Local oil painter Douglas Selley Byrd is captivated by color.

“I'm attracted to colors,” the Olympic Peninsula native said. “There are a lot of colors in the world – you go down to the boatyard on a sunny day, and all the boats are glistening with color.”

A “Chimacum boy,” Byrd attended that town's schools from seventh through ninth grade, and after spending years away, returned to the area in 2011 when his mother retired.

Hailing from a family of well-known artists, it was natural that Byrd should step easily into the profession.

“I've always wanted to be a painter,” he said.

His grandfather, Harvey Goodale, was one of the most famous painters in Alaska, he said, and each of his artistic relatives followed their own path. “Everybody has a different direction – whether it's a style or color.”

Byrd started painting about 30 years ago, and began by replicating works by the artists he loved, such Monet, Van Gogh and Seurat.

“I was blown away with Monet,” he said, noting that he copied about 25 of his pieces. “[He] would put so many colors in his pictures.”

The few times Byrd has taught, he also has had his students replicate their favorite piece. “There's a lot that you can learn,” Byrd said of copying great works, a technique that is traditionally used more often in Europe than in the U.S.

“When you love something and you're mesmerized by it – and you want to do it – you have to try,” he said.

“And that's what I did – I tried.”

Prior to coming back to the Olympic Peninsula, Byrd spent nearly 10 years in Costa Rica painting landscapes. The influence of that tropical environment is evident in a new piece titled “Wedding Bells,” to be shown during February at Gallery 9 as part of a collection that embraces the romance of flowers in honor of Valentine's Day.

In the Northwest, one of his favorite subjects to paint are trees. “I love painting trees,” he said, especially trees in autumn. He's also begun to paint scenes at Seattle Japanese Garden, which has “incredible colors,” he said. This fall, he plans to paint Mount Rainier.

Byrd said he paints in a meticulous style, allowing the paintings to emerge from tiny, impastoed brushstrokes that reveal colorful detail and eventually build into large-scale imagery.

“I've got a friend who calls me 'Mr. Little Brush,'” he said, but added that he's trying to develop his style and embrace fluidity.

“I'm trying to change and become more loose.”

Join Byrd in discussing his work during Art Walk from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Gallery 9, 1012 Water St. For more information, visit

gallery-9.com or call 379-8881.