Ian James Burkett
Ian was born in London, England and had lived in the capital until recently when he relocated to Somerset, where he paints full time in the city of Wells, officially Britain’s smallest city.
Though he was exposed to the spectrum of creative arts during his time at Harrow School of Art, Ian concentrated on Photography which he studied further and feels indebted to, at Falmouth College of Arts. Here he specialised in making painterly-type prints through the use of Polaroid manipulation.
This time was important in terms of him seeing, as Ian says, “With photography you deal with the frame. Everything that you need to think about, to consider for making a painting, composition, colour and when shooting in black and white – you learn line and tone. My time behind the lens and looking at photography was invaluable for training my eye and educating me in the sensibilities of image making”.
On leaving Falmouth Ian went on to work in the film and television industry as a freelance scenic painter/artist where he learnt the logistics of paint.
Alongside this work Ian has taken part in numerous exhibitions in London, including a gallery in Hoxton Square and as far afield as Athens, Greece.