{"id":18096,"date":"2020-08-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sasee.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=essay&p=18096"},"modified":"2024-03-26T15:08:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T19:08:39","slug":"maura-and-paul-kenny-a-marriage-of-art-and-nature","status":"publish","type":"essay","link":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/essay\/maura-and-paul-kenny-a-marriage-of-art-and-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Maura and Paul Kenny: A Marriage of Art and Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

While we chatted in their home tucked away on a quiet street in Pawleys Island, Maura and Paul Kenny told me repeatedly how fortunate they feel to have such satisfying lives. Both are recently retired from prestigious careers, and because they loved their work, Maura and Paul have combined their knowledge and experience into a new body of work that suits their laid back lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Maura began talking first, telling me about her years as an art professor at Coastal Carolina University. \u201cI started working for CCU when it was still a part of University of South Carolina in the mid-1980s,\u201d she began. \u201cIn the 34 years I worked there, we went from a small art department of four or five faculty members to a department of 20 when I retired in 2018.\u201d This dedicated educator went on to tell me that many of her students have gone on to do wonderful things in all areas of the arts.<\/p>\n

The day we met, Paul and Maura were waiting on the birth of their first grandchild, a girl, Murphy Rose Kenny. A huge pink package sat on the hearth of a stone fireplace, waiting to be taken to their son Billy\u2019s home in Charleston where he lives with his wife, Aly Murphy. The couple also has a daughter, Emily, who lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with her husband Jackson Emerson.<\/p>\n

Even after living in the States since 1980, there is still a hint of a pleasant Irish accent in Paul\u2019s voice. He first told me the story of how he and Maura met. \u201cWe met in a pub in Ireland in 1976.\u201d Maura interjected, telling me with a laugh that the pub\u2019s name was Durty Nellie\u2019s. Maura had taken a job teaching art in an elementary school in Connecticut right after college, and she and a friend decided to take a trip to Ireland during their summer break. Continuing, she said, \u201cPaul talked me into coming to the bank where he worked the next day, saying he\u2019d give me a better exchange on my dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple laughed remembering, and Paul continued this romantic story. \u201cI knew if I didn\u2019t say something, she would leave and I\u2019d never see her again. This was before cell phones and email, so I had to think of something fast.\u201d Maura did go to that bank the next day and a lifelong love was born. The couple married in 1981.<\/p>\n

By 1980, Paul knew that he wasn\u2019t suited for a banking career, and after meeting Maura living in the States seemed even more attractive. So when he had the opportunity to attend Coastal Carolina University, he never looked back. \u201cI sold my car and my few possessions, and came to the states with about $3,000.\u201d Luckily, tuition at Coastal wasn\u2019t very expensive in the \u201880s, and combined with a few scholarships he was able to make ends meet. He found Marine Science was a perfect fit having grown up on the coast of Ireland. He was a regular member of the Irish Surf Team and always had a fascination for life in the ocean. Opportunities in Marine Science were limited back then, so Coastal Carolina was the perfect place for Paul. \u201cWhile studying at Coastal, Dr. Richard Dame hired me to work on a primary productivity grant at USC\u2019s Baruch Maine Lab during the summers.\u201d \u201cAfter I graduated in early 1983, Dr. Dame asked me if I would delay moving on in my career and work for him for a year. He had lost a technician and I already understood the job.\u201d Paul agreed and that one year transitioned into a 35 year career of scientific discovery.<\/p>\n

After working for four years as an elementary school art teacher, Maura decided to go back to school to focus on her art and develop herself as an artist. She received her MFA from UNC-Greensboro about the same time Paul decided to attend Coastal. \u201cWhen he told me he was moving to Conway to attend Coastal, I decided to go with him,\u201d Maura shook her head, remembering how moving to a completely new place seemed easy at the time. \u201cWe knew nothing about the area and lived in a tent for a week before finding someplace to stay. I started to work part time at Coastal and fortunately, they eventually hired me full time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father raised seven children,\u201d Maura said, as we talked about her life as an art educator. \u201cWhen I told him I wanted to be an artist, he asked me to think about being an art teacher so I could always support myself. He didn\u2019t want me to be a starving artist!\u201d It was a good choice, and between her years as an elementary school art teacher and college art professor, Maura taught for 40 years, enjoying every minute. \u201cI believe the youth of today is amazing \u2013 they are open and accepting and so creative. I\u2019ve learned so much from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI began working on a project, funded by NSF, measuring primary production of Spartina, figuring out how much carbon the marsh grasses produce,\u201d Paul told me, when I asked about his work. \u201cIt turns out that southeastern salt marshes are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, rivaled only by tropical rain forests.\u201d Next, Paul worked on a shellfish research project, spending the next five years studying the ecology of oysters and how they fit into the ecosystem of North Inlet. \u201cOysters are a keystone species, which means without them the entire ecosystem would fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 1989, Maura and Paul were both established in their careers and lived on the Hobcaw Barony property in the gatehouse by the highway. \u201cWhen Hurricane Hugo came through that September it destroyed our lab,\u201d Paul told me. \u201cFive feet of water flooded the building and the tidal surge moved it off of its foundation.\u201d Paul added that he and Maura, along with their six month old daughter, rode out the monster storm in a dorm building on site.<\/p>\n

