Born in 1915 in Cambellton, New Brunswick, Lou Englehart began sketching and painting at an early age. He studied commercial art and cartooning in Ohio before attending the Vancouver School of Art, graduating with a degree in Fine Arts in 1949. He went on to teach as an art specialist with the BC Department of Education for 25 years.
Lou Englehart traveled through the province during the 1970s and 1980s painting beehive burners. A symbol of the lumber industry in British Columbia, the burners were slowly disappearing as forestry practices changed. In many cases these paintings are the last remaining documentation of these vanished structures.
The Englehart family has generously donated a selection of paintings of local burners.
Watch interviews with Lou Englehart on CBC television:
