I’m Courtney Burke, a fine artist working at the intersection of hand pyrography and oil painting. My work begins with fire. Decisive linework burned directly into wood panel, searing a permanent structure into the surface. From there, oil paint introduces color, movement, and emotional range, allowing both structure and expressiveness to remain visible.
This process reflects a skillset self-taught and disciplined over time, grounded in respect for material and foundational practice. Each work brings my disciplines into a balance that only this process allows.
Pyrography is an ancient, skilled handwork...one that demands patience, precision, and permanence. Oil painting draws from a classical lineage, introducing color, looseness, and surface that move freely across the burned armature beneath.
My work exists where those two traditions meet: fire as armature, oil as form.
I create from my studio in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Every piece moves directly from my hands to your wall. This is slow work, built to last.
Collections shift as I grow...each one shaped by season, experience, and attention. If you collect a piece, you are collecting process as much as image: woodgrain, burn line, brushstroke, all intentionally left present.
Texture matters to me. So does evidence of the hand.
