Born 1956, Berkeley, California
Through the unique usage of color, light and spirit, K.L. McKenna's style
captures the landscape in a most unexpected way. Her paintings are not just
paintings of landscapes but color harmonies of a very high and unusual
order.
K.L. McKenna's inspiration for the west comes from childhood summers she and
her family spent prospecting for fossils in Wyoming with her paleontologist
father. Her scenes of Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming and Montana reflect her
enthusiasm and spiritual connection to the geology of the west, where she
paints on site throughout the year.
K.L. McKenna, a resident of Woodstock, NY and Ward, CO, has had extensive
experience working for museums and top exhibition design firms in New York,
such as Ralph Appelbaum Associates and Albert Woods Design. She worked
throughout the United States and Canada as a graphical user interface
designer for major banking firms such as Citibank, First Boston and Lehman
Brothers. K.L. McKenna was awarded a U.S. Patent for "The Geozoo," an
educational toy design. She studied painting first with Mary Buckley at
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY and later with Nicholas Buhalis at the
Kingston School of Art, Kingston, NY..
K.L. McKenna participated in the Artist-In-Residency Program at the Museum
of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ where she completed 12 paintings that
were exhibited at the Museum, December 2008 thru May 2009. Her oil "Little
Colorado River I" was chosen to be included in the museum's permanent
collection. She has also exhibited 24 of her paintings at the Booth Western
Art Museum, Cartersville, GA, where "Wind River Canyon, WY" was chosen for
the museum's permanent collection. She has participated in the annual
auctions "Expanded Horizons," Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT, and the
"Annual Buffalo Bill Cody Show and Sale," Buffalo Bill Historical Center,
Cody, WY. She is listed on AskArt.com, and she has exhibited in a variety of
galleries across the United States and in Germany and Africa. Her work is
also included in many corporate and private collections.
She is currently on the Board of Trustees at Pratt Institute. She is
President of the Arts Society of Kingston (A.S.K.), which she cofounded in
1995, and holds memberships with the Woodstock Artists Association and the
Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild.
Additional information is available at 845-246-9590 or by emailing
klmckenna@netstep.net.
The energy that flows through my hands and onto the canvas is something that I describe as my Color, Light and Spirit technique, which has become my signature. My life's work is to illuminate the mind in an exciting new way - not to defy tradition, but to expand assumption.
Through my formal education, I was trained to discover color in shadow and to use many hues and values to create light. The use of line and space in my compositions combine abstract elements with the figurative which are sculpturally fused by bright color.
My paintings of the west begin on site where I've spent my summers for over 40 years. The reds of Wyoming and Arizona - the brilliant yellows and greens of Colorado and Montana are my passion.
My work as a contemporary American artist appeals to a certain kind of collector - one who is spiritually drawn to the uninhibited use of color and light.
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