Blog Posts - David F. Burke - Acrylic Painting, Illustration, Murals

Thanks for Coming to the Opening...

2/25/2019

I want to thank all the friends and family who braved the weather to attend the Little Theatre Art Show Opening for Dan Hogan and myself yesterday. A lot of people couldn't make it because of the high wind warnings on Sunday and today for our area, but we were pretty fortunate that the nasty weather held off until the opening was over!

But, our artwork will be on display until March 22nd, so come to Rochester to check it out and enjoy some live music 7 days a week.
https://thelittle.org/cafe

Upcoming Exhibit Article

2/14/2019

Here's a nice little article in 'The Batavian' about my upcoming Art Exhibit with my friend Dan Hogan at the Little Theatre Cafe in Rochester:

https://www.thebatavian.com/billie-owens/bergen-artist-and-his-gcc-college-buddy-to-display-their-paintings-in-the-little

The opening is only 9 days from now.

Upcoming Art Show in Late February...

1/17/2019

My Last Painting of 2018

12/31/2018

I just finished a painting called View From Court Street Bridge, Rochester, NY this morning. The mighty Genesee River is flowing fast and furious! I realized that my first painting of 2018 was one of the Little Theater in Rochester, and my last one of this year is also inspired by Rochester. Interesting!

This coming February 24th through March 23rd, my friend Dan and I are having a joint show at The Little Theater Cafe Gallery in Rochester. More information about the opening reception will be forthcoming.

2018 was very productive painting-wise, and I'm excited to see what 2019 brings!
Happy New Year to all!

Happy Holidays

12/22/2018

A new painting I did a yesterday, coincidentally on the Winter Solstice, called 'In The Deep Midwinter'. Depending on the way I look at it, it's actually 3 different pictures in one!

Painting Demo At Rochester Library

12/2/2018

A couple of months ago, a woman I know from Bergen who works at the central Library in downtown Rochester, NY invited me to participate in a monthly Artist Demonstration that they put on. I was reluctant at first (I'm not used to painting in front of people, except murals), but I'm glad I decided to do it. Only had from Noon til 1:30 to do it, so I picked a simple subject and a smaller canvas.

Three people I didn't know and one old friend showed up, plus a few other people who stopped briefly, and I had a great time doing it! They asked some wonderful questions and we had very interesting conversations. And I was able to paint it very quickly, which I love.

Also, I brought four of my paintings to set up in the Art Department display case for the month of December. Thanks to Mary Fraser for letting me do this. I met some wonderful folks, some artists and some not. I'm sorry the photos are blurry!
Happy Holidays!

Jimi Hendrix...

9/11/2018

I've been a little obsessed with Jimi Hendrix over the last few days. I've been wanting to do more paintings of 60's rock legends, and Jimi was the first one who's been haunting my dreams since I found some groovy photos of him.
This is the result...

I think more Beatles paintings may be on the way, too. And I found a fabulous photo of The Who from the late sixties that would be fun to paint.

New Studio

7/18/2018

In July I moved into my new studio space on the second floor of a lovely historic building in Beautiful Downtown Bergen, NY. It is very close to home, and having all this extra space to work and store stuff in is absolutely blissful!

I never realized what a difference it would make having a work space that is not in our home. It is very peaceful. No distractions. Quite an improvement from the tiny room off the bedroom that I've been painting in for the last three and a half years. And there are lots of tall windows for natural light and overhead lights for night time painting.
I couldn't be happier!

New Outdoor Mural

6/3/2018

I've started a new mural on a building in Tonawanda, NY. Hopefully I can get more work done later this week after the coming rains.

UPDATE: June 20, 2018
I've been working on the mural for about 8 days altogether since the last post. Today was perfect weather in Tonawanda; cooler and cloudy. And I got an early start (about 8:20) so I got a lot done! I'm very excited!I think when I go back tomorrow morning I may get to finish the painting. Then wait a few days and go back to apply the acrylic varnish.
Sorry, I left out part of the lighthouse at the left!

Finally finished Friday, July 6th!

With Liberty and Justice For All...

4/26/2018

A couple of weeks ago I started experimenting with a larger canvas (4 feet by 3 feet) to do something a little more socially relevant.
I love painting pretty pictures, especially ones that convey an emotional connection with the subject matter, but lately I just felt an overwhelming urge to express some of my reactions to some of the crazy shit that's going on in the world, and that's been going on in this country for a very long time.
My first attempt with this canvas was a failure, so I painted over it with gesso and tried a new take using some of the original imagery. Experimentation is really fun and freeing!
This is the result; I think it works pretty well (at least a lot better than the first try).