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McKenzie S. Paxton Artist Bio
McKenzie S. Paxton grew up in Elk Ridge, Utah, a small town in the hills of south Utah Valley.
She grew up in a beautiful canyon and found an early and lasting love of the mountains. Her
father taught her to find wonder in the mountains as she hunted, hiked, and skied with him. Her
grandfather was a snowcat driver at Deer Valley and her earliest ski memories are racing down
Wide West. McKenzie has spent many drives through Utah’s valleys and mountains staring out
the window, noticing how the light hits the land differently each day. She has made studying and
painting the beauty of the mountains her career. In the winter months McKenzie paints skiers
nestled in the slopes of great Western US resorts. In the summer she paints the local landscape
and mountains. When she can sneak away from her two vigilant young daughters, she paints en
plein air/on site.
McKenzie’s landscape painting was fostered by her mentors, J. Kirk Richards and Linda Curly
Christensen. She spent a two-year apprenticeship under Linda Curly Christensen painting large
landscape murals for LDS temples and studied in J. Kirk Richards’ academy. She hopes her art
inspires viewers to notice the often ignored beauty they encounter, then moves them to be in
places they love. She is currently based in Provo, Utah.
