Kenneth Burton
My Art is primarily Figurative Art, and History painting. History paintings seeks to capture an event or moment in a story. Prior to widespread literacy, History paintings were responsible for educating the public. Renaissance, Dutch and Flemish painters were History painters. The classic American Illustrators were Figurative Artist who helped readers visualize a story in a book or a magazine. My subjects of interest are African and African American history as well as Biblical Stories. My ideas start as thumbnail drawings of subjects of interest. The next steps are multiple compositional studies. Each painting is typically proceeded by a half scale grisaille preliminary painting. My greatest influences are the high Renaissance artist, Dutch and Flemish artist, African American Artist, and the classic American Illustrators. Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Maxfield Parish, and NC Wyeth. The Renaissance artist were the Illustrators of their time.
After High School I studied Art for one year at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. During that time I learned the basics of design, painting, and drawing. I received my degree in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University. I designed Intrusion Prevention Systems used in corporate networks. The Intrusion Prevention Systems were implemented with a single mother board that included the CPU, the Ethernet switch and PHYs. Prior to Fab out, I performed Signal Integrity Analysis. CPLD and FPGA design, Provided placement and routing guidance. I then completed the Hardware Design Specification. When the prototypes arrived, I completed board bringup, and released the product to production. I completed an introductory Illustration class at San Jose State after graduation, several drawing and painting classes at Mission College in Santa Clara, a California College of the Arts Extension Illustration class, and a class at the Academy of Art University. Currently, I'm a Docent at Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio.
My painting titled "Revelation 12" was selected by the Stola Contemporary Art Gallery to participate in the collective exhibition Angels and Demons in Chicago Illinois. Show runs February 11th - March 26th,2023
My painting titled "Family Farm" was selected by the Alpharetta Arts Center jurors to participate in the collective exhibition Down on the Farm in Alpharetta Georgia. Show dates Feb 1 2023 thru Mar 18 2023
My painting titled "Egyptian Bath" was selected by The 35th Chelsea International Fine Art Competition jurors to participate in the collective exhibition at Agora Gallery New York city.
My painting titled "Egyptian Musicians" selected in the Semi-Finals in the 15th ARC Salon.
My painting titled "Egyptian Musicians" was selected as one of the finalist for inclusion in the exhibit Art Comes Alive 2018 Cincinnati, Ohio. Selected from nearly 2,000 works of art from across the country.
My painting titled "Lalibela Ethiopia" was selected for inclusion in the Triton Museum of Art’s Statewide Painting Competition & Exhibition 2013, Santa Clara, California.