From an early age, growing up on the coast of southern England, artist Simon Kenevan has long realised a profound love of the sea. From the barefoot boy running through the foam, to the vibrant young man working on fishing boats, the need to be near, within sight, earshot, smell, has always been apparent.
The time of his enlightenment was during the first year of working a small fishing boat alone. Out at first light, pulling the boat across the sand to the shore, rowing through the breaking waves, out into deeper water against winds and tide. Feeling the first touch of the sun's warmth cutting through the pre-dawn chill. Every kind of weather, every kind of light, all conspiring to create a universe of wordless poetry inside.
Now, with over 25 years of experience, artist Simon Kenevan has found his vocabulary, via pigment and paper, brush and canvas. Working with pastels, and oils, precious moments are relived through the creative process. Each subsequent painting has its own resonance, unique to each and every viewer.His passion lies between the waters, the tides, the sky, the weather; the narrow band where all elements come together, each one a factor in the behaviour of another. Forever changing, no two moments ever the same, Simon feels the scale and the timelessness to his core, evoking a welcome level of humility, and a powerful sense of place.In Simon's words, "I was born to be near the ocean.
To paint the place where the elements meet. Sky, Sea, Land. The light, the weather, the space. The peace, the tempest. “I’m a grain of sand in the great scheme of things. That’s all I am. I’m just being tossed around in this life like everybody else, like a grain of sand in the sea. I like to be reminded of that fact.It's good to feel the humbling power of Mother Earth."“Simon has such an unquestionable understanding of the sea, and he brings that to his canvasses like no one else I’ve seen.
There is no one better at chronicling incredible landscapes. You can feel his passion for the sea in every one of his works”Gary Handler, Vinings Gallery, Atlanta.