I am a doodle artist and writer inspired by tattoos and coffee. I create illustrative art, using almost anything at hand, including pencil and ink, watercolors, coffee and acrylics. Creating these characters and joy monsters that are poignant, playful, and whimsical is where I find calm. I am determined to inspire humor and compassion through my art. Simple art. Simple goal.

I am so grateful you are here!

Raised to believe in a box I never could fit in, I found escape in books, wandering in the woods and comic strips. Yearning to draw but told that I wasn’t an artist, I agreed and didn’t even try. Still feeling pulled by the arts, I studied and performed in a handful of theatres in Wisconsin, Chicago and Colorado. Many years and life flips (and flops) later, I started working in a tattoo shop and the owner challenged me to design and learn to tattoo. I learned about composition and shading, as well as what moves people. Working with a customer to design permanent art to mark a loved one or a life moment is fascinating and rewarding! A few years later I began to doodle on post it notes to raise the spirits of coworkers in another job. This led to discovering the silly characters that knock around in my mind and I have been working to capture them ever since.

Art is in everything and in everyone. We are ALL artists.

Many of my characters are drawn without mouths because so much in life is voiceless and I like to leave the feelings up to the viewer.

Life presented a lot of bumps and losses over the years, and I lost my writing voice. Doodling became the best way to express myself. Writing started as soon as I could scribble, by third grade I knew it was all I ever wanted to do…sit in the woods and write and read and draw stuff. Happily, the pull to write has come back now and I am excited to explore and fine tune my voice and maybe even finish some novels in progress I set down so long ago.

I hope my art and writing help you laugh, smile and treat everyone you meet with dignity. Thank you for percolating with me!

ZB Burns

Pagan Coffee Freak