The Kelp and the Woods
Drew Burnham is a Canadian landscape painter best known for his distinctive, stylized realist depictions of the coastal landscapes of British Columbia. His paintings combine vivid colour, flowing glazed lines, and carefully structured compositions to create scenes that feel both recognizable and animated with rhythm and energy.
Burnham studied fine art and architectural rendering at what is now Emily Carr University of Art + Design and at the University of Victoria, and trained under respected Canadian artists Don Jarvis and Toni Onley. Burnham's work often focuses on forests, shorelines, islands, rivers, and small coastal communities, capturing not only their physical forms but also a sense of movement and atmosphere. His paintings blend realism with a graphic, almost architectural approach, using bold outlines and layered paint to give landscapes a luminous quality.
Over the years, Burnham has become one of Canada's most sought-after contemporary landscape painters, with numerous sold-out exhibitions and works held in private and corporate collections, including those of the City of Vancouver, the Edmonton Art Gallery, and Athabasca University.