zerostation.com\/events<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBurt\u2019s scenes have a historic quality to them because he draws much of his technique from Old Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci. But the raging storms Paterak saw in \u201cMaelstrom\u201d made her think of epic flooding that was happening at that very moment in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. And the flames of \u201cFire and Water\u201d reminded her of the wildfires that had devastated Maui just weeks before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about nature, but it\u2019s not just a snapshot of nature,\u201d said Paterak. \u201cIt\u2019s something beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burt, 61, teaches art at the University of New England and has been working in Maine for more than 20 years. He focuses largely on drawing and printmaking and is a member of the printmaking collaborative Peregrine Press in Portland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The artist described his work as a warning that feels more urgent than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou just have to look around the world right now,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s floods. There\u2019s fires. It\u2019s exponentially worse than it was even 10 years ago. I\u2019m hoping that by highlighting this in my work that I can call people\u2019s attention to the beauty that\u2019s within the world and give people the want to protect it a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He hopes to strike a tone that is both cautionary and hopeful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe horizons are usually open, and you can see little bits of light,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to see them as both a warning and also, we\u2019ve still got a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paterak said even the smallest drawings in the exhibition \u2013 not much bigger than a postcard \u2013 convey a feeling of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are reminded that you are small and the world is big, and there is this blind sense of awe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A detail shot of \u201cMaelstrom\u201d by Stephen Burt. Courtesy of Stephen Burt and Zero Station Gallery.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nBurt\u2019s feeling of urgency is also personal. In 2016, he was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease, a brain disorder that can cause tremors, stiffness and difficulty with balance and coordination. He was concerned about how the symptoms would eventually impact the precise lines of his artwork, and he found that he had to concentrate harder to make every mark on the page. He started trading a pen for a paintbrush, which he found slightly easier to control. In 2022, he had deep brain stimulation surgery, which relieved much of the tremors and stiffness that had developed over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a game changer in terms of what I\u2019m able to do again,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel more of an urgency to get my work out there these days. You don\u2019t know how long this will work. It can work 10 to 15 years. It can work less than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His diagnosis prompted him to take up boxing, and regular training sessions at the Portland Boxing Club have not only helped his strength but also given him an outlet. He also started practicing calligraphy, and his Instagram<\/a> account is interspersed with bits of wisdom he has written out in deliberate letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRight now, Burt has turned his attention to reinterpreting a tarot deck with nature motifs such as birds and flowers. But his intention is the same, even if the format is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to again turn people\u2019s thoughts back to nature in a substantial way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scarborough artist wants you to see the oncoming storm. Stephen Burt said his tempestuous drawings are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publications-and-awards"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8852,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions\/8852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8851"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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