I’m a passionate landscape painter in love with my west coast surroundings.
I starting drawing and painting early in life, attending an adult painting class when I was just 8 years old. At the time there were no art classes for children in my small town and my parents were told that as long as I could behave myself, I could be a part of a circle of adults painting still lifes in a basement studio. I remember painting flowers and vases with powdered children’s tempra, longing to use oil paints like everyone else.
Courtenay Airpark #89 © Bev Byerley
Acrylic on Canvas 24”x 30”
At 12 years old I started painting in oils and sold my first piece through an exhibition at our local library. It was then that I knew I wanted nothing more than to be an artist. During high school I sold watercolour art cards of local scenery to make extra money while continuing to experiment with oils.
Courtenay Airpark #94 © Bev Byerley
Acrylic on Canvas 24”x 30”
After high school I did a summer painting program at the Banff School of Fine Arts then applied and was accepted into the communicative arts program at Capilano College in North Vancouver. I enjoyed the many different mediums and processes used to promote products and ideas, and have found these same processes very useful in visualizing and producing fine art as well.
Courtenay Airpark #88 © Bev Byerley
Acrylic on Canvas 24”x 36”
I met my husband soon after art school and together we operated a small instant print shop while raising our 2 children. I did design and layout and he did the printing. Although I continued to paint on the side, I still longed to paint full time.
Courtenay Airpark #85 © Bev Byerley
Acrylic on Canvas 24”x 30”
After working a few years as a mat cutter/ picture framer in a local gallery, and with great encouragement from my husband, I finally made the jump to full time artist in 2000.
We moved to our house in Courtenay and discovered a walk path that we’ve enjoyed almost every day since. What began as inspiration for paintings to familiarize myself with acrylics has become a great body of work featuring the estuary and landscape around the Courtenay airpark.
Courtenay Airpark #90 © Bev Byerley
Acrylic on Canvas 30”x 30”
My desire is to create paintings that have many focal points. Colours, shapes and patterns that are a feast for the eyes and keep one captivated for long periods of time discovering and re-discovering subtle nuances in the rhythm of the piece.
Image Credits
All Images Are © Bev Byerley
Bev Byerley Artist Bio
Born in Gimli, Manitoba, painter, printmaker Bev Byerley became a resident of the Comox Valley when her father was transferred to C.F.B. Comox in 1965. Bev’s parents recognized her artistic talent at a very early age and at 8 years old they enrolled her in an adult painting class.
After graduating from high school in 1977, Bev furthered her studies in an oil painting course at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta. With plans to be an illustrator, Bev was accepted into the commercial arts program at Capilano College in North Vancouver and upon completion of this course, worked a graphic artist in downtown Vancouver.
Bev is perhaps best known in the Comox Valley for her acrylic landscapes of the west coast and of Newfoundland. Her commitment to her individuality through the years has resulted in Bev developing a style uniquely her own. Her love of the land is evident through the images she projects onto paper and speak of a knowledge of her subjects at a grass roots level. In her application of the paint, images and colours are shaped with an impressionistic influence capturing the essence of the subject in flowing line and colour while also displaying a strong sense of design and balance.
Blog / Website: Bev Byerley
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Bev, thank you for your stunning and captivating view of the world. The movement and life in your art is pure rapture. So glad your painted voice is in the world. And that someone finally let you use oil paints! 😉