Michael Burns Art

The annual Indiana Heritage arts exhibition was held from Oct 24 through November 14, 2020, at the Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville, IN. With policies and protocols in place to protect patrons from the spread of Covid-19, the show was a success. Chosen to be this year's judge was Mark Ruschman, Senior Curator of Art and Culture at Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites. The year Mark had more than three hundred entries, with 120 being juried into the show.  Top Awards went to : The First, Prize of $5000 went to Tom Woodson for his oil painting titled "Steve old Barn." The Second Prize of $3000 went to Carol Strock Wassonfor, a pastel titled "Winchester Barn." The third Prize of $2000 went to C. W. Mundy for an oil titled "The Angelique Saling out of Camden." List of artists juried into the 42nd Indiana Heritage Arts Exhibition B Pat Bardes - House at Swim Beach Lynn Bayus - Zinnias, Brown County Reflections Jo Atkinson Belmont - Mango Salsa Anne-...

Every morning, I take off my hat to the beauty of the world. These words must have had special meaning to T. C. Steele because he had them carved in his fireplace mantle by Gustave Baumann. Arguably, the most famous Indiana painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, T.C. Steele noticed the beauty of Brown County in 1906 when scouting for new painting locations. He was amazed at the unlimited supply of subjects and grand vistas the area had to offer. So much so, he purchased the property and built a home there in 1906. The T. C. Steele State Historic site is located 4220 T. C. Steele Road, about 10 miles west of Nashville, Indiana off of state road 45 T. C. Steele Visitor Center The T. C. Steele historic site has gone through a significant transformation over the last five years. Such as the addition of a 2.2 million 4600 square-foot visitors center in 2019, garden restoration, and other updates. The visitors center provides enough space to educate visitors about the life of...

I decided to challenge myself to photograph one Florida bird a day for thirty days. Not necessarily to photograph a different bird each day but concentrate more on the subject, composition, and technique to obtain a better photo. I tried to keep the post-processing to a minimum. I did crop images and adjusted the exposure and a few other minor changes. All photos were taken within the neighborhood where I live with a Nikon D7100 with a VR 55-300mm lens. Click on the photo to see a larger version, leave a comment and, let me know what you think. 03/01/2020 Common Grackle ISO 124, F22, 1/30th sec 220mm 03/02/2020 Gallinule (Moorhen) ISO 200, F6.3, 1/400th sec @300mm 03/03/2020 Great Egret ISO 320, F6.3, 1/1000th sec @300mm 03/04/2020 Wood Stork ISO 800, F5.6, 1/60th sec @220mm 03/05/2020 Little Blue Heron ISO 1000, F5.6, 1/600th sec @300mm 03/06/2020 Limpkin ISO 500, F7.1, 1/1000th sec @220mm 03/07/2020 Uknown ISO 640, F6.3, 1/800th sec @220mm ...

Located at 191 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, Florida, the 48,000 square foot  Imagine Museum  exhibits approximately 500 pieces of glass from their 1500 piece collection. The focus of the collection centers around the studio glass movement from the 1960s to the present time. Opening in January of 2018, the museum is the newest edition to the ever-growing and changing art scene in St Petersburg, Florida. Artwork from master glass artists like Dale Chihuly, Harvey Littleton, Sidney Hutter, William Morris, Dominick Labino, along with many others. In all, there is approximately 55 artist represented in the museum. The benefactors of the museum sought out the expertise of Corey Hampton to select the work from artists who best represent the history of the studio glass movement. Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino are considered the founders of the studio glass movent of the 1960s that inspired many future glass artists. The movement began in twp workshops led by Littleton and...

The 2019  Brown County Art Gallery 's Collectors showcase combined a one-person play titled "A Sitting with Marie: sketches, Memories, and a Pot of Tea" and a great selection of paintings by Marie Goth,   V. J. Cariani , Carl Graf and Genevieve Goth Graf . The audience assumes the role of a person sitting for a portrait at Marie's studio. Marie, played by Jill Tasker, talks directly to the audience as she discusses the people in her life that have all passed. She talks about her sister Genevieve, her sister's husband Carl Graf, and the one person in her life she cared so very much about, V. J. Cariani. She tells the story of how she went to New York and studied at the Art Students League and met V. J, who was also a student at the school.  Once World War I broke out, Marie returned to Indianapolis, and V. J. went off to the War in France. Marie and her sister eventually bought a cabin in Nashville, Indiana, to paint the beautiful Brown County landscape an...

The Indiana State Museum hosted the 95th Annual Hoosier Salon Exhibition from August 2nd to October 2019. Steve Hicks and Derek Penix were selected as the 2019 jurors and had the difficult task of choosing the artists and their works for the exhibition. This year's selection represented 135 artists and 155 works of art, consisting of portraits, still life, abstract, and three-dimensional works utilizing different mediums. In addition to selecting the works of art included in the show, they also judged each piece and picked the best pieces of art for cash prizes. List of Hoosier Salon Artist Awards and Submissions BEST OF SHOW – $5,000, Stephanie Paige Thomson, Portrait of John Henry Hanzlik, Oil on Canvas. 2ND PLACE – $4,000 Ellen Lyon, Reluctant Transition into Womanhood Oil on Canvas. 3RD PLACE – $3,000, Stephanie Paige Thomson, Her Last Summer, Oil on Handmade Panel. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S AWARD – $500, William Carpenter, Where Is God? , Oil on Canvas. AWARD FOR FIRS...

Bill Farnsworth was selected to be the 41st judge of the 2019 Indiana Heritage Arts Exhibition. Bill is a graduate of the Ringling School of Arts and Design and has spent his life working as an illustrator and artist. Bill had to narrow down his choices from almost 300 works of art to approximately 100 works juried into the show. According to Bill, "My approach to judging was to make several passes over the entire show. Usually, award winners jump off the wall, while others are appreciated on another pass. I look for work that has a well-executed strong design that carries across the room, and, getting closer, I look for the musical notes in the piece. How does the artist conduct the viewer's eye? The Indiana Heritage Arts Exhibition has grown to one of the largest exhibitions in the Midwest with over $20,000 in prize money. Indiana Heritage Arts List of Awards for 2019 First Prize Gold Award for $5,000 Stephanie Paige Thomson for an oil painting titled Ingrid ...