Summer Porch Night, 1993, 11.25x11.5 inches, oil on gessoed Arches paper, by Kenney Mencher
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This is a handmade work of art NOT a print
Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
I painted Summer Porch Night back in 1993, during my first year in the MFA program. I had just wrapped up my MA in Art History and was experimenting with materials and surface prep after seeing the work of Kim Rotan, a Bay Area artist who painted on paper. While helping out at a friend’s frame shop, I got a close look at her techniques—she’d tape down thick Arches watercolor paper, coat it with acrylic gesso, and go from there. That stuck with me.
For this piece, I started the same way—white gesso first, then a layer of blue gesso to create an undertone that would help unify the painting. The image itself isn’t based on a photo or real place; it came from memory and imagination. I used to take walks through Cincinnati summer nights, and this scene—two figures on a porch at night—emerged from that.
It’s small (about 11 x 11 inches), and I was thinking of it as a kind of mix between Edward Hopper and Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff or Richard Diebenkorn. The focus was partly on abstract formal elements and partly on making something relatable.
This is part of my Fresh Finds project—older works from my archive that I’m finally letting out into the world after nearly 30 years. It’s unframed but ready to be matted or displayed however you like.
Details:
Title: Summer Porch Night
Medium: Acrylic on Arches watercolor paper
Size: 11.25 x 11.5 inches
Year: 1993
Surface: Paper, prepared with blue and white acrylic gesso
Condition: Excellent, stored flat in archival conditions since painted
Signed: Yes, on the front
Unframed
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
FREE SHIPPING
This is a handmade work of art NOT a print
Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
I painted Summer Porch Night back in 1993, during my first year in the MFA program. I had just wrapped up my MA in Art History and was experimenting with materials and surface prep after seeing the work of Kim Rotan, a Bay Area artist who painted on paper. While helping out at a friend’s frame shop, I got a close look at her techniques—she’d tape down thick Arches watercolor paper, coat it with acrylic gesso, and go from there. That stuck with me.
For this piece, I started the same way—white gesso first, then a layer of blue gesso to create an undertone that would help unify the painting. The image itself isn’t based on a photo or real place; it came from memory and imagination. I used to take walks through Cincinnati summer nights, and this scene—two figures on a porch at night—emerged from that.
It’s small (about 11 x 11 inches), and I was thinking of it as a kind of mix between Edward Hopper and Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff or Richard Diebenkorn. The focus was partly on abstract formal elements and partly on making something relatable.
This is part of my Fresh Finds project—older works from my archive that I’m finally letting out into the world after nearly 30 years. It’s unframed but ready to be matted or displayed however you like.
Details:
Title: Summer Porch Night
Medium: Acrylic on Arches watercolor paper
Size: 11.25 x 11.5 inches
Year: 1993
Surface: Paper, prepared with blue and white acrylic gesso
Condition: Excellent, stored flat in archival conditions since painted
Signed: Yes, on the front
Unframed
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
FREE SHIPPING
This is a handmade work of art NOT a print
Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
I painted Summer Porch Night back in 1993, during my first year in the MFA program. I had just wrapped up my MA in Art History and was experimenting with materials and surface prep after seeing the work of Kim Rotan, a Bay Area artist who painted on paper. While helping out at a friend’s frame shop, I got a close look at her techniques—she’d tape down thick Arches watercolor paper, coat it with acrylic gesso, and go from there. That stuck with me.
For this piece, I started the same way—white gesso first, then a layer of blue gesso to create an undertone that would help unify the painting. The image itself isn’t based on a photo or real place; it came from memory and imagination. I used to take walks through Cincinnati summer nights, and this scene—two figures on a porch at night—emerged from that.
It’s small (about 11 x 11 inches), and I was thinking of it as a kind of mix between Edward Hopper and Bay Area Figurative painters like Elmer Bischoff or Richard Diebenkorn. The focus was partly on abstract formal elements and partly on making something relatable.
This is part of my Fresh Finds project—older works from my archive that I’m finally letting out into the world after nearly 30 years. It’s unframed but ready to be matted or displayed however you like.
Details:
Title: Summer Porch Night
Medium: Acrylic on Arches watercolor paper
Size: 11.25 x 11.5 inches
Year: 1993
Surface: Paper, prepared with blue and white acrylic gesso
Condition: Excellent, stored flat in archival conditions since painted
Signed: Yes, on the front
Unframed
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
