Fall 2026

H ours before most of us awaken, Ken Shue is already creating. Coffee in hand, he begins his workday at 5 am at a framed sheet of paper upon which he paints using a brush dipped in water. The tech- nique is based on Japanese “sumi-e” ink drawing, with an important difference: as the water evap- orates, it continues to morph into new and interesting shapes. “I usually don’t care that much what happens, but many times something interesting happens, and I photograph that and work it into a painting.” He uses the same tech- nique on his patio and driveway, and many times these ephemeral images find their way into permanent abstract paintings. This is just one of the many ways Shue finds inspiration. He and his wife Janice set off on bicycles from their beautifully designed and immaculate Monterey home each morning, pedaling alongside Monterey Bay. Many of the subjects of his figurative paintings are based on scenes he’s observed on these bike rides. A native Californian, Shue was born on Coronado Island, “Before it was connected to San Diego by a bridge,” he says in his bio. Always drawn to art, he drew cartoons as a young man and eventually landed a job with a firm that produced industrial training films. Barely in his 20s, he was a full-time profes- sional artist. Moving north to Palo Alto, he turned his eye to the publishing world, man- aging, designing and illustrating for textbook publishers and the then-nescient Silicon Valley tech industry, garnering numerous trade awards. A children’s book he illustrated, “Hiawatha Passing,” caught the eye of The Walt Disney Company, and he became vice president of global art and design develop- ment for that entertainment juggernaut. Shue oversaw Disney’s publishing content for Walt Disney Animation, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar studios, a position he savored for nearly 150 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 6 “Breaking Light, Asilomar” is a 26-by-32-inch oil on wood panel. The palette Shue utilized for the sky and sea, inspired by swells at a popular surfing spot, were based on the work of his friend, celebrated Disney artist Eyvind Earle.