Shayne Lloyd unveiling today at ADSS

Kristi Dobson

Shayne Lloyd knows what it is like to move around, but he has found roots, and a place in which he can pursue his art, in Port Alberni. He is known for his many pieces around town, but today marks the unveiling of a new one he completed for an art show.

Shayne is the youngest of four boys. His father was a police officer with the RCMP so they relocated wherever he was stationed. Shayne was born in Saskatchewan and has since lived in the North West Territories, Yukon, and finally BC. He grew up active in hockey and was a social child so he found making new friends in the various communities easy to do.

“Maybe it was harder for my oldest brother, but I was the youngest so I had three older brothers paving the way,” Shayne said.

By the time he was a teenager, Shayne lived in Powell River and his brothers were skilled hockey players. Shayne decided to pursue his creative side and headed to animation school in Vancouver.

“Art was my outlet to stand out as an individual,” he said.

Shayne was initially looking into joining the army with a friend, but his high school art teacher convinced him otherwise.

“He could see right through me,” Shayne said. “He saw a kid who didn’t know what he wanted to do.”

Shayne beefed up his portfolio and was accepted at a few schools but chose (then) Malaspina College and also decided upon animation because of the job prospects. He also attended the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts and spent a number of years in the city doing some acting, photography, life drawing, and music around jobs to pay the bills.

“I was floating around in my 20’s and went through some life changes,” Shayne said. “I found myself living in Victoria with my brother and started fresh.”

Along the way, he met his wife and the two started a family.

Port Alberni has been the place where Shayne has been able to flourish in the arts. Along with completing several personal and commercial projects, he met with a counsellor at North Island College and is on his way to acquiring a teaching degree with the hope of one day becoming an art instructor at the college level.

Recently he entered a few pieces in one of the College’s art shows, including a wood burnt door design. North Island College purchased this and two others and it will be permanently installed at ADSS. The image is based on his inspiration from the film and novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Shayne’s work can also be found around town with murals on the Capitol Theatre, MacDermott’s Insurance, and along the cement wall in front of Magic Moments - Oscienny Accounting, as well as at Mountain View Bakery and Twin City Brewing. For more images, check out his Facebook page, Shayne the Artist