Artist portrays love for West Coast through paint

Inspired by the beauty of the West Coast, artist Ariane Terez, shows her love for the region’s natural landscapes by creating countless acrylic paintings that portray her affinity for the outdoors.

Terez lives in Port Alberni with her husband and dog, Charlie, and has always held a deep love for travelling. Exploring and camping around Vancouver Island, Terez captures the imagery of her favourite spots on canvas.

Her “obsession” with painting West Coast scenery began about two years ago but Terez says she’s always been creative.

“I’m really inspired by the places I explore,” Terez said. “I’ve always been doing things like being creative and I think every time I wasn’t creative, I wasn’t going down the right path.”

Pushing her self to paint everyday, Terez said she aims to capture the feeling of the places she visits in her art.

“I paint everyday and it’s a lot of energy, it takes a lot of work,” she said. “I really have to push myself to keep going. I like what I paint, that’s not a problem, I guess that’s why I do keep going. I like painting the outdoors. I put one painting down and I start the next one. ”

A painting can be a journey for Terez. She said she may not know what she’s going to paint when first sitting at the easel and that what comes out of her can be surprising.

“I just pick it up and do it and I’m really glad I do paint everyday because things come out of me that I would never think,” she said. “I want to make a statement and I guess that’s why I do pull myself to the easel all the time.”

The easel also serves as a place to be introspective.

“I just love spending time at the easel and getting into that meditative state,” Terez said. “Maybe it’s the painting or maybe it’s that meditative state that I’m kind of obsessed with.”