When you paint a person well you are not yourself. You empty yourself of all preconceived ideas about the subject. As you look at the sitter you see the truth emerging in the face.
All people are beautiful in one way or another.
Additional study was undertaken in the Acad mie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1912, Varley emigrated to Canada and found employment in the field of commercial design, first at Grip Ltd., Toronto, and later at Rous and Mann. After serving as an official war artist during the First World War, Varley turned increasingly towards painting the human figure, although the landscape remained an artistic subject. When Varley moved to Vancouver in 1926 he continued passionately with his figural works, but found new inspiration in the mountainous landscapes of the West Coast. In 1936, he returned east, painting in Ottawa for four years, and travelling to the Arctic in 1938.