Behind Pacifica artist is the story of a hurricane - San Jose Mercury News
Jenny Kahn is a fine artist. She has samples of her portrait work on her website and her portraits are classical, seemingly pulled from the same school of gifted thinking where artists Titian, Andrew Wyeth and Berthe Morisot also ventured. Kahn has lived in Pacifica with her husband, scientist and photographer Michael Schnee, for nine years. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane, barreled down on the Gulf Coast and left a path of destruction over southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama. "I was born and raised in New Orleans," Kahn said. It was just my mother and me. " Kahn began art school when she was nine. "Art is the only thing I have ever done really well as a job," the artist said. " At 17, Kahn headed off to the Gerritt Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam where she received her undergraduate degree in fine arts. "Before Katrina I taught drawing at Tulane University," Kahn said. Kahn and her husband evacuated their city on August 28. They had lived through warnings before and not evacuated. Kahn had lived through Hurricane Betsy as a kid. The couple put their cats, Blanche and Stanley, and meaningful photographs in their Chrysler PT Cruiser and headed to friends in San Antonio. "You just can't fathom what it means," Kahn said. Source: www.mercurynews.com
