Beth Hansen, painter of faery and myth, is emerging as one of today's premier visionary artists. Working out of her studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Beth's work is increasingly sought out by collectors of fantastic art from all over the world.

Beth Hansen began drawing in her early childhood, fascinated with the worlds found in nature around her, her subjects included bunnies and horses. In her teens she discovered fantasy fiction and has been reading voraciously ever since. Dragons and hobbits started appearing in her sketchbook, and she started doing portraits for friends. Beth continued to draw and paint in her spare time as a serious hobby, giving artwork as gifts to family and doing the occasional portrait commission. Then her readings delved deeper into faerie and mythology, and she had the desire to better portray what she'd learned on canvas. So, in the autumn of 2000 Beth studied Flemish/Dutch oil painting techniques in still life and portraiture in the studio of Jeff Hurinenko in St. Paul, Minnesota, which helped fine-tune her already award winning skills as a painter.

On December 10 of 2002, she received 3rd place in the 2D Art Presentation category in the Duirwaigh Gallery Emerging Artist Competition. Beth's visionary work has been featured in Seventh House Publishing's "Season's of the Witch" calendar in 2003 and 2004. She has also done numerous illustrations for "Tales of the Unanticipated", a speculative fiction small press publication. In December of 2003 Beth had a one woman show, "A Midwinter Night's Dream", at the Eye of Horus Gallery in Minneapolis, MN, and continues to exibit there often, hosting tea parties to talk about her current mythical studies. She also can be found at Art Fairs around the midwest and the occasional Science Fiction Convention, and is currently accepting private and illustrative commissions of faery and mythic subjects. Beth blends realism with romance in her oil paintings. Working in layers to achieve luminous skin tones and glowing light effects, she creates magical works inspired by faery lore and mythology.

ARTIST STATEMENT: "The themes that present themselves in my work are those of transformation and ethereal boundaries. Mythical beings such as fairies, gods, goddesses, mermaids, fauns, and dryads cross over into our world, opening up new possibilities of thought and influence. Inspiration comes from my studies into western and eastern mythology and mystical traditions, and time spent in nature."