Heather Burton is a traditional oil painter living in Northern Colorado with her husband and fellow painter Dave Santillanes and their two children Conner and Callie.

I paint the things that I love and inspire me. I have always been in awe of the beauty of the world and the people and animals in it. Connecting the viewer to the moments that inspire me is what I strive to share in my paintings. I want to express the emotional response that has been stirred in me, hopefully evoking a personal response in the viewer.

I attended Syracuse University for design and after graduation became a graphic artist, web designer and developer. In 2006 I decided to go back to school for my master’s in Painting and Illustration driven by a desire to show my son that he should pursue his passion. I attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since graduating in 2010 I have been teaching art and painting full time. I have always loved and been drawn to horses and other animals. In graduate school, I combined my love of painting with my love of horses and started focusing on painting horses in motion. Having grown up in upstate NY, I began painting thoroughbreds at Saratoga and upon moving to Maui, transitioned to painting polo ponies. I met my husband, a fantastic Colorado artist, while he was in Maui for an art show. In late 2014 my son and I moved to Colorado. I am so excited to be living where beautiful landscapes, horses, the western lifestyle and wildlife are abundant sources of inspiration. My two amazing, unique, and beautiful children are also a constant source of inspiration.