Celebrating arts and culture in our community
Featured in the Springfield Beacon (December 19, 2007)
By Austin Berger
For the Beacon
B.J. BurnettFrom Scotland with love
Her backyard studio is a small Tudor-like cottage adorned with brass regalia and other nostalgic knick-knacks as though it were plucked up from the British countryside itself. It makes the perfect getaway for Betty Jean (B.J.) Burnett, and knowing her art, it makes perfect sense. Among the universal truths like water being wet, fire being hot, and wind being windy, this 69-year-old Springfield resident has Scottish blood flowing through her veins. Blood which calls her back to the home of her ancestors, and also has guided her hand through her immaculate pen-and-ink depictions of the English and Scottish countryside in her new exhibit: “Castles, Landscapes, Botanicals, and Architecture of Scotland and England.”
Inspiration to begin
Despite having the skills of an artist, B.J. is eternally a historian. “I love history,” she says proudly. Her bedside reading material consisted of a large album of books entitled Durant’s History of the World. B.J. says her children eventually learned not to ask her a question, lest they wanted to get a heaping earful of knowledge. All of this started at the age of 9, when she was able to get into the basement of a history museum in Grand Island, Nebraska. “I remember everything smelled of formaldehyde.” says B.J., recollecting the Native American burial site that ignited a spark. “And when I saw that, I said to myself -- I have to know, I have to know everything about this.”
After raising a family, she went back to school, earning a degree in Anthropology and began a career in archaeology, working with several native California tribes and publishing a book for C.F.D. Her love of history later transpired into running antique shops and eventually her own Scottish import store in California. It was during these trips to Scotland and England that she got interested in taking the pen-and-ink skills she acquired as an archaeologist and employing them towards something more near and dear to her heart: Scotland and England.
Moving to Oregon in 2004, she ultimately closed the doors to her Scottish imports shop, Rose Hall Manor, but is now selling her collection online. At the coaxing of her mom and daughter, she finally entered into the Emerald Art Center a few years ago. “It was a blessing for me.” On one of her month-long trips to the British Isles, she saw a colored placemat. “I looked at it and said to myself, "that’s pen-and-ink. I can do that!” Thus B.J. decided to broaden her repertoire by adding watercolor to her castles.
Her Mentors
B.J. a lefty, and a second born. If her family history was any determinant, she was destined for a creative life, as all second-born lefties in her family (and there are quite a few) have led creative lives. But her family being a determinant as to her fate was far more involved than just on the genetic level. As a young child, she got her start drawing stories and horses. Her Uncle Walter helped her sharpen her skills in drawing her equestrian friends. Her grandmother, living a no-less-extraordinary life, was the first to get B.J. interested in history. “She would tell me, I’m gonna tell you a story, and pay attention because there will be a quiz on it,” says B.J. “She made sure we knew where we came from.”
Most of her skill as an artist is something more left to craft than art. She picked it up as an archaeologist, sketching artifacts, thus, with no individual input welcomed, the goal was to draw as accurately as possible. To get the proper texture, B.J. needs the ability to feel the object, thereby making castles a perfect subject. Combining her history lust with her ability to transfer its artifacts from touch to paper, she literally draws inspiration from the areas she chooses. She’s one of those people that hears ancient battle cries or feels the presence of monarchs walking the ancient castle halls. “I’m kind of funny like that because when I draw, I’m there. I really am there.”
Arts influence on her quality of life
B.J has lived so many different lives; there are some that only she knows about. Mother, model, archaeologist, antique dealer, Scottish imports shop; and yet while her history is an inextricable given with everyone of them, so too is art. In fact, art has come not to compete with her love of history, but compliment it -- to amplify it. “Historians always have something to offer, and it fills that void for me.” says B.J.. She also relishes every bit of the fact that her art is another tool to pass “the gift of heritage” down to her family.
Her Artist's Legacy
The legacy B.J. leaves is not her own: it’s a legacy that has gone back thousands of years, and she's but one link in the chain. But her link is strong. And not only is she a strong one for her own clan, but for many. Hopefully she can toast a glass of Macallan (her favorite Scotch) and rest well knowing that she has filled many hearts with gift of their heritage; for she shows no sign of stopping, knowing full well the score. “There are thousands of castles. And I’m at, maybe, 52; so I’ve got my work ahead of me.”
B.J. Burnett’s “Castles, Landscapes, Botanicals, and Architecture of Scotland and England” are on display at the Emerald Art Center, located at Fifth and Main Streets in Springfield, until Dec. 28. You can visit her online store at: www.rosehallmanor.com
"Tudor Cottage" by B.J. BurnettAbout the Artist
Hometown: San Diego
Media of Choice: Pen and Ink
Favorite subjects to paint: Scottish Castles
Favorite place to do art: Backyard Studio
Awards: Third Place - Springfield Mayors Art Show
Arts Organizations: Emerald Empire Arts Association
Current Show: Springfield Library - City Hall (February, 2008)
Website: www.rosehallmanor.com
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"Tudor" by B.J. Burnett
"Snow" by B.J. Burnett
