About me page
Hello World,
Born at Dalby in 1954, Robert John Burton trained as a painter at the Queensland College of Fine Arts from which he graduated with Honours in 1987. After graduation, Burton moved to Townsville and worked with Connie Hoedt at the NQPA (North Queensland Potters Association) having learned some pottery skills while an art and craft gallery manager on Bribie Island. He is an established Queensland artist whose career has been successful for over three decades, full-time through 1983 to 2006. His artwork is idiosyncratic and illuminates a mix of modernist genres resulting in an eclectic and fast-paced style which has been noted through many articles, collections, and past regular exhibitions (10 solo and over 30 group exhibitions). As well, in 1999 he was presented with the Visual Arts Award Townsville City Council because of his extensive community involvement highlighting adult and children’s workshops at the NQPA, schools, and QPA (Queensland Potters Association). Further were various TCC (Townsville City Council) projects as a sponsored artist, and participation in World Expo 88, South Bank, Brisbane, the Australian Bicentennial Traveling Exhibition, and contribution to Out of the North Traveling Exhibition, (1989 to 1991) reaching 17 Regional Art Galleries in Eastern Australia including Tasmania, curated by the ANG (Australian National Gallery). In 2011, he was a RADF (Regional Arts Development Fund) Grant recipient to create pottery workshops for disadvantaged adults with a nomination for an award.
Further education resulted in teaching secondary school for a while having gained a Bachelor of Arts (English and Social Sciences) 2016, which was followed by a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) in 2017. Also, achieving an Academic Medal for Bachelor Coursework James Cook University with two Colin Roderick prizes for Honours English (2014 & 2016). Much of his intellectual success comes as Burton identifies as an Aspie, that is, a person with Asperger’s Syndrome or on the Autism Spectrum that has given him a particularly strong focus.
In 2019, Townsville experienced a major flood which destroyed my gas kiln and studio. I cannot see that I will return to pottery as the replacement costs are prohibitive. However, I have taken up painting full time and I will display works for sale on this website as they become available. Pass your cursor over the above site menu to open drop-down sections.
And now for something completely different . . .
JUST RESTING, 2004, acrylic & ink on paper, 420 x 594mm.
Robert John Burton—Artist Statement:
I aim for an emotional reflection rather than clarity or realism in my gestural painting. The technique is physically demanding, as I experienced making pottery that used much of the same requirements: pushing, pulling, hammering, dampening, and scraping surfaces. As well, pottery allows for an imperfect finish, or surface, to pieces stressing the acceptance of variations. I believe art making is something innate within all of us, just needing an expression, and judging art from other times is a useless pursuit as it exists in its own place and time. However, as Post-Modernism stated, nothing is new, nothing is truly original, and re-creation is the norm so rather than be bothered by this; everything is available to play with. Art’s most important role is self-discovery and self-expression; fulfillment which needs no standard technique or demand. My representations are based on memory, deconstruction, idiosyncratic thoughts, vivid sensitivity, literature, moods, archetypes, the natural world, otherness, and exploration. When very young, my father told me my art was useless—that made me feel so bad. He destroyed my artwork. My mother who was artistic, but chronically mentally ill, used my creativity to control me—that undermined my self-esteem. The person I remember who believed in me was my high school art teacher in 1969, who told me, “I did what I was going to do, what I told others.” This uplifted me to feel part of the world and still supports me when others disappoint or are less than effective. Painting puts me in that supportive frame of mind.
All paintings in my YouTube Challenge are in the drop-down menu above on my website shop