Yellowknife (Jun 09/06) - Artistic inspiration can come from anywhere, moving a brush, a guitar pick, or a pen.

For professional painter and returning Yellowknifer Jeff Beier, his brush is moved by music.

Former Yellowknife restaurant-owner-turned professional painter Jeff Beier poses in his studio in Calgary. Beier will be in Yellowknife next week for a gallery showing called "Midnight Son." - photo courtesy of Jeff Beier

"The first thing I do when I go in my studio is crank the music up, set the mood," the Calgary-based artist said.

Beier's work will be on display at Birchwood Gallery starting June 12, with a reception on June 15.

The reception will include more than 50 of Beier's paintings, as well as the musical stylings of musician Pat Braden.

The former jazz drummer and owner of Yellowknife restaurant Jose Locos has been painting professionally for four years, selling his works around the world.

He said his works are examples of "abstract expressionism," a style popularized after the Second World War by artists like Jackson Pollock.

For the casual observer, this translates into "really, really thick" paintings, Beier said. This can include up to 70 layers of paint on a thick base, protruding several centimetres off the canvas.

This creates textured, nearly sculpted images, which, for this showing, focus on flowers and butterflies.

The paintings also incorporate deep colours that Beier hopes will resonate with buyers. "Yellowknife collectors are just as discerning as collectors in Australia or Belgium," he said.

More than setting the mood, Beier's music of choice, which can include "anything from Tom Waits to Pete Tong," finds its way into the paintings themselves.

Several are named after song lyrics and album titles. The name of Beier's Birchwood Gallery showing is "Midnight Son," a reference to his habit of working at night, usually from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

He said his studio is "more in tune" during that time, something he chalks up to the stories of hauntings in the building, one of the oldest in Calgary.

"I don't mind the ghosts," he wrote in a later e-mail.

"It's better than being alone, and they seem to dig the tunes."