AUSTIN, Texas — Ira Kennedy’s art studio is nestled among the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country. It’s located right behind his home, near Llano.

“I’m here every day, usually from 9 to 5,” he said.

During that time, Kennedy works on his latest painting, usually a landscape. He says he wanted to be an artist as far back as he can remember. These days he focuses on his own artistic style.

“I used to do traditional landscapes, but everybody does that. I’m different,” said Kennedy.

He creates his paintings using dots. Once he’s painted the background, he goes over the surface with little dabs of paint, resulting in different size dots.

“It’s been quite successful for me because no one paints like this. And so that sets me apart from the crowd,” he said.

Kennedy says his inspiration comes from aboriginal art and works by Van Gogh. People hire him to do dot paintings for them, too.

“I’ll ask them to supply me with a subject and any photographs they may have that I can use as references,” said Kennedy.

The dots give the paintings texture. Kennedy says he can’t imagine painting any other way.

“I’m 81 now. I’ll be 82 in September," he said. "I’ve got another 10 years on me. Who knows, I may just keep going!”