Richard Burnside  (b. 1944)
Richard Burnside, an African-American artist, moved with his mother and six siblings from his birthplace in Baltimore, Maryland, to South Carolina at the age of five.  During his adult years, he first served in the Army and then worked as a chef in Charlotte, North Carolina, before returning again to South Carolina. 

Burnside began creating his paintings in his mid-30’s as a way to find relief from night visions of “ancient times,”  he says.  The primitive works by this African-American artist are painted in oil based enamel paint on paper bags and plywood, and occasionally gourds or furniture, with specific details sometimes highlighted with painted pieces of pine cones or twigs.   Vivid colors and repeated dot patterns recall aboriginal designs.  Recurring images and symbols derived from his visions include the white wolf, a jungle cat, and ancient kings and queens.
 

enamel paint on brown paper bag with pine cone teeth, eyes, nose, claws

$800
exhibited at Museum of Craft and Folk Art
in San Francisco 2006

enamel paint with gold metalic paint outline on brown paper bag, pine cone eyes, fangs, claws

$800

enamel paint on brown paper bag

SOLD

enamel paint on brown paper bag

$800