Hello and thank you for visiting! My name is Meagan Burns and I’m an artist, urban sketcher, workshop organizer, sketch instructor, as well as being a modern female farmer and an ethical meat advocate.
I’m originally from Chicago, but have spent many moons in other cities, as well as in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. My early career years were spent in Corporate America, in graphic design, marketing and event management, but 2012 was a brutal yet pivotal year; I lost all my worldly possessions as I lost one barely intolerable job after another, which left me standing naked and humiliated at a bizarre crossroad in my life. Then came my mom’s final swan song , and with it came her deathbed apology that she had been wrong about me, and wished she had been nicer. This apology saved my life, but first it had to kill me.
If you can withstand the fall of losing everything, including pride and possessions, hitting new ground with a new shade of light can be the most spectacular thing ever. It was and continues to be a tremendous lesson of faith.
After my mom’s death, I was stabbed in the heart with a rush of energy that nearly ended me, yet gave way to a new life and energy around me. It was awful and terrifying, because everything was different. I began to explore energy healing through reiki, yoga, qi gong, meditation and dance, and had an undeniable desire to get out of the city and out to the farm, more specifically, I preferred the company of cows. I did breathe work with cows, and practiced reiki on them, as I began to read about the nature of cows. You cannot, however, read about cows without reading about the meat industry, and our cultural disrespect for the cow completely outraged me. I was once a vegan; but not anymore. My health issues beckoned me to eat real food, including meat, and if I was going to participate in this, I wanted only the best. I felt it was my responsibility to educate myself on what exactly we ask of the cow.
I have an ex-husband who had a hobby cattle ranch near San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I suggested producing grass-fed beef, and got no response. I suggested I could do it myself and was given one cow, which I sold the next day. In the subsequent months, I learned how to raise grass-finished cattle for meat, and learned how to butcher the grass-fed beef. I aligned myself with the only certified organic cattle ranch in Mexico, and became the marketing director, and continue to work alongside the butchers, cowboys and directors to produce the most ethical and organic beef possible, while having access to watching the cows live like cows. It’s quite possibly the most important work I’ve ever accomplished.
In this new life of mine, I also began to sketch every day as my form of meditation, and wonderful things began to happen when I committed to learning a new skill and staying open to the adventure. I was never without my sketchbook, and after returning home with a sketchbook full of the places I traveled, friends would say “I want to go with you!” And so the Art Leap Adventures was born. I love to travel around Mexico and beyond with other faithful sketchers and appreciate the community I’ve discovered through a faithful dedication to my art.
This website houses my blog, my personal artistic efforts, my work with organic and grass-finished cattle ranches, the art workshops I now organize, and the evolution of my teaching endeavors. I only immerse myself in work I love, and working with people I love and respect. This path has helped me walk through and process my grief in a way that has lifted me higher than I ever thought possible. I discovered how to be nice to myself for the first time in my life, yet often struggle with the loss of my family and loved ones, as we do in life.
My mom saved me from me before she left this earth, and once I got back upon my feet, I began this journey into my life’s purpose: cow welfare and being an artist.
Come sketch with me if you like, we can talk cows and ethical meat or not. But first let’s look at the gorgeous sunset….
Meagan