Welcome to the work of author, artist, and illustrator Theo Dombrowski. 

Theo Dombrowski is motivated to display and sell his work solely in order to support excellent causes. He donates all of the profits he makes from his books and paintings, including all featured on this website, to registered charities. His first choice is the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders, though he has also contributed to campaigns to rescue and sponsor refugees. He also donates paintings to charitable organizations to sell in their own fundraisers, for example the Nature Trust of BC, the Children’s Heart Network, Pearson United World College, and the local Qualicum organization Aldea Maya which works for education and nutrition in a community in Guatemala.

About 

Born on Vancouver Island, Theo has travelled far beyond it — but always returns home.  Much of his work is rooted in the Canadian west coast, even though framed by the more international outlook his experience has given him.

He grew up in Port Alberni and studied first at the University of Victoria.  Further studies took him to Halifax, Nova Scotia and London, England.  With a doctorate in English literature, he returned to Vancouver Island to teach at Royal Roads, then at the University of Victoria. Then, for most of his teaching career, he lived and taught at Lester B Pearson United World College of the Pacific outside Victoria, BC.  On academic leaves from Pearson, he also taught at United World Colleges in Italy (for one year) and Norway (for two years).

While he taught literature in the classroom, Theo also led student activities that developed his own keen interests: international culture and outdoor activities, including SCUBA diving, hiking, skiing, and kayaking.  His pleasure in being active in nature is reflected in his seven outdoor guidebooks and his landscape painting, while the fun of working with bright international students has encouraged fresh perspectives in much of his design and writing.

Significantly, his involvement with the United World Colleges also developed further his desire to contribute what he can to others in the world.  Recognizing that developing countries don’t need specialists in English literature but do need doctors and skilled development workers (that is, not him!), he uses his own skills as a writer, artist, and illustrator to raise funds to donate to organizations that are effective in environmental and humanitarian work.

Theo is currently directing his energies as a volunteer toward tutoring refugees and immigrants in English and writing regular book reviews for The British Columbia Review. He lives at Nanoose Bay, BC, Canada.

How to Buy Paintings

If you’re interested in buying any of the paintings displayed on this website, please contact Theo to identify what work(s) you want, get him to figure out what the shipping will cost from western Canada, and discuss what the best means would be to transfer the payment to him from where you live.

Note that his books are presently sold not through this site but through book stores or Amazon, and that some of them are available only in e-versions.  The royalties he makes on his books likewise go to registered charities.  So…anything you buy helps somebody somewhere else!

Contact theodombrowski.art@shaw.ca