Meet Angela
About the Artist
Hi, I'm Angela, and I'm glad you're here! I'm an oil and acrylic artist who paints in the style of the Impressionists, and it's my passion to enrich people's homes with more beauty in their everyday environment.
About the Process
My lifelike, expressive mixed media paintings of nature are made in layers of acrylic then oil, using a variety of knives & brushes to create textural interest. My paintings combine a high degree of realism with expressive marks and thick paint (also called impasto). My art is inspired by the universal human need for quiet renewal and expanse through nature, in a world overcome by noise and distraction. It's about slowing down to really see and appreciate the beauty all around us that can get lost in the hustle of everyday.
Awards + Publications
My work has been awarded and published nationally and internationally by the likes of the International Drawing Annual, Southwest Art Magazine, Strokes of Genius Annual, American Artist Drawing Magazine, and the prestigious Oil Painters of America, among others. Serving collectors for the last 13 years has been a joy; I feel humbled and honored to create art as a calling.
Beauty Can Be Found Anywhere
Over my life, I've lived in 14 unique places (12 US states and 2 foreign countries) and also traveled a lot around North America, Europe, and Latin America. All this travel taught me one crucial lesson: Beauty is abundant and you can find it anywhere. This guiding principle comes through in my paintings of the Midwest, the mountains, garden florals, and of people.
Inspiration
My childhood idea of a perfect day: create something, do some people-watching, and take in the sunset. Not much has changed, but now I view beauty in the natural world not as an end in itself, but more as a window to the greater beauty I find in the world's Creator. C.S. Lewis says of the times we experience beauty in the world:
"For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."
When I paint, I feel a sense of both connectedness and longing, like there's more out there than what I'm seeing in the natural world. I hope that comes through.
It's important to me that the art I create is more than a photographic copy of what I see in nature: I want it to feel like a painting not a photograph, and to have a sort of "aliveness" to it. This is why I embrace texture, movement, and brushwork in addition to the traditional elements (like drawing, values etc). This combination of "lifelike" and "expressive" characterizes my paintings.
Education
I was really blessed to find a great art program and mentors at a small liberal arts college in Florida, where I earned my Bachelor's degree in Commercial Art and my Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Painting. Since graduation, I’ve been working as a professional artist, creating portraits, landscapes, and florals in the style of Impressionism.
I feel humbled to be painting as a vocation, and deeply grateful for all the people that have supported my work over the years. I still find it amazing that pieces of my creativity get to live in and enrich people's homes around the world.
Notes of Interest
• Awarded and published nationally and internationally
• Serving art clients and collectors for the last 13 years (read some reviews here)
• Inspired by the Impressionists
• Happily married and mom of 3 beautiful daughters
• World traveler
• St Louis area studio
• Favorite things: vanilla lattes, walking outside, and books
Feel free to drop me a line on my contact page or email me directly at contact@angelaburnsfineart.com—I'd love to hear from you.
Kindly,
Angela