by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Since 2006, Bill Burbridge has been giving people who live, work and visit Downtown a new point of view.
He’s a caricature artist and for four years has been a fixture at his cart in the Landing near the escalators. He’s actually a performance artist because a crowd usually gathers to watch him work with his sketching pencils or air brush.
He said he began creating art at a young age and that led to college at the University of Central Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in art in 1998. His first professional gig was at Sea World in Orlando, where he began his career in caricature. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, tourism went into a decline and Burbridge returned home to Jacksonville.
He worked in a variety of areas, from portraits to custom designs on automotive vehicles and even aircraft before he decided to stake his claim at the Landing and create visual interpretations of people who visit the venue.
“I can finish a sketch in as little as five minutes. A color portrait takes about 10 minutes, or I can do a full-body caricature in about 15 minutes,” said Burbridge.
He also said he advertises his artistic services nationwide, but when he’s not out of town working on a commission, Burbridge is at his easel at the Landing from 11 a.m. into the evening from Wednesday through Sunday.
“I’m here as long as people are wanting me to do their portraits,” he said.
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