Popular Vancouver-based visual artist Drew Burnham will give an artist’s talk and slideshow as well as teach a two-day painting workshop September 25-27.
Burnham’s presentation and painting workshop will take place at the Powell River Academy of Music and registration for the classes can be done at Artique Co-operative on Marine Avenue.
“There will be two aspects to this: I will be doing the workshop, which won’t be too much flashing around of my own work, because I assume everyone else will be working on their own paintings,” he said. “And then the Friday night talk will be different, as I’ll have thoughts on my own work and images to show.”
The two-day workshop is for experienced painters and costs $120 while the presentation is free and open to the public. The presentation is a bit of out his element, admitted Burnham, whose daughter-in-law lives in Powell River.
“I’m a bit conflicted in that I don’t really do this sort of thing, because I paint; I don’t talk a lot. It’s almost a favour to my daughter-in-law,” he laughed.
Burnham’s visit is the latest in a series of successful artists in residence at the Music Academy. The program has seen nationally recognized painters and art instructors come to Powell River with the help of the Malaspina Arts Society and the Powell River Arts Council.
Burnham’s work focuses on the visually stunning west coast of BC and has become highly sought after in the art world, both in Canada and abroad. He said he hopes attendees of his presentation and workshop are able to glean from him what they are looking for.
“I do this and I do it intensely, so if there’s something that enlightens their interest I’ll be happy to tell them whatever I can,” he said.
Burnham said that some basics of learning art are important, but he also believes that sometimes art cannot be taught.
“I don’t actually hold a strong position on the side of teaching art, or being taught art, because I think it’s more a matter of doing,” said Burnham. “If art is a direction that one has inside them, I think the learning is done internally and the best thing is the freedom and the opportunity to actually just do it on an extensive basis.”
For more information or to register for the workshop, call 604.414.0516 or go to mdill.com.
