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By George Yatchisin • Art by Gail McBride Kenny Cover Artist… hen I was growing up we moved every two years, so I always think of myself as being from America instead of being from just one place,” says Gail McBride Kenny, this issue’s cover artist. Her father was a Navy chap- lain, necessitating his family’s frequent moves. This nomad- ic life meant Gail was exposed to art in each new location. “He had a lot of art books, and we often went to museums when I was a child,” she explains. “I just loved art, and it seemed like it was supposed to be a part of people’s lives.” Th n, says Gail, “I came to UCSB to study art history and never left,” putting an end to her peripatetic ways, if not quite signaling the beginning of an art career. “When I graduated from college, work got in the way. I didn’t want to leave Santa Barbara, but it looked like most of the jobs available were volunteer positions.” Gail almost went to school in Taiwan—she had studied Chinese as well as art in college—but political issues at the time scared her off. So instead, she went into a career in finance, technical support and budgeting. “When I turned forty-eight, I thought, ‘If I don’t start this now, I’m never going to do it,’” she says. The “this” was 46 Montecito Magazine Spring–Summer 2018 The Luminous Art of Gail McBride Kenney “W Painting © Gail McBride Kenny Painting © Gail McBride Kenny

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