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Scott Kennedy exclaimed, “Baja hit me like a hammer!” He laughed and ordered his coffee black. I knew right from the beginning that I could write a book about this man’s life and still not capture it all. As we settled in to carve out a story from his extraordinary life I asked him, “How does one find their home in Baja California after all the places you have lived?” And so, we set sail to explore where it all started in Newport Beach, California. Today Scott is a well-known artist of maritime subjects there. He has been an artist and is a seafaring man nearly his whole life. Scott can trace his family name to The Culzean Castle, in Scotland. The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792 by architect Robert Adam for the Kennedy family.
I asked, “When did you first start sailing?” Scott smiled, “The aristocratic branch of my family were all sailing enthusiasts. And it was natural as a young boy to have my own boat.” It is quite evident that the influence or the sea runs deeply throughout his whole life and creates the drama found in the pen and ink sketches as well as the paintings of ships at sea. But this is only one area of his talent and it all began very early. With an impish grin, he continues. “I was so bored with school and I was very interested in learning how to draw like the skilled cartoonists in Mad Magazine, especially Sergio Aragonés cartoons. I would sketch in class to be happy. The strict school system kicked me out many times for inattention.” Mother Kennedy saw the talent of her nine-year-old and by age 13 Scott was no longer held back by the school system as he was being educated by his own developing discipline. He paused to reminisce, “I’d take off in my little boat with my dog and sketch what I saw. I was so happy. Being happy is a good place to start.” Nearly fifty years later he would run into Sergio Aragonés at an art gathering. Scott exclaimed, “I was star struck! I was able to give him the credit for the inspiration starting my life as an artist!”
He and his parents lived in Newport Beach in 1963. It was a quaint little town and life was leisurely and quiet. The young artist became successful very quickly because of the intricate pen and ink sketches of the town and harbor. Mother Kennedy would do the framing, and set up his work on the sidewalks. The sketches sold out quickly. Many of the pen and ink sketches chronical the early Newport Beach area that no longer exists. Surrounded by a developing California, it was a haven for the wealthy and Hollywood elite. “I would see John Wayne walking by in his sandals.” Scott was even commissioned by President Ronald and Nancy Reagan to do a series of pen and ink sketches for their mansion. In 1990 to 2005 he was asked to be the artist for the Newport to Ensenada international yacht race.
In 1971 the infamous Baja Bug swept in and bit the artist hard. He had a new 4wheel and asked two buddies and his girlfriend to take a trip into Baja. “We took off not knowing anything at the time. There were no roads beyond Ensenada and no map. Only notes from others who had gone before suggesting a certain ranch might have gas in a 50-gallon drum. We crossed on the ferry at La Paz and went to the great cities of Mexico. This is when it just clicked.” Scott paints his story. The life in Mexico was simple and agricultural. Yet, “There were great masters painting monumental murals like Diego Rivera. The artists were the educators with their murals and statues all over Mexico.” Scott pointed out, “Diego Rivera said that the artist was the consciousness of his time.”
Art like a seductive siren lead Scott onward into self-discovery and moved to Mexico in 1972 to enroll with the Bellas Artes de Mexico to study art in San Miguel de Allende. His time there impacted his art taking him from sea to the land. He continued to travel to other colonial towns in the quest to further aspects of training in bronze sculpture casting and figure drawing. “It gave me a community of people intent on artistic development in all fields of art. It was a special fellowship.” However, he couldn’t stay landlocked. He left with his traveling companion to Denmark and soon made her his wife. He purchased a 1936 Fishing Kutter for a floating studio. For ten years they would sail together as he worked. They traveled amongst the idyllic villages and centuries-old cities as his collection grew. It was a marvelous way of life. But as life would have it, his wife eventually wanted to return to the land. Scott couldn’t leave the “big ocean and the infinite horizon.”
To say that Scott is prolific would definitely be an understatement. It is as if the pen and ink flow from his heart. Over his lifetime he has put into many exotic ports and the sea-tales could fill a maritime library. This freedom was funded by the fact that his art had been selling so well. From his life choices Scott developed his own unique philosophy. “We are riding on the edge all the time. It can be tough, you gotta trust that there is a parashoot out there somewhere.” We both laugh at the truth in these words. Artists, writers and musicians all learn this way of life if they are committed to their true work.
You could say that this artist’s life is one great adventure after another which he captures with his brush. Author and friend, Thomas Henry Pope, once told Scott that he was like a traveling minstrel, but instead of song the experience was captured on canvas. One such story is The Tempest. In 2000 he was commissioned to do a painting of a vessel that had been sailing for 25 years under the command of Captain Richard Baily. The ship was a three-masted frigate of the revolutionary war era “I was going on this cruise mainly to collect the experience on board.” It was July 4th and a millennium celebration. Tall ships from around the world were sailing into New York. As we approached the Lower New York Harbor we had fine weather, beautiful clear skies. I’d climbed the 80-foot foremast as I was trained to do as a boy. Nine others and myself were out on the yardarm pulling in and furling the sail. Out of nowhere a squall hit us. Rain and hail and the wind was so fierce it heeled us hard over to the starboard. We kept working and hanging on. Then as fast as it hit us, it was gone. This is when, hanging from the yardarm, I saw what was hidden behind the receding storm. There in shimmering light were the Twin Towers of the New York Trade Center. The Tempest is a dramatic life-experience painted.”
“I must fully love and respect a subject before choosing to carefully devote my time and brushes to it,” Scott describes the Day of the Dead Altar pictured here. “For decades the Ramirez family had steadfastly held the finest artifacts of Pre and Colombian Mexico objects for sale in Ensenada. So, when I sat down on my stool to work, I was shocked and deeply saddened to see Guillermo, the founder, a friend, and patriarch, with his portrait displayed on the wall above the offerings with all the photos of the family passed.” If you look carefully near the bottom, you will see a small doll of Michael Jackson who had also passed that year. “The altar represents the best of what the ancient culture of Mexico cherishes in its sculptures, pottery, artisans. The marigolds express the depths of love and gratitude.”
An ongoing project near completion is a collection of works inspired by John Steinbeck’s novel, The Log of the Sea of Cortez. Years ago, Scott and Thom Steinbeck, John’s son, became friends. Thom introduced Scott to his father’s book and Tom brought up the possibility of sketching his father’s travels. Since moving to Baja permanently, Scott had visited many of the coves written about in the famous book. This inspired him to revisit his friend’s request.
Today Scott has built his home and studio high on a hill in the small campo above La Bufadora. He has the big ocean and vast horizon in his front yard. The skill of Scott’s brush in his Baja Collection captures the true essence of the country, its people and even humor in tourist spots. The sunlight and summer heat radiate from the canvas. He says, “Success of the artwork is my life. I wasn’t interested in fame, I just wanted to work. I’m in my studio in natural surroundings. This is where I came to do my best work. In my older years, I have so many archives with all these ideas, thoughts and memories. I have the capacity to put it together in a form I have no idea what shape it will be because I haven’t gotten there yet. Scott pauses for a moment and finishes with, “The ultimate freedom is an art.”
Contact Scott: scottkennedyart(at)gmail.com
Related links:
Scott Kennedy's artwork of Mexico
Scott Kennedy's artwork: Off the Coronados
