Art major Scarberry finds direction through Navy

Junior A&M-Commerce painting major Kenneth "Kenny" Scarberry got a taste of overseas travel and culture during his 4-year U.S. Navy career that is serving him well in his collegiate career.

Scarberry grew up in Commerce, having moved from Cooper with his family while in the fifth grade. Following his graduation from Commerce High School in 2003, Scarberry adopted a reclusive lifestyle.

"I kind of closed myself off from the world," he said. "I moved into the garage and focused all of my mind on playing video games and trying to figure what I wanted to do with my life. All of my friends had gone to college and some had families by then, so I was trying to find my place in life."

He decided to join the U.S. Navy in 2004, a decision that was greatly influenced by two chance acquaintances who lived in Scarberry's neighborhood.

"One was a Marine and the other was an Army guy," he said. "They would talk about their different experiences in the military. Every time I heard them talk, I wished I had some kind of story to jump in on."

Yet, Scarberry's father, himself a former military officer, was the most influential figure in the final decision.

"One day, I looked over at my dad and said, ‘I'm thinking about going into the military,'" Scarberry said. "It was the next day that the recruiter showed up at the door. He had called that evening and said, ‘My son is talking about possibly being interested. Would you be willing to come and talk to him?'"

Scarberry said a yearning to "see the world" attracted him to the U.S. Navy.

"I didn't end up joining the Army because there wasn't much opportunity for travel," he said. "One thing the Navy definitely guaranteed was travel."

After seven months in the Navy's Delayed Entry Program (DEP), Scarberry began active duty.

"I learned how to tie a lot of really cool knots and how to drive all of the ships and boats that were available to learn to drive," he said.

While in the Navy, Scarberry visited Spain, Italy (including Rome and Pompeii) and Dubai, which he said he heard referred to as the "Las Vegas of the Middle East."

Scarberry enjoyed most aspects of his military experience.

"The only thing I didn't like about the military was being away on holidays," he said. "I think the one thing that I'll take away from it is the camaraderie. You make friends in the military that you'll have forever."

During his last two years of service, Scarberry made the decision not to re-enlist.

"I decided that I actually wanted to go to school," he said, "because during that entire time, I was talking to friends, and they had all gone off to school and some of them had graduated by then. I was like, ‘Wow. Look at what they've done.' At the time, I looked at it as saying, ‘Gee, I've done absolutely nothing but join the military.' But I also got to see the world when a lot of my friends had never even been out of the country. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to go to college."

He ultimately decided to apply to A&M-Commerce, was accepted and began classes in January 2008 as an undeclared major. After his freshman year, he became a painting major.

"I really have always enjoyed art," he said. "It's something I really liked doing in high school and I thought it was a lot of fun."

Incidentally, Scarberry's military travels had furnished him with a ready store of art knowledge, which helped him tremendously in his studies.

"While I was in the military, I got to go see a lot of really cool art overseas," he said. "It was really cool, because I didn't even have to study. All I had to do was open up my postcard book or flip through the pictures I had taken."

As an artist, Scarberry most enjoys noting the stages that lead to a finished project.

"I like seeing the final product," he said, "but I'm more about what's happening at the time. It's kind of process-driven. I like to respond to how the paint is looking on the canvas. Whenever I start applying paint to the canvas, I get into this rhythm where I just kind of lose myself and let the left side of my brain take over. What seems like only minutes of painting can turn out to be hours of work and I absolutely love it."

His creative style is still in its formative stages, according to Scarberry.

"Right now, it's really experimental," he said. "I try to say that whenever I focus and really attempt I can almost portray some sort of realism. Mostly, it's expressive and experimental."

He has general idea of how he would like to use his painting skills at a professional level after graduation.

"I've always been fascinated with graphic novels and role playing trading card games," he said. "I've always been kind of interested in the imagery they present for the fantasy world they have created, and I think that would be something I'd like to push my paintings toward."

A movie buff, Scarberry enjoys viewing films by his favorite directors in his leisure time.

"I'm a big fan of directors," he said. "I'll see movies for actors, but mainly I'll see them for directors."

Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers and Stanley Kubrick are some of his favorite directors because of their common usage of dry comedy.

"I really like British comedy," he said. "I'm also a super-nerd. I like ‘Star Wars' and ‘Star Trek.'"

Joe Crenshaw, a staff member at the Sam Rayburn Student Center, has known Scarberry for about 10 years and said he admires Scarberry as an artist and a student.

"It's his toward attitude art," Crenshaw said. "He's really open-minded. To him, art is art. He's not interested in picking it apart. He's honored whenever his work is displayed and respectful when it is time to be taken down. To him, school is life. It's not just about getting a degree; education is a lifelong process."

Crenshaw also values Scarberry as a friend.

"Kenny's dependable, honest and one of the few guys I would say would never stab you in the back," he said. "He would stand behind you no matter what."