Greg, Author at Greg Mason Burns

Painting of sailboats on the Charles River in Boston

Art in Giving

Sailing the Charles - Acrylic on Aluminum Composite - 48 x 96 (2023) - Now available at Art in Giving I was recently accepted into a different kind of gallery called Art in Giving. It is an art gallery associated with the non-profit The Rachel Molly Markoff Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) that has donated over $1.4m over the years to pediatric cancer research centers all over the US. Half of the sales of the work goes directly toward grants that the foundation offers to these research centers. Considering that I used to work for Children's Hospital Boston before I became...

September 2, 2024

Greg

in Art, Exhibit

Harvard Ave Utility Box

Harvard Ave Utility Box - 172 Harvard Ave, Brookline Getting the commission of this Harvard Ave Utility Box was a great success for me. It is my first public art commission since moving to Boston. I've already done four murals in Maine (here and here), but I was hoping to get more opportunities in Boston. This is especially true since I live in Allston, which people know for street art. That turned out to be difficult at first. Yes, there are more opportunities and certainly one doesn't have to convince people as much on the value of public art because it is...

July 12, 2024

Greg

in Art, Painting, Public Art

Public Art Commission Kennebec Valley Community College

Behind the Art: Stained-Glass Paintings

The above image of one of my stained-glass paintings is a zoom-in photo of a larger mural that I did for the Kennebec Valley Community College Whitney Wing in 2023. This was the first big break I got from developing this style of painting. Well, actually, it was the second break, but it was the first big one where I actually made some money off my time and materials. The Beginning I wanted to create abstract landscape paintings, and I was already pretty good at abstract overall. My work ebbed and flowed between representative, landscape, and abstract, but I leaned abstract and...

May 6, 2024

Greg

in Art, Behind the Artwork

Do You Understand Art

Portrait of Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis, oil on canvas by John Singer Sargent, 1890; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Do You Understand Art is the fourth in a series of guests posts by my collectors and fans. In this post, Nivea Bona reflects on how art makes us feel something and how we try to rationalize that even when there's no need to do so. Below, Bona shares how this notion challenged her in other parts of her life, and I challenge you to tell me which side I lean toward: intent or in-the-moment...

January 16, 2024

Greg

in Art, Criticism, Exhibit

Portland Head Light

/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 02-08-2023 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=".svg"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Portland Head Light - Watercolor on Paper - 4"x6" This is the third in a series of guest posts by my collectors. This post, made by Cynthia Passos, explores the meaning of the dominant lighthouse in Casco Bay, Maine: Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth. The author both owns this piece and has visited the lighthouse. She states an inspirational connection between her, me and my wife, and the lighthouse itself. The text below is the English translation. You can find the original Portuguese below that. /*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 02-08-2023 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading...

August 27, 2023

Greg

in Behind the Artwork, Uncategorized

Tamanduá

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="271"] Capela do Tamanduá - Oil on Canvas - 11" x 14" or 28 x 35 cm (2018)[/caption] This is the second of what I hope to be many guest posts on my artwork. Nivea Bona wrote the first, titled, A Painted Tree is a Whole Moment, and can be seen here. The painting noted to the left, is now in the home of two collectors from Brazil: Wilson "Xixo" Ramos Filho and his wife Veridiana "Veri" Marques Moserle. I gave it as a gift in exchange for some work that Veri had done for my wife in Brazil,...

August 23, 2023

Greg

in Behind the Artwork

Bowdoin College Chapel is an abstract photography image.

How to Write an Artist Grant (from the perspective of a grant reviewer)

How to write an artist grant is a difficult question to answer. Artists are good at making art, not doing administrative funding tasks. Yes, I'm an artist. I've written a lot of grants and I've only succeeded once. That's probably not a great score, but that's more to do with competition than anything else. I'm also a grant reviewer who is lucky enough to have gotten a behind-the-scenes look at what a good grant looks like. I wrote an article for the Maine Arts Journal on my experience as a grant reviewer to help artists navigate this tricky realm. To give...

July 2, 2023

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism, How-to in Art, Publications

A Tree in Tenno is a minimalist watercolor painting using sepias, greys, reds, and yellows.

A Painted Tree is a Whole Moment.

A Tree in Tenno - Watercolor on Paper (2018) This is a guest post by Nivea Bona. It is the first in a series of posts by people who are champions of my art. In this post, Bona makes a link between how we care for and see trees and art in our lives. It is based on a trip to Italy where the above painting, A Tree in Tenno, was first imagined. A painted tree is not only a tree. Nor is it art. It is a whole moment. A tree. Have you ever thought of how many trees you see every day?...

May 26, 2023

Greg

in Behind the Artwork

Public Art Commission: Kennebec Valley Community College – Fairfield, ME

These are the murals I created for Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield, ME (KVCC) via the Percent for Art Program run by the Maine Arts Commission. They are of a stained-glass style and represent the tools, trades, workers, and landmarks of the area and the school's academic program. My murals in Brunswick, ME received a lot of great feedback due to their color and stained-glass concept. I decided to expand on this concept and apply for several other projects. This KVCC project was actually my first competitive commission where I won the contract. In August of 2022, I was...

April 13, 2023

Greg

in Painting, Public Art

Blur #3 is an abstract photo of a tiny paint swab no more than 1/4" in size.

Truth and Lies

Before he wrote The Wealth of Nations, in his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith pontificated something extreme with regards to charity. He roughly stated that we don’t know the difference between making ourselves feel good and “doing it for God” when being charitable towards other humans. This got him into some trouble with the church. It was only a little trouble because he had sprinkled in enough references to “God” to keep him safe. Smith had learned from his friend David Hume's failures. Hume didn’t lie, and society severely punished him both academically and socially. Adam Smith...

February 17, 2023

Greg

in Criticism, Publications

Greg Mason Burns

Author: Greg