ICB artists to open their studios for Artists At Work

Maria Burtis has made a piece of artwork every day for 19 years — today will be day No. 6,978 in fact. No matter if she’s been traveling, sick or busy, she’s taken the time to carve even just 15 minutes out of her day for her profound “visual journal.”

“I’ve painted in countless countries and states across the United States, everything from sitting on the bathroom floor in a Best Western in Reno while my daughter was sleeping to looking out over a beautiful view in Greece. It’s been an amazing teacher, a record of my progression as an artist,” says Burtis, who writes the date and location on the back of her small images.

Many of the San Francisco painter’s daily pieces — which people can look through — will be in her studio (335 A) at Artists at Work from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the ICB building in Sausalito. Burtis, who’s had her studio there since 2018, says this event is one of her favorites during the year, enjoying the chance to show people her works in progress and pieces from her daily project, as well as answer any questions that arise from people no matter their artistic experience.

This year, more than 50 artists are participating in the event. Admission is free. More information can be found at icbartists.com.

“This event is such a special way for us to connect with the community,” says Linda Wegmann, ICB ART board co-president, in a press release. “People often see the finished product, but rarely get to experience the energy and effort that goes into making a piece. Artists At Work gives them that opportunity and highlights why supporting local artists is so vital.”

For Burtis, she feels so lucky to be in this community of creatives.

“I just pinch myself, in terms of the nourishment of my commute even,” she says. “It is one talented person after the next, but I think what really sets it apart is the generosity of the community. There’s an incredible sense of nourishment that I get from being there with all those wonderful people.”

One day at a time

When Burtis started her daily project on Sept. 12, 2005, she never imagined it would grow into what it has. She was only a few years removed from graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a bachelor of fine arts in painting, but her life had changed. She’d moved across the country for her husband’s new job in San Francisco and had two kids, the oldest then around 3 years old. She missed having a creative life and felt this would be a great way to ease back into it and work for her lifestyle then.

“People say that I’m disciplined. I don’t really think of myself as disciplined. I think of myself as just following my curiosity, and my curiosity has kept me in it,” she says.

In doing so, she looks at her days differently.

“It has taught me so much,” she says. “I’m going about the day, and I’m collecting all these images. What does the light look like there? What does the water look like? I’ve never been one who pulls out my phone and photographs things. I’m more looking at them and absorbing them.”

Using acrylic paints, she’s honed her style since moving to California more than 20 years ago.

“When I was in art school, I painted realistically and from observation,” says Burtis, who finds inspiration in nature and on her trips back to her home state of Massachusetts. “And then, when I moved to California, my work became more abstract. I realized I don’t need to depict the exact shoreline or the exact rock or the exact mountain. I’m trying to communicate a feeling about a place and invite the viewer to have a feeling about some element of the landscape.”

All these years later, it still nourishes her and her artistic practice.

“When I’m working on bigger paintings, if I leave the studio at the end of the day and I think I didn’t really make much progress, that painting isn’t really coming along or I need to find something new in this, I don’t get freaked out by that,” she says. “A lot of people get really stuck, and they’re like, will I ever get out of it? And I’m like, of course you will. Every day I have the experience of showing up, having it become less about what the product is and more about the process. That helps me then in the studio when I’m working big to just really persevere. Just keep going. I have the confidence from practicing every day. I also know that I’m never gonna stop. It’s not just about how to make a better painting or how to master a new technique or respond to something new. It’s the whole experience that becomes almost like a meditation practice. I do feel a deep connection to something greater than myself through this process. And that is something that I really want to nourish and sustain.”

For more information about Burtis, go to mariaburtis.com.