[1] As a young man, Burton worked as a ringer at the large cattle station called Curtin Springs.
Men did not join the women until several years later, because they were afraid of revealing too much spiritual knowledge (which in Western Desert cultures is meant to be kept secret).
To keep the meanings of his paintings hidden, Burton uses dotting and other techniques to disguise sacred figures and ancient symbols.
[8] Burton was taught by Presbyterian missionaries when he was growing up at Ernabella, and he mixed these beliefs with his family's Dreaming.
[1] From the later part of 2011, Burton and several other men from Amaṯa led a project to change the subject of their artists' work.
Instead of depicting sacred Dreaming knowledge, he and the other board members of Tjala Arts encouraged their artists to paint about other things (such as the landscape or wildlife).
Burton and the other leaders decided that the popularity of Western Desert art had resulted in people asking too many questions about their traditional designs and too much secret knowledge being revealed.
[13] Burton had paintings chosen as finalists for the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 2011 and 2012.