Meet Carroll F. Burgoon, III | Artist-Scientist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carroll F. Burgoon, III and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carroll F., why did you pursue a creative career?
I made a conscious decision to be a stoic scientist at ANSP (Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila.) and not an expressive artist. One way or another I wanted to help others, as many as possible. I was 4 1/2 y/o. My older sister, my playmate and leader had tragically, suddenly died. I came to believe it reawakened my dad’s PTSD. I lived in a hellish world surrounded by all the goodies that two world famous medical doctors could have. More than anything I desperately had to know what happened in our family, and to me, and why I was the way I was. Art would’ve uncovered all that. So, I took the safe route, albeit the wrong fork in the road. I was a staff scientist in limnology and ecology at ANSP, ground zero for the world’s first environmental consulting outfit and the Western Hemisphere’s oldest natural history museum (Predated the Smithsonian).

All along the way admirals, generals, Old Money, new money, inventors, publishers, senior sales vps, CEOs, chairmen, founders, billionaires, hospital presidents, even the King of Spain pitched in to help me. I guess you could say this autodidact came in the art world’s back door pretty much unnonoticed. Top shelf people have always come running to help me. I could tell you many, many, many stories. I became accustomed to my wife leaving for someone else. Funny. I most wanted to be a husband and have a family out in a small town. Naturally, artists typically hate me and my work. And, I’m single.

Well, my 7th-Grade Art Teacher refined my drawing skills initiated when I began drawing at 4 1/2. She was a peach! That was the only art class I had, except in 11th-Grade I took Art Appreciation with a decorated Marine Corps Hall of Famer, high school teacher, art lover, and author (WWII and Korea). Put it all together and I was seeing the world in a way no one else could see. E.g., a great pitcher, say Nolan Ryan, can strike out virtually anyone, can throw it right past ’em ebfore they can flinch. And by definition, he could throw what a batter wants to hit and crank over the fence for a bag clearing homer. That’s what the very best salesmen do.

A Texas cattleman who first made it big in business told me, as he gently cradled my little cowboy painting in two hands, that he was going to put it next to his two Picassos. Cool. My teacher in Spain, Alcaraz, was a friend of Picasso, did two-man art exhibits with him, and was commissioned to carve and gold leaf frames for Picasso’s private stash of original Picassos. Have you ever seen his portrait of his mother? It’s better than the Mona Lisa. All great artists throughout art history first learned to draw. Fact. Man oh man, the lessons I learned could fill volumes. I learned not only to look, but to see. Priceless.

When he saw the original painting, a Celina baseball fan exclaimed my Following the Cloud, a real Texas cowboy working an angus cow with her baldie calf, on a Rising Bar C cutting horse (Tapaderos, cowboy hat with a red feather, bluebonnets, and his daughter’s saddle blanket!) looked like Nolan Ryan, the cattleman on his 1992 collector’s baseball card. Veterinarians and cowboys all comment that it’s correctly drawn, right down to the distinctive movement of the cattle’s hooves. I had great teachers!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m basically self-taught. Wyatt Earp said, “… muscularly deliberate, but faster than thought.” I’ve done a fair number of commissions and 700+ paintings that literally take 2 to 5 minutes to execute (a dozen in an hour). $15,000 per square inch is a good start. Well, Thomas Kinkaid’s VP sales told I was priced embarrassingly (ridiculously) low, so I changed it 15 years later. I had to think about it. Incidentally, I like people who build their homes around their art collections. A word of advice: Only buy what you love. How would I describe my brand? The fellow who sold my dad our house full of Early American antiques sold me rusty old cattle branding irons. My paintings are like that. I learn from everyone, especially my patrons. How did I get where I am today? Decades and decades of refinement … I thought I’d escaped my dad’s shadow when I traveled 1,473 miles to Texas. Nope. My childhood bags were still packed. Texas was just far enough to ride a new fence line.

I wear a blue US Navy hat to honor veterans and their families. Daily, I’m amazed by folks who thank me for my service. Earlier, GEN Franks lectured me about my perspective. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be here without their selfless service. It was Navy SEALS (UDT-14) who kept my dad’s boat afloat. And, this all happened because I love someone. I intentionally retired before I became known.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
McKinney used to be a small town. Blue Ridge is a small town. I’d take my BFF to a small town like that – I loved the way the 30+ residents of Saldaña de Ayllón, Spain, looked out for one another. That would be fun, interesting, and exciting to repeat. Hopefully, the week long trip would be a lifetime. There’s a big garden to weed and berry picking bears in the woods!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh my goodness: It’s a very long list. Scrambled eggs, wildcatters, an AG, governors, NFL negotiator, NFL Hall of Famers, consultants, …veterans, and lots and lots of ordinary people. Prosper Living Magazine quoted Carolyn Luhn. Start there. Frisco Living Magazine, Frisco Rough Riders, Rotary, Texans Credit Union, … jeepers. You wouldn’t believe it. I still have the letter from SM The King of Spain Juan Carlos I, but tossed Delores Hope’s and Nancy Reagan’s handwritten letters and the note from George HW Bush, and 90+ Toastmasters speaking blue ribbons, sports trophies, etc. Chalk it up to a crazy artist who Dallas Museum of Art rejected, twice.

Website: www.carrollburgoon.com

Other: Vet me.

Image Credits
1 The plein air painting picture of me in rural Spain was made by Helena Pereira da Cunha, a Rio de Janeiro family. 2 The pondside personal portrait of me by Carolyn G. Luhn. 3 All other photos were made by me, Carroll F. Burgoon, III.