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December 3rd, 2015
January 28th, 2013
In speaking with everyone at my Meet the Artist event at Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room on Sunday, it was quickly established that "Just Beachy" was the crowd favorite! Perhaps we are all longing for those summer days on the lake, at the beach, toes in sand, soaking in the Vitamin D...after all, it has been quite cold here in Michigan lately. However, I will note that this has been the sunniest January on record, as far as I'm concerned. But I digress... ;)
Rachel and Matt came to my event together and both left with their own copies of "Just Beachy"! Rachel opted for the canvas wrap, while Matt purchased the matted print. I guess great minds think alike!
And, once again, I am so thankful for their support and friendship! Rachel and Matt helped make my day very special and I will forever be appreciative!
January 28th, 2013
This past Sunday at Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room in Shelby Township, a "Meet the Artist" event took place where patrons could come up, drink wine and talk Michigan landscapes with me. You see, my Michigan photos are on display here through the end of February, so this was the perfect opportunity for everyone to gather and be merry...and maybe buy some art! ;)
I was lucky enough to meet Vickie Owens of Macomb, who purchased my canvases "Sunset Over Burt" and "Crossing Over" the Tuesday prior at a yoga/wine event. I was so honored that she wanted me to sign the canvases! Rather than take away from the beautiful scenery, I opted to write a birthday note to her fiancee, for whom she purchased the canvases. It was truly great getting to know Vickie and being able to discuss my photography with her in person...the whole experience left me feeling warm and fuzzy!
January 26th, 2013
November 14th, 2012
Article published in The Sentry, a Sterling Heights publication
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STERLING HEIGHTS
November 14, 2012
Artist of the Month revels in rural, rustic side of Michigan
By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer
Sheryl Burns knows exactly what her dream house looks like.
“I want one that’s peeling paint,” she said, her voice impassioned, “and has rusty nails sticking out.”
The Sterling Heights Artist of the Month for November is talking photography subjects, not future abodes of her own. And when it comes to what captures her attention, it’s the more askew, the more rundown, the more beat up, the better.
“Anything that just looks a little off, it’s not perfect — that’s what I want to capture,” she said. “Who wants to take a picture of a house that’s perfect and pristine?”
Burns said she tries to explore the otherwise unexplored, drawing inspiration from a quote by French film director Robert Bresson: “Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.”
For instance, she speaks fondly of a ramshackle abandoned structure she stumbled across in Kinde, Mich., depicted in an image she titled “Decrepit.”
“It’s an old, busted down house,” she said. “It’s got appliances from the ’50s in it.”
The Thumb area is somewhere the Sterling Heights resident visits frequently to “decompress,” as her family also has a home in Harbor Beach, right on Lake Huron.
“I often go there to escape on weekends, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city,” she said. “So I’ll spend hours and hundreds of miles just driving around the Thumb, taking pictures of farmscapes and barns — busted down barns, specifically. Those are the ones I really like. Try to get on the grounds as much as possible without trespassing. Whatever has the most character.”
Beautiful ruins aren’t Burns’ only specialty; nature, in myriad ways, always finds its way into her lens.
She’s done senior portraits, she’s done weddings, “but specifically, I focus on landscapes, and whatever Mother Nature has to offer us,” she said. “Because of my love for nature and being the tree hugger I am, that’s what really got me into photography and making that my subject.”
Her images on display at Sterling Heights City Hall include golden fields, bright purple blooms and a pier stretching out to a lighthouse with a few lazy clouds in the blue sky overhead.
An accompanying card tells each picture’s back story “so people understand where I was coming from when I took the shot,” she said. The tales include how she discovered the delicate flowers at Wolcott Mill Metropark and the rolling countryside during her Thumb adventures, and how she adores snapping photos of the Dodge Park bridge because it feels like home.
Burns said she’s dabbled in photography since childhood but has had little formal training beyond a single class in graphic design school. She progressed through film cameras before transitioning to the digital one she now favors.
Her images, which are for sale for $100-$125 apiece, have been featured in the Sterling Heights city calendar, in ARTiSTik magazine and on travel guide websites.
She chose to showcase images culled exclusively from Michigan locales for the Sterling Heights Artist of the Month exhibit — her first.
“What I love about Michigan, is you can travel all around from east to west, north to south, and find almost any landscape you can imagine,” she said. “I love traveling west, I love traveling to Colorado, but there’s something about Michigan that just has it all. I have work from California, Colorado, Oregon, but Michigan is just my all-time favorite, and it’s my home.”
The Sterling Heights Cultural Commission continues to seek applicants for the Artist of the Month program. Applicants can hail from anywhere in the state. For more information, visit www.sterling-heights.net or call (586) 446-2489.
Burns’ pieces will be on display throughout November in the lower level of Sterling Heights City Hall, 40555 Utica Road; and at the Used But Sterling Bookstore, inside the Sterling Heights Public Library, 40255 Dodge Park Road.
For more information on her artwork, visit www.sheryl-burns.artistwebsites.com or search on Facebook for “Cre8ive Roots Photography.”
You can reach C & G Staff Writer Cortney Casey at ccasey@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1046.
November 5th, 2012
I am very excited to have been awarded the prestigious honor of Artist of the Month for the City of Sterling Heights!
Tomorrow, Election Day (go vote!), I will officially be presented with the award and interviewed for SHTV and The Sentry (local newspaper). So, if you live in the city, be sure to keep an eye out for the article and TV spot!
My photography will be on display for the entire month of November at Sterling Heights City Hall (lower level) and the Used Book Store inside the Library. Feel free to stop by and enjoy the wonders of Michigan! And thank you for your support!
Hours of Operation:
City Hall - M-F 8:30-5
Library - M-Th 9:30-9, Friday 1-5, Saturday 9:30-5, Sunday CLOSED
December 10th, 2011
January 26th, 2011
January 5th, 2011
My B&W photo "Casting Shadows" made the cut for the City of Sterling Heights 2011 Calendar and is featured on the October page! I am so excited to be able to share my favorite work with my fellow residents, as this city has been close to my heart since birth!
A PDF of the calendar can be downloaded from the city Web site at: http://sterling-heights.net/bins/site/templates/default.asp?area_2=pages/newsroom/pubs/2003citycalendarannualreport/2003citycalendarannualreport_1311.dat&area_3=0.dat&area_0=0.dat&area_8=0.dat&objectid=156179160&ml_index=15&NC=4153X
December 26th, 2010
If you have time, please vote for my photos in the Zoo Landscapes Contest! Voting ends on Monday - thanks!!!
http://fineartamerica.com/contests/zoo-landscapes.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1457806
http://fineartamerica.com/contests/zoo-landscapes.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1457803
http://fineartamerica.com/contests/zoo-landscapes.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1457801
http://fineartamerica.com/contests/zoo-landscapes.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1457800