Downe Burns Art

Downe Burns began painting in 1984 at the age of 19 while living in Lubbock, Texas.  His studio was in his parents garage.  Around this time he approached a local interior designer who took interest in his work and agreed to exhibit and promote at their location.  Enough interest sparked to keep him motivated.  In 1986 he met his future wife, Melissa.  Her enthusiasm and support of his work was unsurpassed.  She promoted his work tirelessly.  She convinced him that they should move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to further his career.  By late summer of 1986 they were in Santa Fe and married in April of 1987.

A one man exhibition of Downe's work at the Frank Howell Gallery in the summer of 1988 propelled his career significantly.  Good fortune smiled upon the young couple and galleries from coast to coast sought to exhibit Downe's southwest style artworks.  By 1991 his work was represented by 27 galleries around the states and along the way the artist started his own fine art poster publishing company called Wet Paint Publishing.  Downe and Melissa had relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico at this time and resided there until the end of 1996.  By this time the young couple had 3 children and decided it was time to return home to Lubbock, Texas.

Downe spent most of 1997 overseeing his publishing company and spent little to no time painting in his studio.  After a year "recharging" his creative batteries his was prompted back to the studio after being asked to be the featured artist of the 1998 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  He had been the chosen artist for this event in 1995 and 1996 as well.  After the creation of the 1998 balloon fiesta image, Downe slowly developed a new series of works which he called "crooked houses".  He continued in this series until 2005.  Also, from 2002 - 2005 the artist built a small home recording studio inside his painting studio and recorded and released 5 cd's under the name Leaftree & Downey.

The family had lived in the same modest home after returning to Lubbock from 1997-2005.  In 2006 they sold the home and moved to a much larger home on the edge of Lubbock with out buildings, separate shop, mother in law house and studio.  Beautiful home and beautiful surroundings.  Unfortunately, leaving behind his familiar and well worn creative studio turned out to be a mistake.  The creative magic of his previous studio didn't follow him to his new updated spacious studio.  The artist never recorded any more music after the move and hasn't as of 2024.  He attempted painting through out 2006, but never felt inspired and basically never painted again until the spring of 2023.  A life lesson learned.

From 2007 until 2016 Downe and Melissa had a few business ventures;  some successful and some not so successful.  The greatest success was the start of a landscape and lawn maintenance company which they sold in 2016.  Downe and Melissa now spend most of their time managing multiple rental properties and Airbnb's they own as well as helping manage about 8 convenience stores their son owns.  Since the spring of 2023 Downe has been painting off and own at his home studio creating a series of works called "Santa Fe Hills".