by Janet Smellie
Northern News Services

NNSL (DEC 02/96) - After packing away his easel for more than three years due to stress, Northern artist Archie Beaulieu is painting again.

Beaulieu, who's been capturing Northern wildlife in his sketches and acrylic paintings since he was a toddler growing up in Rae, has sold his work worldwide for more than 20 years.

Beaulieu said it was after he became disillusioned with the people who were marketing his work that he lost interest in painting.

"People who were handling my work really hurt me. They ripped me off so much that I couldn't handle the stress and became depressed. I had a lot of sleepless nights and decided it wasn't worth it."

Now, after taking time to regain his health, and hooking up with a new partner to market his work, Beaulieu says he's busier than ever painting.

He says his partnership with Ken Huss, who runs Nor-Art International, has proven beneficial in more ways than one.

"It's working out really good," Beaulieu said during a recent show Nor-Art held for him in Yellowknife. "This allows me more control, at the same time I don't have to worry about marketing my work and running around trying to sell it.

Beaulieu, who paints his originals in his house in Rae, wants to help other painters start producing locally.

"I'm hoping to build an art studio and shop in order to start doing print-making right there. My family could get involved and would save so much money, as now it's all being done in Vancouver -- money that could stay in the territories," Beaulieu says. "There's a lot of young talent right in the community. Most of them take their original paintings and go door-to-door selling them for $20 or $40 bucks because they're young and need the money now."

Beaulieu, who's also busy raising three sons and daughters with his wife, Starbright, says his five-year-old daughter is already showing signs of following in his artistic footsteps.

"She's sketching away just like I did when I was a kid. We keep storing them away hoping so one day she can start painting.