Drew Adler was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended both Hampshire College and Berklee College of Music before pursuing an education in fine arts. Moving to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991 Drew haunted local life drawing classes and studied with artists Jane Larew and Fred Nichols.

 

In 1999 Drew was invited to design and install the interactive exhibit, The Search for Blackbeard’s Treasure in The Virginia Discovery Museum. Blacking out the windows of the children’s museum, Drew created lighting to simulate being below the surface of the ocean and created a soundtrack that included whale soundings. He then built a submarine and a sunken pirate galleon to inhabit the underwater lair. The illustration Drew created for the exhibition poster was his first professional watercolor painting. 

 

Before turning to watercolor as his preferred medium, Drew painted murals and faux finishes using acrylic paints. “Being a transparent medium, watercolor has a fresh, luminous quality that can appear to glow under strong light. My favorite subject to paint is a landscape with water. If I get all the aspects of a painting arranged well, the piece can pull the viewer right into it, submerging them.”

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Drew is a songwriter, singer and guitarist who has led and played in bands in both Boston, Massachusetts and Charlottesville, Virginia. “My music education at Berklee as well as at Hampshire College, where I studied with Professor Roland Wiggins, set me up well. I'm able to teach different styles of music, create and transpose parts, and write charts for my band-mates and students. After leaving Berklee I started the band 21 Curves,  wrote many songs, and almost landed a recording contract with Polydor Records.” Drew continues to play and teach in the Charlottesville area. 

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