Studio Spotlight: Guenveur Burnell

I felt suddenly plunged back into reality as I checked my watch walking out of Guenveur Burnell's home. I had just spent an hour and a half in a delightful world of childhood imagination, adventurous teddy bears, mischievous cats and milkweed harvesters.  

It was a timeless world.

Burnell has had a lifelong love of drawing. The earliest drawing she has is of a birthday party done when she was 4. "It's all I ever really wanted to do," she said as we talked about her journey through life as an artist, sociologist, educator and mother, among other things. 

Burnell was born in Atlanta, GA, and moved to Springfield, OH, when she was entering high school. It was a Catholic school that did not have an art program, as was common for Catholic schools in those days.

After high school, Burnell chose to attend . She graduated in 1951 with a double major in sociology and art and a minor in psychology.

It was at Kent where Burnell learned about art-making materials, furthered her technique and was greatly inspired by her professors, namely Bob and Barb Morrow. At the start of her schooling she remembers feeling like she had a lot of catching up to do as most other students in her classes had already been exposed to much of the artistic media and technique that she was learning. 

Burnell is not the kind of woman to be held back, though, and she has since spent a large part of her life utilizing her many talents.

Besides her artistic pursuits, Burnell became a third-grade teacher at the Catholic school she attended in her youth, raised children as a stay-at-home mom, and worked at , where she organized educational programs for youth as a preventative measure against mental health problems.

In her artistic pursuits, she has illustrated brochures for Townhall II, drawn for books written by herself and friends as well as completed lifelike drawings and paintings of family members.

Her true love lies in children's books. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and has countless illustrations for children's books in her portfolio. Much of the inspiration for her books is historical. 

One of my favorites is based on the Giants of Seville. She dreamed up a little boy who, when he heard that there were giants moving to town, had grand dreams in his head. These dreams turned into schemes as he ventured to the giant's house and found "giant" undergarments hung to dry on a clothesline.

She is working on illustrating a story written by her daughter's friend about a cat named Goober who ventures out of its New York City apartment and onto the streets. 

While many of the books Burnell draws for remain unpublished, there was one special book  that Burnell published out of her own pocket. It is titled, May: A New England Childhood. When her parents were getting old, she began to ask them questions and record the answers. She then wrote the book based on what her mother told her. The heartfelt and gorgeous illustrations in the book emerged from a mix of old family photographs, photos of historical objects and Burnell's imagination. 

Which is another thing that is impressive about Burnell. She has the ability to dream up a scene in great detail and translate it onto paper without any visual references. 

That isn't to say she doesn't enjoy drawing from life. As a lifelong learner at heart, Burnell has spent the last 10 years or so taking classes and workshops at Kent State. She has met some professors whom she really enjoys. Painting professor Chuck Basham taught her how to draw from life. She also sang praises of Jerry Kalback, an illustration professor.

With a deep and inspiring love for art and learning, I couldn't count the amount of times when she described a class or project that Burnell said, "Oh it was so much fun." And, in her early 80s, she is sharp as a tack to boot.

Her admired teacher Bob Morrow once told her that history decides if you are an artist or not. After my peek at this lifetime of artistic acheivement, if my opinion matters at all, I would say: Guenveur Burnell, you are an artist.