Friday. March 31, 200C —- North Shore News - NY-3

NEWS phote Cindy Goodman

NORTH Vancouver ariist Drew Burnham sits in front of his nearly finished painting of a heritage buiiding in Victoria.

Marcie Good

Contrituting Writer

DREW Burnham doesn’t
have much to say about his
paintings, and he thinks it’s
better that way.

He doesn’t know why an image
of a doorway or an awning stays with
him until he paints it. He doesn’t
have a good reason why he started
painting buildings and houses 30
years ago, except that his first one
“worked.”

Even in the statement he wrote as
an introduction to his exhibition at
the Rau-Xi gallery in Vancouver, he
wives the viewer no clue as to what
inspires his work.

“these paintings do not arise
from an intellectual well of theories,
philosophy, mystery, artis, fashion
or what not. I have no explanation,
opinion, or understanding, beyond
the thoughts which cruised through
me during the painting of the can-
vases and disappeared like mist as the
pieces of the painting fell out.”

To anyone who has been baffled
or intimidated by the esoteric ram-
blings of artists and art critics, the
idea that a painting should speak for

itself is terribly refreshing. Anything
the painting might suggest,
Burnham says, comes when it is fin-
ished.

“You sort af do what vou do and
you don’t know why,” he said.
“After the fact you might say, ‘Oh,
there's something creepy about
that."”

But Burnham, who lives in North
Vancouver, definitely has opinions
about the distinction he draws
between the work he does for clients
and the work he does for himself.
His commercial work, which
includes watercolour renderings of
buildings and houses for promotion-
al materials, shows a much different
style than his gallery paintings. He
says he has turned down a lot of
work from clients who waat him to
paint a house for an ad or a brochure
in the more informal, impressionistic
style typical of his gallery works.

“[ feel very strongly about that
fine,” he said, explaining that seeing
his paintings published in ad materi-
al would make them “ubiauitous,
cheap, commercial.”

it is easy to see the distinction in
style. His renderings have crisp,
clean lines and detail nearly every
brick. Burnhain has done work for

developers all over the Lower
Mainiand, including the Edenshaw
in Caulfeild and the Vista in Lower
Lonsdale, and also for projects in San
Diego, Florida, Colorado, and
Whistler. The marketing packages
are often close to works of art them.
selves — such as the one produced
for Farrington Cove development in
Pender Harbour. That, with
Burnham’s paintings of the houses,
won a Gold Georgie award.

The paintings in his current
exhibiz are a closer look at buildings
and homes — he admits, somewhat
sheepishiy, that while walking down
the street he tikes glancing in win-
dows. Rather than showing an entire
structure, the works focus on door-
ways or awnings or corners. The
buildings, in rich vibrant colours, are
less realistic in detail. But he explains
that what they show is closer to what
someone might see when they watk
by

Because your head is bobbing,
the lines of a house don't appear
straight. His houses, with their piay-
ful crooked lines, are meant to look
mobile. Through the texture of his
painting, he alse tries to suggest a
surface that is less than pertect, with
chips broken off, paint peeling, or

wood rotting.

“The amount of interest is phe-
nomenal if you're paying attention,”
he said.

Burnham also paints people's
houses — and those watercolours
pick up aspects of both his commer-
cial and gallery work. His paintings,
with rounded shapes for bushes and
trees and tilted lines on the house,
have a whimsical quality that makes
them look inviting.

Those commissions, he says, are
satisfying because people enjoy hav-
ing them done. His prices generally
range from $675-$775 for a 11x15
inch watercolour, and $1,800-
$2,200 for a 22x30-inch painting.

His clients have included Bryan
Adams, who to date is the only one
to have turned down the firse draft
because he didn’t like the angle. (“1
felt like such a jerk,” Burnham
recalled.) But Adams, who lived in
West Vancouver at the time, must
have been a happy custumer, because
he came back for paintings for both
of his parents.

Burnham's brushes with fame
have also included Katharine
Hepburn, who was in’ Vancouver

See Burnham page 48

economics

ACCORDING toa
recent article in the
Vancouver Sun, certain
homes for sale on
Vancouver’s west side
have attracted a mad
scramble of buyers.

In particular, the article
indicated that some “heritage-
type” homes in the
Kitsilano /Point Grey area
have been selling for more
than asking price —~ suggest:
ing, thar the real estate market
over there is really heating up.

ts this is in fact really hap-
pening on the west side? And
what about the North Shore
—are there any areas where
homes are selling for more
than asking price? In order to
get an answer to these ques-
tions we had a look at che
sales statistics for these differ-
ent areas.

So far this year, of the 39
detached homes sold in the
Kitsilano /Point Grey area,
owo sold at asking price and
four sold for more than ask-
ing price. [s this an indication
that this market is getting
overheated?

Well, in almost any kind of
market we will usually see a
few homes that seli for asking
price or more. This is because
some sellers underprice their
homes or some buyers just fall
in love with a home and have
to have it no matter what they
pav. However, out of 39 ,
homes, two selling at asking
price and four at more than
asking price is probably a few
sore than we would capecs,
but how does this compare to
recent activity in the North
Shore markets? .

In the period from March
l te March 23, a total of 40
detached homes sold in West
Vancouver but none of them
sold for asking price or for
more than asking price. In the
same period 46 detached
homes sold in North
Vancouver and four sold at

See Supply page &8