KIRK BUCHANAN

 Working mainly with oils on canvas, I enjoy painting the enchanting scenery of Northern New Mexico and the great American Southwest. I like to paint what I feel, rather than just what I see. I’ve been known to add a happy little tree or two or even some purple to the bark; or leave out the odd power line or cell phone tower altogether. My favorite places to paint are on the back patio of Casa del Prado, my home in Taos, facing the sacred Taos Mountain’s Pueblo Peak, or plein air behind some old adobe building in the Town of Taos or Santa Fe, or the mountains of Northern New Mexico. The legendary light and shadow in this part of the world are unmatched anywhere else. The altitude, the clean air, the light, the sky, the intoxicating smell of sage and piñon , and the amazing changing colors of the seasons are so inspiring it’s impossible not to paint! From the reds, pinks and purples of the hollyhocks in spring...to the viridian green hue of the sagebrush in summer...to the incredible yellows and golds of the aspens and cottonwoods of fall...to the whites, blues, and greys of winter...to the cerulean blue sky and clear, frigid waters of the Rio Hondo year-round, my soul is stirred by the call of these sacred mountains.