real and immediate experience of life, and that the true grandeur of life is best perceived through nature itself.