Student artist paints murals across Denton

Mick Burson's latest piece was inspired by the stacked buildings seen in the slums of Mexico and Brazil.

Photo by Olivia McClendon

Printmaking senior Mick Burson completed this mural located on the side of A Creative Art Studio in three days using spray paint.

Hundreds of Denton residents come across the artwork of printmaking senior Mick Burson every day – in backyards, corporate offices and almost everywhere in between – although many might not realize it.

Burson, 21, has painted close to 100 murals in Denton and his hometown of Waco, including a vibrant piece on the side of Voertman’s Bookstore and about eight or nine other works scattered across Denton in bars, salons and galleries.

Burson first took up mural-painting as a hobby, but it quickly evolved into something more. He said he has been an artist his whole life and is regularly commissioned to do work in Waco, where he is more well known.

In Denton, he has to go out and look for it.

“You have to be persistent, otherwise people will forget about you,” Burson said. “You just kind of have to find opportunities.”

Burson uses spray paint for outdoor art and latex paint for indoor work in order to avoid the harmful fumes of spray paint.

He has been paid up to $1,000 for one of his murals but often works for just the cost of materials. He holds a job at Papa Murphy’s Pizza to make ends meet.

Burson said he had a lot of help when he first started out, so he lends a hand to a classmate interested in learning how to paint murals.

He said everyone has to start somewhere.

“You kind of do the not-so-fun stuff at the beginning, and eventually you work your way up,” Burson said.

Photography freshman Mike Carpenter has been filming Burson for about six months, documenting Burson’s prolific mural making. They work together about twice a month, he said.

Carpenter said Burson is the only artist he films because he thinks Burson’s artistic process is worth sharing with the world.

“Mick does things differently, the way he goes about his artwork is so unique, and I feel like people need to see the process behind it,” Carpenter said. “It is so entertaining, I love it.”

Despite frequently working outdoors and on walls, Burson said he does not consider his work graffiti because there is an element of control present in his murals.

“Around here there is no real graffiti, like, what I do is not even graffiti because graffiti is just like complete freedom,” Burson said. “Real graffiti does not exist in Denton.”

With many of his murals, he is allowed to choose what he paints. This allows some freedom, but some of his clients ask him to meet certain specifications.

“I always wanted a mural on the outside of the building,” said Robin Huttash, owner of A Creative Art STUDIO. “You know when you meet someone and realize they are just a special person, that’s how it was with him.”

A Creative Art STUDIO, on the corner of Oak Street and Bolivar Street, is where Burson’s most recent mural is located.

Burson said his latest piece was inspired by the stacked buildings seen in the slums of Mexico and Brazil.

“I call it like a dancer on the wall, because the art just flows out of him,” Huttash said.

To see more of Burson’s artwork and Carpenter’s videos, visit www.mickburson.com.