Catalina Island (California) plein air painter Denise Burns was born in Belleville, New Jersey and raised in La Jolla, California. She received her art education during independent study in Europe, as well in the United States at the Ovanes Berberian School of Art, founded by the Russian plein-air artist of that name; at the Scottsdale Artist School in Arizona; and at the Sergei Bongart School of Art in Idaho. Burns began exhibiting in 1988, and her work has been shown both in the U.S. and in Europe.

In speaking about her painting, the artist says: "Capturing the quality of light, its effect on an object, the excitement of color and the feeling of the atmosphere are the goals I search for in each of my paintings. Rather than grand v...