On the Patio, 30x40x1.5 inches, oil on stretched canvas, by Kenney Mencher
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Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called On the Patio. It’s 30x40 inches, oil on stretched canvas, and painted in 2025. Even though it’s recent, it connects with ideas I’ve been working through for years—especially in my Fresh Finds series. I think of this as a bit of a return to form—playing with some of the formal strategies of Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff and Richard Diebenkorn, especially their use of thick texture, abstracted backgrounds, and that in-between space where figure and environment blur.
The subject is a woman seated on a balcony or small patio, bathed in warm sunlight. Her pose is natural—legs crossed, arms resting loosely—and her face is partially turned down in thought. She’s wearing a white dress, and her hair spills over her shoulders in a soft, expressive mass. The figure is treated more naturalistically in terms of anatomy and posture, but the handling of the background—especially the bricks and shuttered windows—is stylized with thick, directional brushstrokes and a warm palette of ochres, rust, and gray-blues.
This piece was also an experiment in texture and edge. The paint application is loose and layered. I used impasto in areas of the background and some dry brushing in the figure’s highlights. You can see a lot of palette knife work in the brick wall behind her. I pushed warm and cool contrasts—especially between the glowing yellow wall and the cooler shadows inside the apartment—to build a sense of depth and atmosphere.
The composition is asymmetrical and follows the rule of thirds—the figure sits in the lower right third of the canvas while the open doorway on the left leads the eye inward. There’s a nice play between verticals (doorframe, railing) and the diagonals of light and shadow across the figure’s legs and arms. The scene feels quiet, observational, and intimate—more about presence and place than narrative.
Unlike a lot of my more political or queer-centered work, this one doesn’t make a loud cultural statement. But it still reflects what matters to me as a painter: the act of close looking, attention to light, honoring everyday moments. That, too, is a kind of resistance—slowing down, observing, seeing beauty in ordinary things.
Details
Title: On the Patio
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Size: 30 x 40 x 1.5 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges
Signed and dated lower right
Ships via UPS or USPS, securely boxed
Original painting—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called On the Patio. It’s 30x40 inches, oil on stretched canvas, and painted in 2025. Even though it’s recent, it connects with ideas I’ve been working through for years—especially in my Fresh Finds series. I think of this as a bit of a return to form—playing with some of the formal strategies of Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff and Richard Diebenkorn, especially their use of thick texture, abstracted backgrounds, and that in-between space where figure and environment blur.
The subject is a woman seated on a balcony or small patio, bathed in warm sunlight. Her pose is natural—legs crossed, arms resting loosely—and her face is partially turned down in thought. She’s wearing a white dress, and her hair spills over her shoulders in a soft, expressive mass. The figure is treated more naturalistically in terms of anatomy and posture, but the handling of the background—especially the bricks and shuttered windows—is stylized with thick, directional brushstrokes and a warm palette of ochres, rust, and gray-blues.
This piece was also an experiment in texture and edge. The paint application is loose and layered. I used impasto in areas of the background and some dry brushing in the figure’s highlights. You can see a lot of palette knife work in the brick wall behind her. I pushed warm and cool contrasts—especially between the glowing yellow wall and the cooler shadows inside the apartment—to build a sense of depth and atmosphere.
The composition is asymmetrical and follows the rule of thirds—the figure sits in the lower right third of the canvas while the open doorway on the left leads the eye inward. There’s a nice play between verticals (doorframe, railing) and the diagonals of light and shadow across the figure’s legs and arms. The scene feels quiet, observational, and intimate—more about presence and place than narrative.
Unlike a lot of my more political or queer-centered work, this one doesn’t make a loud cultural statement. But it still reflects what matters to me as a painter: the act of close looking, attention to light, honoring everyday moments. That, too, is a kind of resistance—slowing down, observing, seeing beauty in ordinary things.
Details
Title: On the Patio
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Size: 30 x 40 x 1.5 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges
Signed and dated lower right
Ships via UPS or USPS, securely boxed
Original painting—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called On the Patio. It’s 30x40 inches, oil on stretched canvas, and painted in 2025. Even though it’s recent, it connects with ideas I’ve been working through for years—especially in my Fresh Finds series. I think of this as a bit of a return to form—playing with some of the formal strategies of Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff and Richard Diebenkorn, especially their use of thick texture, abstracted backgrounds, and that in-between space where figure and environment blur.
The subject is a woman seated on a balcony or small patio, bathed in warm sunlight. Her pose is natural—legs crossed, arms resting loosely—and her face is partially turned down in thought. She’s wearing a white dress, and her hair spills over her shoulders in a soft, expressive mass. The figure is treated more naturalistically in terms of anatomy and posture, but the handling of the background—especially the bricks and shuttered windows—is stylized with thick, directional brushstrokes and a warm palette of ochres, rust, and gray-blues.
This piece was also an experiment in texture and edge. The paint application is loose and layered. I used impasto in areas of the background and some dry brushing in the figure’s highlights. You can see a lot of palette knife work in the brick wall behind her. I pushed warm and cool contrasts—especially between the glowing yellow wall and the cooler shadows inside the apartment—to build a sense of depth and atmosphere.
The composition is asymmetrical and follows the rule of thirds—the figure sits in the lower right third of the canvas while the open doorway on the left leads the eye inward. There’s a nice play between verticals (doorframe, railing) and the diagonals of light and shadow across the figure’s legs and arms. The scene feels quiet, observational, and intimate—more about presence and place than narrative.
Unlike a lot of my more political or queer-centered work, this one doesn’t make a loud cultural statement. But it still reflects what matters to me as a painter: the act of close looking, attention to light, honoring everyday moments. That, too, is a kind of resistance—slowing down, observing, seeing beauty in ordinary things.
Details
Title: On the Patio
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Size: 30 x 40 x 1.5 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges
Signed and dated lower right
Ships via UPS or USPS, securely boxed
Original painting—not a print
