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Please email or call me. I'd be happy to discuss my artwork or answer any questions you may have. It is nice to make new friends.
All artwork are original creations by the artist.
Cofounder, Director and Master Member of the Pikes Peak Plein Air Painters.
Associate Member of Oil Painters of America.
Associate Member of the American Plains Artists.
Working in his studio, high on the side of a hill overlooking the peaceful mountain valley of Trout Creek Ranch, Kenneth Shanika spends almost every day fulfilling his life's dream of being an artist. There is seldom a day that passes that you won't find him hard at work creating paintings. When he is not in the studio you can find him painting outdoors
'I was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1951. I could never resist the urge to draw. I suppose my artistic ability came to me from my father. My father is a well-known mid-western artist and I owe much of my artistic background to him. As a young boy, I spent many hours watching him paint. He inspired me greatly.
While at the Kansas City Art Institute on scholarship, I studied painting and drawing under the chairman of the painting department, Wilbur Niewald, and printmaking under the chairman of the print making department, Bill McKim. I was graduated in 1975, receiving a B.F.A. degree, with a split-major in painting and printmaking.
I started, the Colony Bistro Art Gallery & Frame Shop, Inc. in 1977. We became one of the most respected galleries in the Kansas City area. By the mid 90's I owned and operated two galleries.
In 1998, I sold my businesses and moved to Colorado. My wife and I purchased some property on the side of a hill in the mountains and built our dream home and studio. I have been painting full time since. I paint en plein air and in the studio. My favorite subject to paint is the ever changing and beautiful Rocky Mountains.