Barbara Burk Portraits

My first art show of my pastel and oil portraits in Florida

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:56:39 +0000

Last night was the opening of the first showing of my portraits and figure studies here in Florida. The last time I have had more than one or two of my paintings displayed was at least 35 years ago. Since my portraits are by commission and in private homes and public buildings all over the country, it is extremely difficult to gather enough of them together in one place for a show.

Needless to say, it was very gratifying to see even the small number of paintings on display. Every time I see one of my paintings that I haven’t seen in a while, it brings back all the memories of the people and families I have gotten to know through the creation of their portrait. Each painting has a story behind it.

So in my future posts, I will tell you some of my favorites.

Until next time.

Charity

admin — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:38:20 +0000

I just returned from a lovely evening for the benefit of PACE Center for Girls where I donated a gift certificate for a pet portrait. It is good to know that I can help raise money for such worthy causes with my art.

Another thing that I can do is to donate a portion of any commissions that I receive to the charity of my client’s choice in their name. With the economy such as it is, I feel that it is so important to support charitable organizations in any way we can. This is my way.

Until next time.

My Journey to Becoming a Portrait Artist

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:00:43 +0000

Welcome to my first blog. Since this is a “new beginning” of sorts, I thought I would take a look back at how I became a professional portrait artist. Although I always enjoyed painting and drawing when I was growing up, I never considered it as a profession.

I even took art classes in high school and at Newcomb College, but they were just for fun.

After my second child, Michelle, was born in 1970, I was looking for something to do while she was napping, and naturally went back to painting and drawing. I started sketching photos from magazines and some family photos as well. It was very obvious that my favorite subjects were people, and I enjoyed the challenge of getting a good likeness.

So I decided to take some art lessons to learn how to paint portraits. At that time my son, Kevin, was about 3 years old and needed to have his tonsils removed. My friend Cindy who was a nurse at the hospital stopped by to visit. She had a son the same age as Kevin. She showed me a beautiful photograph that her father had taken of “Little Leon” in his pajamas playing with a train. I was so taken with the photo and his big black eyes, that I asked Cindy if I could borrow the photo and take it to class to see if I could turn it into a portrait.

That portrait of “Little Leon” was my first successful painting. In fact, Cindy loved it so much, she commissioned me on the spot to paint her other two children. I didn’t even know what to charge her! Then her friends started calling me to paint their children. I had a career before I knew what had happened!

It has been almost 40 years since I painted that first portrait! Looking back over that time I realize that I have been truly fortunate to be able to give so many people so much joy when they look at what I have created for them. How lucky can a person get?

Until next time.