About the artist
Dave Denson was born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia and became interested in art as a teenager, illustrating the scenes and figures from television, books and his own imagination. After graduation, Dave was intrigued by the film industry which was just starting to make its mark in British Columbia. Dave enrolled in the Professional Film-Making Certificate Program at Camosun College in Victoria, where he learned how storytelling can be transformed by visual imagery, light, and sound.
Dave moved to Vancouver, BC in 1989 and worked in the film industry for 10 years, primarily in the area of lighting design. This experience provided a strong foundation in understanding elements of tone, light, and contrast which continues to influence his work to this day. After the birth of his daughter in 1999, Dave left the film industry to focus on his pastel painting. Life as a stay-at-home dad afforded Dave with many opportunities to find beauty and meaning in the small day to day rituals of family life.
He began his artistic career working primarily in pastels, painting cityscapes and intimate urban scenes from Canada and abroad. Soft pastels provided the opportunity to express his vision in an immediate way. More recently, he has begun working with oils and exploring British Columbia landscapes, with a focus on Gulf Island representations from his cottage on Mudge Island, and on remote destinations from his travels in Northern British Columbia.
