Ron Burns and his wife, Buff, live
part-time in Scottsdale, Arizona in a house filled with desert light,
half-crushed tubes of acrylic paint, canvasses in various stages
of completion and, of course, Rufus (pictured) and Loganberry.
Demand for Ron’s original work, limited editions,
and his book continues to flourish on the strength of gallery sales,
word of mouth among collectors, and media praise.
- Forbes magazine writes,
“Burns’ style has become extremely collectible.”
-- “His canvasses
of in-your-face dogs and cats drenched in Day-Glo colors are hot
sellers,” reports San Francisco Chronicle.
-- Sky magazine calls his
style “eye-popping, irresistible … Andy Warhol meets
Matisse.”
Background
Ron is an Ohio native whose professional life started
in Los Angeles where he and Buff founded the graphic design company,
Ron Burns Design. There his work won over high-profile clients including
Dick Clark Productions, Xerox, and Blue Cross.
But this brand of success demanded a nonstop, 25-hour-a-day
approach to living and working that grew less and less fulfilling.
Ron occasionally used painting as a pastime to deal with the intense
pressures of commercial work. The 1987 Whittier earthquake rattled
more than their design studio off its foundation, it forced Ron
and Buff to completely reprioritize their lives.
Looking to escape the soulless-ness of business
life in L.A., they moved to Sedona, Arizona. In this quieter, more
spiritual setting Ron began to take painting seriously. He explored
various styles and subject matter until finally he started painting
vibrant portraits of their own dogs.
The color choices Ron is famous for today were
present from the start.
“There’s nothing subtle or muted about
a pet’s love, especially — especially — a dog’s,”
says Ron. “It’s full-strength, heart-felt and wild-as-the-wind.
So the green-apple colors, the fire-truck reds, the swimming-pool
blues really chose themselves.
Brilliant, saturated colors are the only ways I
can begin to capture what each of us experiences with the dogs and
cats that nurture us.”
Ron begins each portrait with the eyes.
“Their eyes hold nothing back, whether it’s
love or fear, heartbreak or admiration. Every portrait begins with
the eyes — they have to — because from there all the
life and personality radiates outward,” he says.
After Ron’s initial series of paintings of
his own “kids,” he started visiting animal shelters
and taking photos of other dogs and cats to use as models. After
selling portraits of these images, he returned a percentage of proceeds
back to support the shelters. This approach later lead to being
named artist-in-residence with The Humane Society of the United
States.
New York Daily News writes that Ron’s style
captures the “quiet heroics” of the life of dogs. It’s
a style that has won over collectors, interior designers, auction
bidders, and book buyers. He has been featured nationally on television
and in print.
Ron, Buff, Rufus and Loganberry currently live
part-time in Scottsdale, Arizona and there he is presently creating
images for his next book and working on a number of exciting new
projects.
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