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Pen and Ink Drawing
Dimensions: 13 x 8.5
Gift of Greg Burns in Honor of Helen Burns, 2012

The Artwork

In this pen and ink rendering of an oil well site, Greg Burns uses overlapping and perspective in the fore ground to show depth. The artist also uses of dark shadows and thick tree growth to provide a scale as the massive oil derrick emerges into the sky.

The Artist

Greg Burns is a 'favorite son' of Oklahoma whose artwork is admired and collected throughout the nation and abroad. Burns was born with Arthrgryposis, a muscle and joint disease which affects the use of his arms and legs. He draws with his pen in hand and adds watercolor by holding the brush with this teeth. He thrives on the challenge knowing that the ink cannot be altered once it touches the surface of the paper.

Art has always been a part of Burns' life. He began drawing as child to entertain himself. Burns found support and encouragement from his parents who provided him the tools he need as well as from his church and school. When he was eleven and at a hospital recovering from surgery, the reigning Miss Oklahoma along with hospital officials presented him with an art scholarship to the Oklahoma Science and Art Foundation. When he was in fifth grade, Burns won an art contest, and while attending Bishop McGuinness High School, he won a national award for his artwork. In 1971, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oklahoma. Since those early awards he earned in elementary school, Burns has earned numerous awards and won many art competitions. In 1978, he was selected as the recipient of the Oklahoma Governor's Art Award. In 2011, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) produced a documentary about Greg Burns titled 'Drawn in Detail.'