Fingerpaint artist Mark Burdette finds beauty in flaws

Stepping into Mark Burdette's studio space on Central Avenue is a little like taking a step into his mind's eye. A handful of completed projects sit neatly arranged near the entrance. Rustic dining rooms tables, custom canvases built from reclaimed wood '” even a harp case '” all line the wall, and they're each meticulously finger-painted with scenes of teal, pink and sea-foam green crashing waves.

But his blonde locks, barreling-wave tattoo and often-bare feet all betray his love for surfing and the ocean well before his art does.

'I really miss surfing,' he says. 'I'm always thinking about that when I paint. Anything to do with the water, I love. I think everyone has their own little paradise that inspires them.'

Originally from St. Augustine, Burdette says he grew up surfing and has traveled to various surf destinations around the world. He remembers feeling landlocked when he first moved to the Sarasota area, so he started painting waves.

'I started painting with a brush, and I think I was trying to make a perfect wave,' he says. 'They were O.K., but there was just something missing. One day, I just flipped to using my fingers, and the mistakes I started to make actually made the paintings better.'

Since then, Burdette says he's used his experience working at Sarasota Architectural Salvage to learn the business of finding and reclaiming antiques, and he says it provides him with a lot of material for his art.

'Everything I paint on is old or unique or recycled,' he says. 'It's not something I can just run out to the art store and buy. It all has a story behind it, and being part of that process from the start '” finding the wood and putting the materials together '” gives it even more feeling. I feel like I can kind of fingerprint it from the start.'