Hello! my name is
Michael Burris
“My inspiration comes not only from the animals that I’ve been so blessed to spend time and work with, but from the back roads, beaches and highways of my journey.”
Art
Dogs
Travel
Born in Connecticut, I was raised on the beaches of Cape Cod and the back roads of New England. As a second-generation artist, drawing came naturally as a kid. Saturday mornings were spent either in the car with my family exploring Maine, Vermont, the Lower Cape or in front of the TV drawing Garfield, Skeletor, Batman and other cartoons. In third grade I won my first award for a drawing of Garfield I did for the local library.
I worked my way through high school at Cape Cod Academy at a local gas station and auto repair shop in Osterville, MA. While attending The School of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston I was overcome by wanderlust and set out to explore the country in my 1971 VW bus named Dalilah. Many miles and a lifetime later I ran out of money on the coast of Naples, FL and set out again working in an auto parts store and later building custom Harley Davidsons.
My Dad had began watercolor painting commissions and the need to create art soon called out to me again as well. Over the next eleven years we found ourselves managing and owning tattoo and body piercing shops in Louisiana, Florida and all over central North Carolina.
After falling in love with an Australian Cattle Dog named Hennah, I spend the next 14 years immersed in dog behavior studies and running a doggie daycare in Raleigh, NC with my sister. During one of my many dog training home visits I would meet the amazing woman that I would eventually fall in love with and become my wife.
This brings me to where I am today, called once again to my path of creating and selling art.
I’m excited to share some of my personal collection of drawings from my tattoo days as well as dog, cat, sea and landscape paintings. I’m working mostly with acrylic paint on 6″x6″ or smaller canvas. I find these tiny scenes my current favorite and something I look forward to designing for some time to come.
My inspiration comes not only from the animals that I’ve been so blessed to spend time and work with but from the back roads, beaches and highways of my journey.
I hope you connect with a piece or two from my gallery and it makes you smile or transports you from your desk, office or living room into a great little adventure or get-away.