The artist’s paintbrush tips use hues of watercolors to capture the nuanced colors of Northland birds and plants.
The artist is Tanya Beyer, and she specializes in wildlife art of northern Minnesota. I caught up with her at a Duluth Treasures of the Earth Art and Gift Fair in March.
Beyer grew up in rural Indiana; however, her family vacationed along Lake Superior’s northeastern shore in Ontario. Those experiences left a lasting impression.
That sense of discovery still shapes her work today. Now living about 80 miles north of Duluth, between Virginia and Tower, Beyer paints the flora, birds, and wildscapes of northern Minnesota—images rooted in observation, but often carrying a deeper emotional or environmental resonance.
Her business name, Epiphanies Afield, dates back to the 1990s, when she began selling handmade cards at art fairs. The phrase captures both the spark of recognition—an epiphany—and the act of being outdoors, “afield,” wandering and noticing.
“That’s always been the draw,” she said. “Finding something I didn’t expect to see, something rare or just… marvelous.”
Though she was born in Indianapolis, Beyer’s connection to the North began early. Her family spent summers along Lake Superior’s northeastern shore in Ontario.
“We were more and more northward-directed,” she said. “When I had the chance, I moved.”
After earning a degree in English from the University of Western Ontario, she returned to the United States and spent more than two decades in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Even then, she sought out nature whenever she could, visiting nearby state parks, sketching, and observing.
“I always had to get out of the city,” she said. “That’s what kept me going.”
In 2010, she made the move to Duluth and later settled deeper into the boreal forest with her husband. Their property, she said, offers a microcosm of the region, with high ground, swamp, and shoreline, showing both cultivated and untouched land.
“You can see what this part of Minnesota looked like,” she said, “and how similar it is to Ontario across the lake.”
Beyer began painting as a teenager, first in oils before shifting to watercolor. A set of professional-grade paints given by her teenaged sister as a Christmas gift changed her approach.
“They were more portable, cleaner,” she said. “And I liked the delicacy.”
Today, she works primarily in watercolor and gouache, often incorporating pen and ink or colored pencil for fine detail. Her pieces are intricate, layered, and patient—qualities that mirror the way she encounters the natural world.
“I like delicate detail,” she said. “But it’s laborious. You have to stay with it.”
That patience extends beyond technique. Beyer recalls spending an entire day searching for a cerulean warbler in the Twin Cities area, straining her eyes through binoculars, tracking movement in treetops, and trying to catch a glimpse of the bird’s bright blue coloring.
“I saw it,” she said. “But not as clearly as I wanted. It was a lot of effort for just a moment.”
While much of Beyer’s art is rooted in realism, some pieces veer into the surreal. Misshapen trees, unusual light, or unexpected compositions can create a sense of something just beyond explanation.
“You see something and think, what was that?” she said. “Even if you know it’s a tree stump, it feels like more.”
In other works, the message is more direct. Themes of climate change, habitat loss, and development appear in her work, where natural scenes are subtly altered to reflect human impact.
“I like to think of it as environmental commentary,” she said. “Not all of it, but some.”
She hopes her work contributes, in some small way, to a broader appreciation for the natural world.
“Maybe it helps people value what’s there,” she said. “Maybe it keeps those places in people’s minds.”
Beyer shows her work at several regional art fairs each year, primarily in the warmer months and around the holidays. Through those events, she’s found a receptive audience—people who, like her, feel drawn to the wild. As of now, she is scheduled to appear at the Blueberry Festival in Ely July 24-26 and at the Turtle Town Art Fair June 27 at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville near Brainerd. To see more of her work, visit: epiphaniesafield.com.
