Artist Profile - The Unconventional Phebe Burnham

By Jackie Hanson

 “There’s a colorful character,” you might say to yourself
upon seeing Phebe Burnham laughing and chatting at a local art event.  If
you guessed that she was one of the artists (or the artist, as is
often the case) you’d be correct.  Phebe Burnham is not only a source
of local color, she is an acclaimed artist, widely exhibited and collected,
both locally and nationally. 

Phebe’s colorful clothes and ethnic jewelry hint at her love of color,
good humor and eye-catching scenes.   Phebe finds inspiration seeing
the uncommon side of what the rest of us might assume to be commonplace.  Her
signature piece, for example, is a self-portrait with a comical twist.  She
looks at the viewer with an expression of surprise and disdain, not exactly
flattering, but very amusing.  She calls this piece The Old Gray Mare (shown
left) and has used the title for her website (www.oldgraymare.net).

Phebe was born in 1920 in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Like characters
from Moby Dick, her ancestors were New Bedford whalers.  Phebe’s
grandmother, also an artist, was raised on board her father’s whaling
ship; she painted seascapes and landscapes that are still cherished by family
members.  Phebe must have inherited that talent, for from an early age
she was drawing and painting the family pets.   Her parents encouraged
her interest in art; she went on to receive degrees from the Swain School of
Design and the Columbia University School of Painting and Sculpture.  She
also studied with the prestigious Art Students League.

She came to El Cajon when the Grossmont High School District hired her husband
as an administrator.  (Bob Burnham eventually moved to Grossmont College
and served as one of its early presidents.)  Phebe also taught for a while
at Grossmont College and raised her family in East County.  After her
husband passed away, she returned to painting full time.

Phebe
creates portraits and landscapes using oil paints and pastels as well as a
mixed media technique she has perfected.  Alternating gouache paint, India
ink, and pastels, she achieves a dramatic contrast of lights and darks and
introduces an element of chance to her realism.  Her delight in pushing
boundaries is also evident in the edgy, whimsical compositions she often produces.  Bath
Spinoff from her pet portrait series is anchored by a dog’s eye,
just one, gazing directly at the viewer from the center of a whirl of ears,
fur, and water.  Carpe Carp is another example of Phebe’s
mischievous sense of humor; she introduces a wading dog into the iconic serenity
of a carp pond.  It’s no wonder that Phebe’s unique vision
can be seen in art shows, galleries, and private collections across the country,
and that she has won numerous awards.

Animals have been a favorite subject of Phebe’s since her childhood.  She
enjoys painting equestrian
scenes and portraits and has  a following from the dog show circuit, where
she has exhibited her art for years and produced many commissioned works. Not
to exclude cats, Phebe recently had two paintings juried in El Cajon’s
Alley Cat Art Show and won second place with her painting Lawman.

A love of travel and adventure has given Phebe inspiration for many paintings.  She
always takes her camera to capture images to paint.  One of her favorite
destinations is Oaxaca, Mexico where bright colors and folk art delight her
artist’s eye, as in Sunday Market (left).  She also visits
galleries and art festivals where her work is displayed, as well as family
and friends across the country.

With all her activities,  Phebe has still has time for civic duty, serving
for four years on the El Cajon Arts and Culture Commission. In addition to
her regular duties there, she created the beautiful and intricate border design
that adorns the official El Cajon City stationary used for special proclamations.  For
several years she had a thriving jewelry business, Eyeglass Arte, for which
she adorned old eyeglass lenses with replicas of famous paintings and sold
them to museum gift shops.

The next time you are at an art show or music festival (Phebe often attends
when her daughter Cindy performs with local musician Paul Nichols), and you
see an elegant older lady adorned in colorful garb and jewelry, you might just
be in the presence of Phebe Burnham.  To see more of her art, visit her
website at www.oldgraymare.net.

Jackie Hanson is an East County artist and former English teacher.  She
also directs Project Renaissance, helping children create public art for
their schools.  She paints portraits and landscapes in both oils and
acrylics, and recently had a show in Coronado as artist-for-the-month of
August 2008 at Earth, Wind and Sea Home Decor and Gallery.  Jackie
says she is glad to take on some writing tasks again to help give our local
artists more exposure.