Brett Varney gives people what they want. His vivid oil pastels and giclee prints are a delight. While a lot of contemporary art is moving in the direction of digital, hybrid, appropriated materials, some artists choose to work in a traditional manner that honours craft, beauty, and accessibility.
Brett Varney is such an artist. His colourful pastels and giclees evoke associations with post-Impressionists like Van Gogh. The artist himself references Wassily Kandinsky, the early twentieth-century Russian artist and pioneer of abstraction, who was much concerned with connecting to viewers on a spiritual level and sought to embody the possibilities of music in his creations. While Varney’s work is not obviously intellectual, his use of colour does bring to mind the power of music.
This is no hobby for Varney. Although he and his partner moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2007, he has been a full-time artist since the 90s and supports himself selling his work. Many of his happy customers find him at juried art festivals in the States, where he has often won Best in Show awards. He is represented by several galleries and has a US-based agent. Online sales add up too, and his website has been an important means of keeping in touch with customers who often return for more or to commission something.
Varney says, “Lately, I have been seeing more and more requests for commissions for peoples’ homes and workplaces. This is very good news. I usually work on these pieces in between the art fairs I do and try to ship as soon as I can. If I can stay home and create an original for someone, rather than drive across the continent for an art fair, it’s much desired to do so.”
Oil pastel on black background has been his favourite medium for many years. Judicious use of hand-cut gold leaf makes these works gleam and draws viewers closer, like fish to lures. He almost never looks at a photograph or sketches directly from life, but holds the images in his mind’s eye. He relies on memory as a way of curating impressions in the same way that some writers refuse to take notes, trusting that what stands out most in memory will be the elements most essential to the creation.
“BC landscapes are definitely an inspiration for my pieces—how could they not be? Being surrounded by such beauty 24-7, how could I not be wanting to share what creates the energy for my work?”
Words | Nancy Pincombe
