Artist Judy Burgarella has developed a following of devoted students, having taught countless classes here, primarily at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and through the Vero Beach and Sebastian Art Clubs. Although she has instructed in a variety of mediums and subjects, she is particularly known for her portraiture skills.
A self-taught artist, Burgarella was raised in West Haven, Conn., and discovered her creative talents at an early age.
“In the first grade, my teacher gave me some clay, and I shaped it into [a likeness of] the principal. I just did it,” says Burgarella.
While her teacher and others who saw it were “blown away” by the piece, she says, “I didn’t understand why everybody couldn’t draw a face. I think it was in me.”
Burgarella says that her talent gave her a confidence that carried all through her sometimes-chaotic family life. While raising two children in Clinton, Conn., she taught crafts several days a week and wrote for a craft magazine but didn’t paint until 30 years later, after tragedy struck her family.
Her sisters, at the time in their late 30s, began developing lung cancer. None of them smoked and no other cause could be attributed to it, but they died from the cancer, one after the other, about two years apart.
“There were just four of us, and I thought I would be next,” she says.
Her two girls were grown by then, but not knowing when or if she might become ill, she decided she wouldn’t have time to go to art school. Instead, she took some lessons from local artists and started a plein air group, inviting other artists in her Connecticut shoreline community to join.
“It was a unique way to learn painting,” says Burgarella. “I gathered the best of the best. The deal was, everything was free. I would find a beautiful place to paint and get them there at no charge.
But I would be able to set up my easel next to whomever I liked, so I had a really diverse education.
“I learned everything from oil, to pastels, to acrylic, you name it, and I learned it from good artists. And that is how I learned to paint. I had a lot of mentors around, many of whom became friends, and still are.”
By observing them work, she could scrutinize their painting styles and would chit chat; asking, for example, about the type of paint they used, or their favorite brushes.
“That’s why it was a fantastic way to learn, and I made so many good friends. I had an unusual start to my art career, and I immersed myself so fast and so hard, in combination with a natural talent,” says Burgarella, who has painted seriously since 1999.
Now an accomplished portrait painter, she says she learned that skill initially by painting American Indians in their native dress. She became well-versed in the various tribes after studying the photographs by Edward Curtis of the early Western landscapes and peoples.
Burgarella moved here 18 years ago and soon immersed herself in the arts community. She has been on the boards of the Vero Beach and Sebastian Art Clubs and played an active part in establishing the 14th Avenue Arts District, going door to door to gather information and working on marketing and brochures. “If you build it, they will come,” she quotes.
Toward the end of the pandemic, Burgarella and Camy DeMario, a children’s book author/illustrator, put together an art show at the Raw Space Gallery called Keeping the Arts Alive.
“Everyone was so frustrated and wanted to do something,” she says, noting that the well-attended show raised money for charity, and drew more than 250 entries.
Her own artwork is frequently accepted at juried shows, including at the Vero Beach Art Club Gallery and the Vero Beach Museum of Art. She was recently in the Pelican Island Conservation Society’s annual Indian River Bird and Nature Art Show at the Environmental Learning Center, where she received First Place ribbons in both oil and acrylic. They join the many other awards she has received throughout the years.
Burgarella has taught classes at the VBMA for nearly a decade, primarily in portraiture, but often to complement its current exhibits. Her recent plein air and photo realism classes were coordinated with the museum’s James Balog photographic exhibit, Changing Nature: A New Vision.
In 2023, to compliment the museum’s Rolling Sculpture: Streamlined Art Deco Automobiles and Motorcycles exhibit, she is designing a local scene involving the Vero Theatre on 14th Avenue, which was built in the Art Deco style, that will feature a 1920s-style car and couple.
“I only have 15 hours to get the students from beginning to finished painting, so I give students the outline of the features. They learn how to mix flesh colors, how to paint ears, the nose, hair, the glisten and glow of the eyes,” says Burgarella. She includes as much as she can into the three-hour, five-week courses, and refers students to her blogs if they need further instruction.
“The students watch my paintings take shape. It’s a great way to learn. They see me making mistakes and correct them and witness the joy I project in my painting process.”
Burgarella, who considers art the best type of therapy, says she now sees everything through the eyes of an artist.
“Just driving down the street, I could do 40 paintings with what I see; a beautiful set of clouds, or the way light falls on a tree. Paintings that don’t have light and shadows are flat, and don’t look natural. Light brings a painting to life. I teach my students to see the colors in clouds, and how to add even more color, like lavender, lime green, blues and greys, and how to make those colors.”
Burgarella imparts her knowledge freely.
“I’m not in competition with anybody. I just like to share, and I love to see people getting better and going on to bigger and better things. That’s what I love about art. If you are getting bored, change your medium, change your art club. There is another set of people just as interesting in another club.”
Burgarella works from a home studio that is filled with art books, canvases, paints and brushes as well as photos of every painting she has ever created, and ideas for the future.
Additionally, she and her daughter Robin Burgarella, a Realtor at Dale Sorenson Real Estate, work on “beautification” projects and house-staging.”
Drawing from an inventory housed in a storage unit and, often, furniture from Burgarella’s own home, they try to make listings more saleable. “The before and after is amazing,” she says.
Gifted with boundless energy and an infectious joy, her knowledge and passion for art has enriched the lives of others, conveying in them an equal appreciation.
“It’s a rich life here in Indian River County if you’re in the arts. So many artsy things going on, and I try my best to do them all.”
Photos by Joshua Kodis
