Tim Beavis’ beach paintings and more are on display at York Library

Seacoast artist Tim Beavis has painted more than 350 landscapes for his signature beach series.

The local landscapes are at once familiar and yet unmistakably marked by the artist’s unique perspective and abstract edge, just as each is similar but none are exactly the same.

There are horizontal divides between sky, shore and sand, forming geometric blocks of color, and then energetic, vertical lines of vegetation pulling it all together. 

Most of the paintings are colored in harmonizing natural shades of pale blue, light khaki and various greens, but there are also some pieces with gray or mustard yellow, metallic paint, and the pencil lines of an architectural-like take on painting.

The artist is happy to have found something that resonates with people, even if he can’t quite describe what it is about the shoreline that inspires him to paint in the first place. Beavis says the feeling behind the series is existential, a lonely and profound contemplation of life. There is a sense of heartache and quiet passivity.

And, because all these paintings seem to focus on a path leading to the water but keep their distance from the destination, he jokes, “Maybe I’m afraid of the ocean.”

Beavis graduated from the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston in the 1960s, but has only been able to fully dedicate himself to painting “like a monk” since about 2000. He lives and works in Kittery Point. His work has been exhibited widely and is consistently found at the Nahcotta gallery in Portsmouth.

Despite his dedication to the beach series and the overwhelmingly positive public response to it, this is not all Beavis has to offer. His other work often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves because people are so enamored with the beach landscapes.

The full range of Beavis’ talents can be seen in the current exhibition at York Public Library, with a significant collection on the top floor on display through Aug. 28.

Beavis says he has to take breaks between paintings in the beach series to continually challenge himself and keep progressing as an artist.

Most of his other work is more abstract, featuring intriguing studies of shape and gorgeous color that have no grounds in anything tangible, though they sometimes end up resembling something.

For instance, a large painting titled “Sampler” reminds Beavis of practice rug patterns.     

He often builds up wood panel surfaces with gesso-soaked paper and oil paint, creating a three-dimensional effect. He titled one of his paintings “Jungle” because it’s so thick that no light could get through it.

Beavis says his more recent tendency toward the abstract can be a hindrance to getting acceptance in this area, but again, he believes change is progress.

“It’s worth it to me for my own sanity,” he said.

His ability to paint representational work is also on display in the interior paintings of his studio, some of which include paintings from the beach series. 

His colorful creations, even the sun-soaked beach scenes, are actually produced during the darkest part of the night. Beavis gets up in the early a.m. hours shortly after midnight when he can concentrate on painting without interruption.

He likes to listen to jazz on the radio while he’s painting all night, because the music is unstructured and he can’t control the choices.

“Art makes me appreciate other things in life much more,” Beavis said. “Relationships, music, food, all seem richer.”

York Public Library is at 15 Long Sands Road, York, Maine, 207-363-2818, www.york.lib.me.us.