Landscape Paintings in Oil and Pastel by Mike Mahon

Mike Mahon celebrates the color, light, and feel of the Southwest. Working with soft pastels and oils, his most frequent works are landscape paintings of Northern New Mexico. He loves working in the Santa Fe and Taos area to capture his vision, but most frequently he paints in plein air (out doors).

In the tradition of the Taos art colony in the early 20th Century, Mike is inspired by the purity of light, distant vistas and general grandeur of the landscape. As a young boy he spent his summers in the Taos area soaking in its atmosphere and exploring the lakes, rivers, and mountains. As he developed his art career no other location satisfied his desire to express his love of nature’s beauty. Mike’s work has been described as impressionistic realism. Mike seeks to express the sensation of light and color as it is revealed in the New Mexico landscape. He creates a true sense of atmosphere and depth. His faithfulness to accuracy and draftsmanship gives his work authenticity. At the same time his energetic brush work transmits a lively spontaneity. Mike teaches in his workshops that the mastery of one’s craft makes possible a truly free and spontaneous artistic expression. Mike frequently does painting demonstrations for art societies and museums around the country. Several of the landscape pictures featured on this gallery page were videoed and available to view on his Youtube channel. You can visit his Youtube channel at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzDk_VCOpwU_4W3y6ud4nzA

Mike has been honored with many awards for his studio and plein air paintings including Best of Show at the prestigious Juried Santa Fe Plein Air Festival sponsored by the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico. Mike teaches art workshops in pastels and oils. He gives instruction on his unique step-by-step painting process for landscape paintings. More information on his workshops is available on his workshop page.

Click on thumbnails below to see larger images!