The long strands of paint that drip off the chopstick organically form the labyrinth of branches that are the hallmark of Buchan’s gravity-fed paintings. Whether Buchan paints a foreboding tree with neck-choking tendrils or creates a “Winter Rendezvous” scene with birds frolicking amid the snow, his signature trees capture the rawness and beauty of nature.

His trees can be wicked and haunting or whimsical and colorful. A client saw his ghost tree and described it best when she said, "Oh, yeah. I get it. The tree is beautiful in a dark kind of way."

About Mother Sequoia and the California Stars

Though it sounds like a band name, Mother Sequoia and the California Stars is not an emerging indie band gracing the airwaves, but rather a fresh, new body of work created recently by Chopstick Drip Painter Peter G. Buchan. 

According to Buchan, it's nearly impossible to live in the Sequoia National Forest and not be influenced by the trees. Mother Sequoia is inescapable, blessing the mountains with her presence among the California Stars. Buchan came up with the title to this series from the song by Wilco, words by Woody Guthrie. 

Take a plunge into this quintessential experience of what it means to know California. 

Secret Behind the California Star Series

As a drip painter, Buchan uses a drop cloth to soak up the splatter from his art pieces. One time as he was dripping, a scrap piece of wood lay on the floor and it absorbed the excess splatter. Buchan loved the random design of the drip paint so much, that he decided to use it for a background on one of his pieces, and that is how the California Stars series sparkled into existence.