Beverly Fettig

Beverly Fettig
American

Beverly Fettig moved to the North Shore on O’ahu from Los Angeles in 1962 and immediately fell in love with the area's beauty and character. "It's a constant inspiration to me," she says. "When I see a composition that's so natural, then it's an easy thing to be an artist."

Her oil paintings brilliantly capture the flavor of the rustic town of Hale’iwa, which has been her home for more than thirty years. She earned the respect and admiration of the residents for preserving the town's landmarks on canvas. "Many of the houses and stores in Hale'iwa that I recorded are history -- they're no longer there," she says. "My paintings are a way of keeping them alive."

Fettig prefers oils to other mediums such as acrylics because she likes their earthy look and feels they give her better control. The majority of her paintings are done entirely with a palette knife, and often completed while the oils are still wet. "I like the paint wet so my knife will glide easily over the surface of the canvas," she says.

Although best known for her scenic works, Fettig also enjoys painting flowers, abstracts and, as she says, "anything that tells a story. I really like to do large flowers and shells. And you can express yourself more by painting in abstracts. You're restricted somewhat when you're painting from life; when you're abstracting from life, it frees you to be more expressive in the other elements of the painting, such as the color, form and balance.”

Her paintings have been purchased by businesses throughout Hawaii and throughout the Pacific such as the Bank of Hawaii and United Airlines.