ROBERT BURRIDGE. I was born... in a small farm
community near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I spent my
childhood with both parents and four brothers. I was the
middle child. My farm chores consisted of the usual daily
stuff for kids: Feed the 500 chickens, ride the two pigs,
pet the cows, pick the corn, dig the potatoes, plant the
garden and put on magic shows.
As a kid, I also taught myself "entertainment skills" -
juggling, magic, ventriloquism, circus acrobatics and
trapeze show-off stuff. I performed one-man circus
shows inside our huge wood barn. It had dirt floors,
loose slats, large beam rafters and plenty of pigeons in
the eaves. From these rafters I suspended my circus bike
and performed goofy stunts while it was on fire. (I'm not
making this up!)
My first artwork was making circus posters announcing
my shows.
By the sixth grade, I entered my first art competition with a
"Hire the Handicapped" poster. I won a certificate and the
cash prize of... one dollar.
Industrial Designer, 1966-1985
Robert Burridge
All Grown Up
I graduated from the University of the Arts (formerly
Philadelphia College of Art) with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Industrial Design and a minor in Fine Art
Painting. As a designer, I got the opportunity to create and
invent new products for Litton Industries (the first
production electronic cash register and bar code scanner
for retail and food stores), Becton-Dickinson (medical,
surgical and biomechanical devices) and as the Principal
Designer for Westinghouse Electronic Corporation, I
produced product designs for 15 Divisions, receiving the
Grand Industrial Design Award of the Year in 1976 for a
Power Circuit Breaker, an Uninterruptible Power System,
an Advanced Nuclear Control room consoles and
Industrial Control switches.
And finally, as an independent design consultant living in
Santa Barbara, California, I invented new wheelchairs for
the severely disabled, designed the first digital sound
editing consoles for a Hollywood sound studio to edit the
blockbuster movie, "Stars Wars" and created the
electronic circuit breaker featured in the movie "Jurassic
Park."
My other product designs include a kitchen line for
Corning Glass, a hands-free automatic soap dispenser
and hand dryer for public rest rooms, surgically
implanted body parts, custom wheelchairs for Cerebral
Palsied children, brain surgical drills as well as a few
whimsical products like tubular fabric lights, desk
accessories and Teva Sandals, to name a few.
At this time I held the honored position as Consultant to
the President's Committee for the Handicapped, Adjunct
Professor of Design at Cooper Union Art College, New
York, the Visiting Critic Advisor for photography at Harvard
University and finally, CEO and Design Principal of my
own advertising and design agency, which was rated as
Fortune's Top, Fastest Growing Companies in 1984. I
was elected into the Human Factors Society and the
International Council of Color Consultants. I hold 23
design, mechanical and chemical patents.
During all this time, however, at night and on weekends,I
turned into another person-- a painter. Eventually my ever
longing passion to invent new paintings consumed me.
Painter, 1985 - Present
Robert Burridge
The Kid... again
In 1985, I turned my passion into my second career. I
retired from industrial design and became a full time,
contemporary fine art painter, moved to California's
Central Coast and prepared to paint the rest of my life.
Today, besides painting, I am an invited juror for
international art shows, a college and national painting
workshop instructor, and teach a fine art mentor program
in central France. Recently selected as the Honorary
President of the International Society of Acrylic Painters, I
hold a signature membership with them and with the
Philadelphia Watercolor Society.
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My original paintings can be seen in six international
galleries, on Starbucks Coffee mugs, Pearl Vodka bottles,
eight tapestries and on fine art edition prints in upscale
retail stores and cruise ships.
My work has received lifetime honors, including The
Franklin Mint Award and recently the Philadelphia
Watercolor Society's prestigious Crest Medal Award for
achievement in the arts previously awarded to Pablo
Picasso, John Singer Sargent and Georgia O'Keeffe.
It is said, "Your heart doesn't know how old you are." For
me, it's true. Painting everyday in my small studio
overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I feel like a kid again
playing with color, design, paint and canvas, which
reminds me of the saying, "It's never too late to be what
you always should have been." Follow your bliss!
Inspirational, The Present Continues...
Teacher
Robert Burridge teaches a variety of painting workshops
to professional and emerging painters throughout the
United States, Mexico and France. His workshops have
historically changed artists' lives forever.
Daily, he receives letters and emails from artists who
have attended his classes and whose careers have taken
off in new and productive directions.
International Juror
Robert Burridge has been selected to jury new emerging
painters as well as professional painters into national
and international competitions.
• Waterloo Watercolor Group, Austin, TX, Annual Members
Show
• International Society of Acrylic Painters, Annual
International Exhibit, Seattle, WA
• Annual Members Show, Mendocino Art Center, CA
• Annual Members Show, Paso Robles Art Association, CA
• National Plein Air Festival, sponsored by the San Luis
Obispo Art Center, San Luis Obispo, CA
• Buenaventura Art Association, Ventura, CA
• S.C.A.P.E., Annual Exhibit, Santa Barbara, CA
• Annual Members Show, Lompoc Valley Art Association,
CA
• "Un Ange Passe," regional show, Westmont College,
Santa Barbara, CA
• Coachella Valley Art Association Annual Show, Palm
Desert, CA
• Brushes & Blues Festival, Lompoc, CA
• Art Calendar Magazine, Los Angeles Art Expo exhibit
• Amsterdam Art's International Competition & Exhibition
• California Mid-State Fair, Paso Robles, CA
• Santa Barbara Artwalk, Museum of Natural History,
Santa Barbara, CA
• Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
Motivational Speaker
Robert Burridge is an energetic, passionate speaker and
motivator for anyone who wants to be a winner. Using
real-life examples and his famous tell-it-like-it-is style,
attendees proclaim a renewed vigor and a clearer sense
of purpose in their artistic lives.
On a local level, he also volunteers his time teaching art
to school children with learning challenges. And, at the
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center,
Burridge paints with and creatively supports terminally ill
children whose artwork now hangs in galleries.
Author
Robert Burridge has written and published two artist
books: Loosen Up Studio Workbook and Art Marketing:
The Business of Selling Your Art. Plus he produced and
starred in five teaching videos and DVDs. His wife, career
manager and best friend, Kate, co-produced all of the
above. He is also a contributing writer for Art Calendar
magazine and has written features for various
magazines, periodicals and newsletters.
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