“I never saw a good artist I could not steal from.”~Pablo Picasso
“I never steal another artists work. I just take it to my level.”~Lynn Burton
I recall as a young teenager (fifty-five years ago!) watching my artist brother, Lynn Burton, flaming and pin-striping other teenagers cars. He was so popular that he was seldom out of cars to work upon. It also gave him a stream of income. However, I wasn’t aware until recently that he still does this type of work for a “hot-rod” club in his hometown.
Lynn is not only a sign painter, owning his own sign company for a more than a half century, but is also a fine artist with works sold all over Texas. He also has several famous wall murals in restaurants, clubs, and malls throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
“When I was a teenager, I was a fan of ‘Big Daddy Roth’s’ hot rod magazine. Every teenager that had a car knew who artist, ‘Big Daddy Roth’ was. I couldn’t wait to get the next issue of his magazine, knowing that someone would show up with a car wanting some ‘flaming’ or ‘pin-striping’ done. They’d always have a copy of the latest issue of ‘Big Daddy’s’ most recent art, and I wanted to be on top of it. I learned to make every curve and color that the ‘master’ did. Fortunately for me, years later I had a chance to meet the man and had a good conversation with him. I let him know that I was one of his biggest fans,” Lynn said when recently talking about it.
To the left is the block out work needed to pin stripe a car for a recent job that he did for a hot rod club.
Lynn said: “There’s a lot of ways for an artist to make money. If they have the talent they can always figure it out for themselves. I know if I stay busy, there is always someone else that wants my time with a new project. The secret is to always be painting something. It doesn’t always work out, but you always gain. I never fail to have something positive about anything I do…even if it’s learning something new by making mistakes. It’s all positive.
We wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR, and may 2014 be your greatest yet!
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