Evening, Edgartown Harbor, oil on canvas, 8Ó x 10Ó

On an open stretch of Old County Road in rural West Tisbury, there's a big red barn full of art. The Granary Gallery has showcased great works of art on Martha's Vineyard since 1954. A Kenneth Vincent original hangs next to the front door. Inside the gallery, this emerging artist's work takes up an entire wall.

Vincent, 32, grew up on the family farm in West Tisbury, the descendent of many generations of Vineyard farmers and fishermen. After studying illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, he returned to the island and worked at the Martha's Vineyard Times. There he drew illustrations for the popular "The Walks" column. The inspiration gleaned from less traveled corners of his native island became the backbone of his work. "To me, every landscape of Martha's Vineyard has a memory to it . . . the memory left in the landscape is what inspires me to paint," says Vincent, citing the work of island painters Rez Williams and Allen Whiting as further inspiration.

Vincent's work is confident, bold. The iconic scenes are solid, bright, with striking angles, bringing Cubism to mind. Family Dining is a 28" x 34" oil on canvas, a simple yet surprisingly resonant study of three cows grazing in a green field against a backdrop of trees. The cows and trees are angular, almost blocky, but realistic. The effective use of a complementary green color gradation gives a serene feeling, creating an effective tension between the iconic rural images and pleasant cool hues. "Sometimes you just have to throw geometry at it," says Vincent.

Lambert's Cove, Sunrise is a painting of similar style, with deep, shifting blues of the sea captured with simple yet startling clarity, as dawn wraps around a rocky elbow of a Vineyard beach. Light and shadow collide in clear delineation over a changing horizon. The transitory nature of the moment is central to the piece's strength. The viewer knows that a few minutes ago, this place was still dark; soon you know you will feel the bright sun burning overhead.

Vincent says he likes to work wet on wet, and enjoys the "Zen-like moment of moving paint around." He says he loves the creative process, but when a painting is done, it's done. "I'm happy to see them go, so I can start the process over again. I want to keep on perfecting a technique, keep challenging myself," he says. "I'm happiest when I'm painting."

This tenth-generation Vineyarder with a young family has reason to be happy. His work is moving. His paintings are in private collections. "Vincent's view of the Vineyard is traditional, but with a contemporary execution," says Granary Gallery Owner, Chris Morse. "With his deep Vineyard history, he can take a timeless landscape and put his own unique signature on it."

Kenneth Vincent's work can be seen at The Granary Gallery, 636 Old County Road, West Tisbury, MA, 800-472-6279, www.granarygallery.com.

Freelance writer Rob Conery lives in West Yarmouth. He likes to travel and writes a fishing column for a Cape Cod newspaper.