McKenzie Birnie - American, born 1938
Oil paintings,
pet and
family portraits from photos,
gourd art,
collage and
assemblage,
Limited
Edition Giclee Prints in the online art gallery of American artist McKenzie
Birnie.
McKenzie Birnie was born in Los Angeles in
1938. Her grandfather, Johan Birnie, was from the old school of Dutch
painters. He immigrated to the United States and set up a studio in his
house and worked there daily.
As a small child, McKenzie would spend hour
after hour on a stool in the corner of her grandfather's studio watching him go
through the various stages of drawing and planning a composition, preparing a
color palette, skillfully employing his craftsmanship with requisite patience
and endurance, and fastidiously caring for his brushes and equipment - in short,
preparing a reverent welcome for the magic of his art. Before his
granddaughter's mesmerized eyes, blank canvases and inert tubes of paint were
transformed into vibrant stories of form and color.
This was a powerful process for an
impressionable child to witness, and the young McKenzie went on to apply her
grandfather's lessons to her own media and activities in life.
Another childhood experience that would have a
profound impact on McKenzie's artistic formation was a move to a remote ranch in
northern Nevada. Under the wide Nevada sky, McKenzie discovered the
elements of time and space while making a strong connection with the natural
world. These elements shaped her life through school and the raising of
her three children, and continue to be reflected in her art today.
McKenzie Birnie received a Master's degree in
Fine Arts before launching into a full-time career in art. Using weaving
and mixed media, she created wearable art for Obiko and other galleries in San
Francisco and Northern California. A highlight of her art career was when
she exhibited her "Story Shirts" in the Salon des Ateliers d'Art in Paris, which
featured artists from around the world.
She now lives in Southern California and
recently has turned to telling her stories on large gourds using paint and mixed
media.
McKenzie Birnie online art
gallery
Family and
pet portraits from photos
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