\"\"By 1992, the Baruch Marine Lab was rebuilt and the North Inlet-Winyah National Estauarine Research Program (NERR) was established. Paul was then hired to work for the NERR. \u201cI was the first technician with USC to run basic water quality programs,\u201d Paul said. Because of his tenure at the Marine Lab, a few years later Paul was hired into a \u201chard\u201d position, one not funded by grants. In this position, he worked for Dr. Dennis Allen on his plankton and fishery surveys, and oversaw the general use of the facility and helped researchers get started. This involved a change in many of his responsibilities, requiring him to get his boat captain\u2019s license. \u201cI was responsible for an education program taking college students out on a boat to show them, in the real world, what they learned in books at college. I did that for nearly 20 years.\u201d Paul loved his work with the students. \u201cIt was a wonderful experience. Oftentimes, students would come from the upstate or from states around the country, and many of them had never been out on the water. To see them ooh and ahh over a dolphin sighting or learn something new about the ecology of the environment was very gratifying.\u201d Even before he retired, Paul would take people interested in learning about our environment out in his personal boat. Now, in retirement, he runs boat tours, with his business, Low Country Eco Adventures, that educates his passengers on a variety of topics, including history and ecology.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cOne of my great joys is being on the river or out in Winyah Bay because the landscape is so beautiful,\u201d Maura told me, as she began to talk about her current projects. \u201cIf I can make a painting that is moving enough to show what\u2019s out there, I am very gratified. Many people don\u2019t have access to the rivers or a boat and have no idea about the beauty of our waterways.\u201d Maura also has an interest in historical sites and learned the fundamentals of oil painting from her mentor who owned a 17th century historical house museum in Connecticut. Through Maura\u2019s art and Paul\u2019s extensive scientific knowledge, the two have morphed their careers into something they both love.<\/p>\n

Since her retirement, Maura has worked exclusively as an artist, creating quite a large body of work, focusing on portraiture and the natural world. On September 24th, her work will be featured in a show titled, Where the Rivers Flow, at The Art Museum in Myrtle Beach. \u201cThe paintings feature vistas and structures and people from our travels on the Waccamaw River, the Pee Dee River, Winyah Bay and our time cruising and oystering in the salt marsh of North Inlet. It\u2019s a miniscule part of what\u2019s out there, and I hope it piques people\u2019s interest in our rivers.\u201d Maura has finished all of the paintings for her upcoming show and will spend the summer preparing. She also is in the middle of another series of paintings that combines figures with natural elements.<\/p>\n

\"\"Maura\u2019s introduction to Laura Herriot, well known Sandy Island resident and owner of Wilma\u2019s Cottage, the only bed and breakfast on the island, led to another exciting project for this prolific artist. \u201cI first met Laura when our friends and colleagues, Lee Brockington and Linda Ketron, hosted an open house and fundraiser to help pay for much needed repairs to Wilma\u2019s Cottage,\u201d Maura said as she told me about her latest partnership. \u201cPaul had been asked to ferry people back and forth, and I stayed at the house. Paintings of Laura and her granddaughter will be a part of my show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLinda is publishing a book about Sandy Island, Sandy Island: Now and Forever, and asked me if I would be interested in painting the cover,\u201d Maura told me, obviously excited about this work. \u201cI told her I had a series of river paintings and took 15-20 paintings for her to see.\u201d Linda loved Maura\u2019s work and has incorporated most of them into the book. \u201cFor one chapter, Linda needed a painting of the rice chimney on the old Laurel Hill Plantation, now a part of Brookgreen Gardens. So Paul and I set out to find and photograph it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple did find the chimney and said it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. They found the coordinates on Google Maps and used GPS technology to direct their boat to the exact point. From a boat in an overgrown rice canal, Maura was able to get enough visual info to complete the painting. \u201cWe were quite excited about finding it. And I\u2019m so grateful to Linda that she thought about including me in the mix of wonderful writers and photographers involved in this book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul is continuing to share his extensive knowledge of the area through his work as a private boat captain. \u201cI enjoy taking people out to the third largest watershed on the East Coast and educating them on the history of the rice culture.\u201d Many of Paul\u2019s trips have been cancelled this year, but he is looking forward to doing ecology trips for the USC Marine Lab\u2019s education programs and is also working with the Baruch Foundation on other educational boat trips. \u201cHaving the history of working at the marine lab, I have a different understanding than most about the ecology of North Inlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked the couple how a life entwined with so much natural beauty has shaped who they are. \u201cI\u2019ve developed a deep love for this part of the country,\u201d Paul began. \u201cFrom Brookgreen down to Awendaw, we have more than 500 square miles of property that will never be developed. You won\u2019t find that anywhere else on the East Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have tied my teaching career with my environment,\u201d Maura said thoughtfully. \u201cPaul had a major hand in opening my eyes to the environment of our area, and it\u2019s fed a passion to capture that in my paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see more of Maura\u2019s work, find her on Instagram, @maurakennyart. Locally her work is available at Island Art Gallery in Pawleys Island.<\/p>\n

Paul is currently accepting limited reservations for ecological and historical boat tours. Contact him at Captpkenny@aol.com.<\/p>\n

Sandy Island: Now and Forever, featuring Maura\u2019s art, will be available for sale in the Art Museum of Myrtle Beach, Art Works in the Litchfield Exchange and Litchfield Books.
\nRelease date is September 15th.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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