KENT CAMPBELL HOLLOWAY's oil painting technique is based on the European tradition of layers of glazes resulting in a luminous depth which, because of the drying process, took many hours to complete. Kent remarked:

  "After seeing the great realist art in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and Florence, I've tried to equal those amazing masterpieces. This turned out to be more difficult than I imagined, but I've never quit trying. Maybe if I live long enough to paint another couple hundred paintings, I'll do one that will stand the test of time."

Holloway, a Portland, Oregon native, graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1957. He moved to San Francisco where his art was shown and sold at numerous galleries, including the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the San Francisco Museum of Art. During the 1960s, he lived and traveled in Europe for two years with his first wife Diane and young son, Kent Moon Holloway. After living in New York City for several years, Holloway returned to Portland, re-visited Europe, and finally settled in San Francisco where he found Peggy Powell, his second wife. He maintained a studio, north of San Francisco, on Geyser Peak Winery land where he built sailing kayaks to explore and paint the nearby Russian and Navarro Rivers. When that studio was torn down, the search for land in Oregon began.

In 1988, Peggy and Kent accidentally discovered Bandon's South Jetty and purchased the studio where Peggy still resides. Kent acquired a waterfront dock five miles up the Coquille River near Prosper for his 24' sailboat. He built a floating art studio, known affectionately as “Holloway's Hooch,” that resulted in a River Show at nearby Raincoast Arts Gallery in Langlois. Kent had two one man shows at the Coos Art Museum and won many Public Hanging and Best of Show awards. In addition to his portraits, landscapes, and river scenes, Kent painted dogs, cats, birds and the Bandon Jetty geese that still come by for food every day. Two of his dogs and one cat, plus many crows, are in a 21' long x 3' high mural of Bandon circa 1918.

Kent sang, wrote lyrics, and played Dixieland, ragtime and swing piano--both as a solo performer and with various bands. His Portland band included well known singer/actress Chrisse Roccaro. He played regularly in San Francisco's North Beach at the Albatross Saloon and the original Old Spaghetti Factory. One of Kent's last piano gigs in Bandon was at Harps Restaurant that led to his painting a mural of the Old Town Bandon waterfront.

In August 2004, shortly after completing the mural, Kent died at the age of 69. In 2005, a retrospect of 100 paintings was held at the Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon. A few of his major works are on loan at Bandon City Hall. His widow maintains the studio on Bandon's South Jetty.

Kent Holloway