Francis Kennedy
His Artists Statement : “I own paint brushes and I use them”
By Lynda Cookson
Francis Kennedy was a bold boy at boarding school. In his own words: “I got hammered for drawing cartoons of the teachers, and the backs of fellow’s heads, on school books”. Regardless of the fact that there was no art teacher at his school, he studied art on his own and attained his Leaving Certificate with an A pass with honours. You need more than just a healthy sense of humour for that achievement!
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I suspect that the habit of cutting the ends off the handles of brand new paint brushes not only serves Francis’ need for more comfortable painting to suit his technique, but it is also an unsuccessful attempt to control Lulu, his crazy cat. The art studio in the home is so full of art paraphernalia that Francis often uses a table-top easel in his bright and cheery kitchen. This suits Lulu just fine. She sits on the table next to Francis, swatting his paint brush as he works, and has been known to flick it right out of his hand! Another fun game for her is to wait until Francis has his mouth full of paint brushes clutched between his teeth, his hands just as full with paintbrushes sticking out from between his fingers, and then she parks herself behind the canvas. Fairly soon you can bet your life Francis is busy painting her claws as they try to catch his movement from the back of the canvas! Her antics relax her patient owner, and he would never shoo her away, preferring her to add her bit of humour and character to his painting.
Exerpt ends.
