Gregory Burns inspires kids to be creators, not consumers

Award-winning artist shares unique art knowledge at workshop

• Workshop held for kids of Secret Garden art school at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo
• All paintings were displayed and for sale at the hotel; half of proceedings for charity

By Ruwandi Gamage

The world-renowned American artist Gregory Burns conducted an art workshop for the kids of Secret Garden art school recently at Connect at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo.

The hotel welcomed Burns as its first artist-in-residence in early December to give guests an opportunity to experience his expertise first-hand. This project was part of the plan to give back to the community as it was one of the CSR initiatives set up by the hotel.

Drawing inspirations from art pieces by renowned artists such as Van Gogh and Mark Rothko, Burns explained how good art makes one think and feel and expressed that he believes nature to be a good teacher. “Artists must create and live big lives,” said Burns, encouraging the kids to express and explore.

Collage painting

At the workshop the award-winning artist taught the kids the technique of collage, incorporating magazine or paper cut-outs with ‘gloss gel medium,’ which is an acrylic paint without any colour, to a canvas painting. 

The trick is to first find a theme you’d like to work with. Then find colours, pictures or letterings from magazines or papers that helps you build that theme on your canvas. After placing the pieces of paper on the canvas, except in the middle, the ‘gloss gel medium’ is used to paste it on to the canvas. 

The secret behind gel medium is that it works like glue and as paint at the same time, making it the perfect tool to incorporate something on to the canvas without changing the surface of the canvas. After the gloss gel medium dries (which is fast), you can use acrylic paint and colour on the canvas to perfect it.

Burns encouraged the kids to paint the sides of the canvas to give it a more complete look and also sign the art with the year as the time stamp. 

Using complementary colours

“Complementary colours are colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel and when you place complementary colours side by side, they vibrate,” Burns explained to the kids.

Using blue with orange, purple with yellow, and red with green would do the trick, according to the well-experienced artist. He also shared that mixing in a little bit of grey would always help to lessen the brightness of a colour, since grey is the central colour of the colour wheel.

Sri Lanka, a paradise for artists

This is the second time Burns is visiting Sri Lanka, while it is the first time for his wife, who is his biggest supporter. The culture, religion, diversity and history of Sri Lanka is very inspirational and visually appealing for art, asserted Burns. 

“We’ve enjoyed Colombo more than the south for its dynamic and energy. When I came here 20 years ago I spent most of my time painting in Anuradhapura, Dambulla and Mihintale. A lot has changed since then,” Burns said.

Art, an outlet to relax

The feedback from the kids at the end of the workshop revealed how art gave them an outlet to relax and do something different. Though the kids were a little reserved in the beginning, they all warmed up to Gregory Burns and even refused to stop painting for refreshments and kept working diligently until they were done.  Burns claimed that this was a rewarding moment for him and assured him that the future that awaits Sri Lanka will create more than consume. 

“Many people are more consumers than creators. One of my pet peeves in the world is that there aren’t enough creators. We’re very good at consuming – whether it’s media, food or experiences. Though it’s okay to consume, we need to create something every time we do. This to me was a great example that there’s hope that young people will continue to create and not just be consumers,” Burns added. 

The Secret Garden art school is headed by art educationalist Priscilla Anandappa, who commented on how much the kids enjoyed learning with Burns and how difficult it is to get a group of kids to focus. 

“I believe you learn every day and you learn from different people. The kids were in a zone the whole time and I believe it is very difficult to get in that zone. You need a good instructor or teacher to get you to that zone and Gregory Burns was able to take all the kids there. Today was amazing and it was evident in their faces,” she added.

All painting done by the kids at the workshop was on display at the hotel during the week and some of them were up for sale. Half of the proceedings made by the sales were earmarked for charity.