Article By Deb Carson
When high school sweethearts Steven Kenny & Diohn Brancaleoni reconnected 30 years later at a beloved Peekskill, NY, art teacher’s retirement party, it was kismet. He is a world-renowned artist; she is a PhD and psychologist. The couple live and work in historic DTSP’s Kenwood neighborhood, where they relocated to in 2011, because they love it here in Paradise. “St. Pete’s sunshine and arts community were two big draws for us.”
Their relationship is also an artistic partnership. Diohn and Steven collaborated on the imaginative Sacred Story Cards, a beautifully compelling set of 18 cards featuring Steven’s superb paintings on front with Diohn’s inspirational interpretations on back. First developed by Diohn for a women’s group in 2017, Steven’s images stimulated introspection and inspiration by the users. Like rune stones, Steven and Diohn say the Sacred Story Cards visualize “transformative experiences, universal themes and powerful archetypes.” By following the directions, the user can discover the colorations in a life’s journey that helps stimulate personal growth, self-knowledge and soulful connecting.
The cards’ popularity expanded beyond Diohn’s network to local museum gift shops and yoga studios. Currently, they are available online on their websites.
Steven graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and worked as a commercial illustrator with great acclaim, winning awards from the Society of Illustrators, Communications Arts Magazine and the Art Directors’ Club of New York for clients including Sony Music, Time Magazine, AT&T, United Airlines, and Celestial Seasonings.
In 1997, Steven focused his talents full time on fine arts and quickly rose to notoriety as a world-class, highly collected artist whose paintings soon became part of permanent museum and patron collections from Florida to Italy. His singular paintings are reminiscent of Renaissance and Northern Baroque Old Masters yet firmly rooted in Contemporary and often Surreal Art.
Clinical psychologist Diohn earned her doctorate from California School of Professional Psychology in California. With more than 30 years in practice, she has helped clients live healthier, more positive and productive lives through her work as a psychotherapist and life coach. In 2019, Diohn wrote and illustrated the book “The Happy Life Toolkit: Life and Wisdom From a Down-to-Earth Psychologist.”
$20/set available at their websites. www.stevenkenny.com/cards.html or www.diohn.net/book-%26-cards.