DREW BERNARD (b. 1974, Ottawa, Canada) grew up in the woods just northwest of Ottawa near the quaint village of Wakefield where he now again resides.
Both of his parents were immersed in the arts. His father, a musician, was the principal tympanist and a founding member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and his mother, a visual artist, attended École de Beaux Arts in Montreal Quebec, and eventually earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa. From an early age Drew showed an interest in both drawing and poetry, and would sit for hours watching his mother paint figures in oils. However, it wasn’t until much later at the age of thirty-seven that he would begin his exploration of painting.
Since 2016 Drew has been honing his painting skills and slowly finding his style of expression under the guidance and encouragement of accomplished teachers and mentors such as Jeremy Langdon, Mahshid Farhoudi, and Christan Nicholson. His primary interest is portraiture and figurative works, connecting directly with the innermost essence of each subject he paints. For Drew it is the process of painting itself that is the reward, and is constantly refining his skills and understanding. He loves sharing his work with others, and hopes that people can find something beautiful and familiar within each painting.