Michael Keane at Quidley
There are vocations, and then there are lifelong passions that happen to earn one a living - Michael Keane's maritime painting falls into the latter category.

"Fast and Loose" by Michael Keane

As a four-year-old boy, the first proper drawing Keane remembers rendering was a sailboat. Hours of painting and study of maritime art under Marshall W. Joyce occupied Keane's youth and early adulthood. Then came a job as a boat builder for Boston Whaler, followed by a seven-year stint as a Marine Quality Assurance Inspector for General Dynamics, then as a technical illustrator for the firm, which employed Keane at reading and lofting ship's plans when the company's management learned of his artistic training.

Keane absorbed every image of his working life to hone his sublime and luminous rendering of maritime scenes, which will be on exhibit at Quidley and Co. on Main Street this week.

Included on Keane's awards shelf is the R.J. Schaefer Award of Excellence at the Mystic International Juried Show.

- Marli Guzzetta, Independent Arts Editor