Michael Burns Art

American Robin - Acrylic on Paper The 8" x 10' painting of an American Robin and Spring Crocus was done in acrylic paint on grey toned watercolor paper. I drew the composition on paper then transferred it to watercolor paper mounted on a board. I tried to paint in thin layers to reduce the visibility of any brush stroke. I used Golden acrylic flow release and Golden Gloss Glazing liquid to aid in the workability of the paint.

The 2018 Hoosier Salon opened on August 3rd at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mario Andres Robinson and Mark Boedges were selected to judge this year's 658 entries from 257 artists to determine the final selection of 150 works of art. According to the Hoosier salon website , "The Hoosier Salon legacy began in 1925 when the Daughters of Indiana opened the doors to the first exhibition of Indiana contemporary artists at Marshall Fields and Company Galleries in Chicago. The high quality of art was applauded by critics and the public alike, the first exhibition included works by such notables as T.C. Steele, J. Otis Adams, and Will Vawter, and was an unqualified success. In 1940 the annual exhibit moved from Chicago to downtown Indianapolis finally settling at the Indiana State Museum after various venues." As always, there was a broad range of subject matter and mediums juried into the exhibition. The exhibition never disappoints those who visit the

Gouache Study - Selma's Garden While my wife was attending a dyeing workshop at the T. C. Steele Historic site  I decided to paint a gouache field study of the entrance to Selma's garden. The garden was recently restored to what it would have been when Selma created the garden. I intended to only paint a cluster of flowers, but the temperature hit 92, so the only shade tree I could find was at the garden entrance. I spent about 2 hours on the painting, but it was enough to capture the scene and lighting as the afternoon sun hit the daffodils. Instead of doing another painting I spent the remaining hour swinging on the porch swing at the House of the Singing Winds.  Since it was a Sunday afternoon, there was no noise from workers on the grounds so you could easily imagine what it was like for T. C. Steele and Selma to live there and the peaceful environment the location provided.  As I relaxed in the breeze and the sound of the frogs in the goldfish pond I thought what a cha

The 40th Annual Indiana Heritage Arts Exhibition kicked off the summer art season in Nashville, Indiana on June 9th, 2018. This year's judge, Nationally known artist Stapleton Kerns  was tasked with determining which artist would compete for prize money totaling $30,000. Approximately 300 paintings were submitted for review with only 100 paintings receiving the stamp of approval by Mr. Kerns.  Stapleton Kerns studied at the Atelier of R. H. Ives Gammell (1893 - 1981) and lived and honed his artistic skills in Rockport Massachusetts during the early years of his career. He lives in New England teaching and creating his art. According to Mr. Kerns "As a Juror, I tried to choose those works that were technically sound, well designed and held together as a unified whole. I looked for paintings that made a strong visual statement, were confidently executed and were individual and original, even if they showed the influence of historical artists or were of familiar subjects. I am

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail  Butterfly in Acrylic Subject: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on Apple Blossom Date: 05/25/2018 Painting Session: Final Session Medium: Acrylic on Illustration Board Previous Sessions:  Session 1 ,  Session 2 , Session 3 I decided to put in the time to finish this painting after almost two months of not working on it. During this painting session, I re-painting all of the yellow. After looking at some reference photos, I noticed most of the butterflies have a variation in the color of yellow on their wings. Not sure it comes across in the photo but I tried to incorporate some variety on the wings. I also added more wing veins and did a second past on all of the black and blue on the wings. I touched up a few of the apple blossoms and leaves and added in veins on the leaves. Final Painting Swallowtail Butterfly

Spent about 4 hours at the Goeth Link observatory touring the grounds and doing a quick gouache sketch of the observatory.Goethe Link was open to the public to view the building, telescope and the field of daffodils planted by Dr. Goethe Links wife in the 30's and 40's. Dr. Link was a well-known surgeon and built the observatory and 36-inch telescope for his own personal enjoyment and to satisfy his interest in astronomy. Goeth Link is located about 3 miles south of Mooresville Indiana in Morgan County.

Subject: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on Apple Blossom Date: 03/30/2018 Painting Session: 3 Medium: Acrylic on Illustration Board Previous Sessions:  Session 1 , Session 2 This session was dedicated to working on the flowers and the leaves with most of the time spent on the flowers. I made multiple passes on the flowers trying to work in the gradual color variations on the flowers. But I was always fighting the quick drying time of the acrylic paint which limited my ability to achieve a smooth change in color and soft edges. I tried adding fluid retarder along with flow release which helped a little, but the paint still seemed to dry within seconds. The good thing about acrylic is the drying time which allows you rework an element in your painting in a short period. But the trade-off, at least on paper and board is the paint dries to quick. I finally got to the point I was re-working the flowers and seemed to not be making any progress, so I decided to move on to the le