"R. Kenton Nelson, now known as Kenton Nelson, was born in Pasadena, California. His great-uncle, whom he was named after, was Roberto Montenegro, a Mexican muralist who was friends with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (who married in his garden). His father worked at General Motors and his mother was a housewife. He graduated from the California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, CA and attended the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA." (Wikipedia) "I am Kenton Nelson, I paint for a living, and live near Los Angeles. We are an amalgam of all those things we love, and collect." http://pictorialautobiography.tumblr.com/ "He loves Fred Astaire, Walt Disney, and the noir fiction of Raymond Chandler. If that sounds a bit, well, trichotomous, it could also describe the art of R. Kenton Nelson, where the mundane is glorified, reality is heightened, and perfection can be downright disturbing. Born and raised in Pasadena, the 58-year old with the boyish face spent 18 years as a graphic designer and illustrator before turning to oils on canvas. Indeed, Nelson has made some 900 paintings in the last two decades -- which works out to about one a week -- but who's counting? Self-taught as a painter, Nelson literally was born with the art gene; his great uncle was Mexican muralist Roberto Montenegro. ... 'That,' adds Nelson, 'obviously affected my work, because when I started out painting, I was primarily wanting to do murals. And most of my paintings are from that perspective: a worm's-eye view." His works are also a world unto itself. A more upbeat combination of Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, and other American Scene painters, the genre--narrative realism--often evokes the good life in Southern California. Voluptuous bathing beauties in 2-piece swimsuits can be seen diving, squirting ketchup on a hot dog, or taking a leisurely bicycle ride on the boardwalk--albeit with various body parts out of frame." See more www.kcet.org/ link above.

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