Painter, especially of landscapes, born in Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire. He studied at Glasgow School of Art, 1944–8, his teachers including Ian Fleming and David Donaldson. Showed widely in Scotland, was a member of RSW and had several solo exhibitions with Aitken Dott, Edinburgh. Is in RSA collection and in public collections in Paisley, Dundee and Glasgow. Lectured in art at Aberdeen College of Education and lived in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. Sea Crane, held by Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery, is typical of Burns’ almost childlike landscape- or seascape-cum-abstracts which have a strong-image quality.