David Burns is a Montreal-born painter whose beautiful work portrays the brooding colours of sky and water along British Columbia’s coastline and Gulf islands. Burns turned from painting abstractions to capturing the essence of landscape when he saw the breathtaking beauty of British Columbia – as once did the artists who have most influenced his style and theme, Takeo Tanabe, Don Jarvis and Toni Onley.

From Lions Bay is inspired by views from his current location north of Vancouver, BC on the coast. For the past year, he has been painting the ever-changing play of light on the clouds and sea near Bowen Island, Gambier and Anvil Islands, and up the Howe Sound.

The oil paintings have a dreamy, almost mystical quality that belies their simple strength. Burns’ approach was described by Paula Gustafson as "a willingness to encompass sea and sky with minimal intervention”.

Burns received formal training in the Fine Arts Program at Concordia University, Montreal before moving to BC’s Sunshine Coast. The Diane Farris Gallery has represented David Burns since 2000. His paintings are included in collections in London, Singapore, and across Canada and the United States. This is his third solo show with the Gallery.