Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Burridge.
Hi Robert, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Robert Burridge Painter • Teacher • Author • Publisher
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1943, I was born to the parents of five boys. Iʼm in the middle, two older and two younger brothers who hung out with each other. In typical “middle child” fashion of “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME,” I entertained myself with magic tricks, ventriloquism, circus gymnastics, juggling and because I had a speech impediment, took elocution lessons.
As a child, I had an “art table” where I developed my early skills of painting, drawing, sculpting, breaking and making things. In 6th grade, I entered my first art competition with a painting promoting “Hire the Handicapped.” It won the first prize award of… one dollar! My art had value, I thought. I could make a living doing art.
My dad built me a backyard trapeze when I was in 7th grade. It was supposed to keep me in the yard, but soon I was wandering around traveling circuses and circus people. I loved the whole circus life. Growing up, I performed hundreds of magic shows.
But, enamored with the spiritual life, my high school years were spent away from home in a quiet seminary, studying for the priesthood. After three years, having “seen the light,” I escaped the monastic lifestyle in 1962 and was accepted into the Philadelphia College of Art (now known as the University of the Arts). It was there that I developed my sense for color and design, plus problem-solving. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design and a minor in Painting. I continued painting while moving through Americaʼs corporate world as product designer for Litton Industries, Becton-Dickinson and Westinghouse Corporation, where my designs won the Industrial Design Product of the Year.
Twenty-two design patents later and twenty-five years of tightrope walking the top rung of corporate ladders, I decided to jump without a net into the center ring as a full-time painter… a real circus! Some may call this mid-life crisis; I call it making a living at my avocation. Throughout this corporate design time, I continued to paint for myself during odd hours and weekends, practicing and developing my painting style. In the early 70s, my work and art interests lured me into the New Yorkʼs avant-garde art scene, making 8mm movies with Andy Warhol in his basement “Factory” and performing in Happenings with Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Jim McWilliams, Charlotte Moorman and the Fluxus Group. By 1989, I was more influenced by the works of Matisse, Monet, Diebenkorn, Motherwell and my current off-beat contemporaries like Thiebaud, Dine, Bacon and Hockney. I guess I’ve always been a pop artist, but continue to be drawn to the classic French Impressionists.
Today I paint in my California country barn studio located on Californiaʼs central coast along the beaches of San Luis Obispo county. With rousting operatic overtures or contemporary jazz, I begin each day with a series of small warm-up painting sketches on both paper and canvas. My “easels” are large flat tables, twenty inches off the ground. My brushes have extensions on them and are twenty-four inches long, so I can stand, dance and paint.
This technique keeps me loose (an idea from Matisse) and prevents me from bending over all the time. I keep many buckets of water and tubes of paint all over the studio as I work on many paintings at the same time. Besides my gallery works, I continue painting my signature series, entitled “The Good Life,” and painting commissions for private collectors and corporations.
During the past twenty years, I have nurtured the “teaching side” of my career: I was on the faculty at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California, teaching watercolor, acrylic and oil painting, as well as my Art Marketing course. I have also produced a successful series of “Loosen Up with Aquamedia Painting®” workshops, books, and videos based upon my painting techniques and philosophy. I am scheduled nationally and internationally for fine art conventions and for art groups in many locations, including Paris, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Raleigh, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba and on Cruise Ships.
My work hangs in permanent collections of international embassies, corporate galleries and art colleges. I also had two solo museum exhibitions, and as they received positive attention, I was invited to exhibit my circus-themed paintings at the Smithsonian Folklife Circus Arts Festival in Washington, DC.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My life has been filled with opportunities and I embraced the ones that matched my goals. Of course, getting started in the art business, we had to set goals and plan our strategies. It took longer to meet the goal of having gallery representation, but we were able to do it. We ran my art career as a professional business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am known as an acrylic painter and I have had at least three very popular series of works that I have been recognized for. The first one is “The Good Life” – The Opulent Lifestyle featuring wine, great food, cocktails coastal settings and interiors. The second series is my Circus Performers: Roadside Attractions, the Magic Circus and Lounge Ladies and their Magic Rabbits.
The third is “Impure Thoughts” – very large dry pigments, chalks and powders abstract drawings. This exhibit was my first museum show.
I am most proud of my Weekly BobBlast, which is a free, content-laden video. We started this BobBlast program in 2015 and have not missed a week. Our consistency in teaching techniques and how to think and see is what sets me apart from the other YouTube presenters.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Both my wife and I have no trouble promoting my work and Burridge Studio. We use social media and teach art marketing subjects to other artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://robertburridge.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertburridgeartist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertburridgestudio
- Youtube: @RobertBurridgeBobBlast
Image Credits
Kate Burridge Robert Burridge
