James Otis Burnley

James Otis Burnley was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1914. As a teenager during the Great Depression, Burnley became interested in art as a way to fill his time and earn entrance into college. His high school art teacher, Delle Miller, a local artist, encouraged him to pursue his interest by giving him his first set of art supplies. In 1929, he won first place in a competition for church poster designs sponsored by the Mid-America Presbyterian Synod. He was awarded a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute in 1932 based on a live drawing competition and attended for four years.

After graduating in 1936, Burnley was accepted to the Art Students League of New York, where he worked as an artist until he was drafted for the army in 1941. During World War II, he toured Europe with a combat engineer battalion, creating sketches of other military members during his free time. After the war, he moved to Hudson, Wisconsin, and remained in the Reserves with the 373rd Engineer Panel Bridge Company, going to fight again in the Korean War.

In 1966, he retired from military service as a lieutenant colonel and continued to create art at his spacious studio in Hudson. Burnley was influenced by Impressionist art and enjoyed painting en plein air, carrying his art supplies with him in a steel tackle box. He painted landscapes, portraits and still lifes using oils, acrylics and watercolors. In 2006, the Riverside Studio Gallery was opened by his wife and son to sell prints of his work. Burnley was active as an artist and a community member until his death in 2009.