Autumn Poems
Autumn Silence
Falling.
Falling.
Float down.
Jog left,
Sway right,
And fall
On a tumbling course
Until…
Sky meets base for the first time.
The demeanor of the wind changes
- a scent, imperceptible at first -
Until there is earnest,
And the crow begins its song of gathering
(for it knows it is a songbird).
Rest
Upon loam
And earth.
Curl
Upon self.
Shushh.
~ David Jay Spyker
~~~~~~~
Web
Silver thread,
As tenuous as life,
As persistent as life,
Is strung ’round to capture
Autumn harvest on the wing,
Sustenance,
And chill morning dew.
Nightfall comes
To mask the fleeting warmth
(too soon),
And then…
No more.
~ David Jay Spyker
The Figure Revealed
Where do I even begin? This is simply one of the finest shows to come to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in a very long time. I will admit to a bit of stylistic bias in that statement, but I still stand by it. Seeing such fine examples from this selection of superbly talented artists is indeed a treat.
Kent Bellows stares back at the viewer from behind a table choked with food – greasy and sweet – drink, strands of pearls, an overturned human skull, and a very creepy baby doll with all of its hair pulled out. In his self-portrait, he almost dares us to challenge him at his Gluttony. The detail and craftsmanship in the painting is impeccable, and it begs to be inspected up close.
"Gluttony", 2000, by Kent Bellows (copyright the Kent Bellows estate)
Steven Assael challenges us again with his life size portraits of New York counter-culture club goers. In his huge, modern altarpiece, “At Mother”, figures adorned in leather, spikes, piercings and techno-punk-pagan-goth clothing are shown in scene, and, in an inset central section at home watching television.
"At Mother", 2001, by Steven Assael (copyright Steven Assael)
Julie Heffernan treats us to lavish, fanciful scenes in which she is transformed into women of mythical, mystical stature. Her use of color is glowing, and in each of her two representative pieces, flights of birds cleverly lead the eye through the paintings.
Tim Lowly’s autobiographical work, as always, leads us to contemplate our own lives by extension. His two atmospheric pieces are earlier works in egg tempera, and excellent examples of his oeuvre.
Martha Mayer Erlebacher brings the Renaissance to us in modern sensibilities with her richly dark painting style and allegorical figurative subject matter.
Other particular favorites include Richard Maury, Christian Vincent, Stone Roberts, Holly Lane, and Manon Cleary.
In all, the exhibition features fifty pieces by twenty-five prominent contemporary, figurative artists. Don’t miss it.
The Figure Revealed: Contemporary Figurative Paintings and Drawings runs May 3 – June 29, 2008 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Older Poems
No Relief
People swim slowly by in a sea of ties and business attitudes.
The air hangs heavy in their lungs.
Engorged raindrops, fat
With midday Sun’s heated spectrum,
Crash upon skillet sidewalks
One by one
- all at once -
Hissing.
Steam is rising.
~ David Jay Spyker
~~~~~~~
Regret
Rushing through life,
On and on,
Never stopping to see,
Nor to feel.
Never stopping to say what
We never stopped to say.
~ David Jay Spyker
I dug these two out of an old notebook, and I can’t be completely sure, but I think that I probably wrote them sometime in 1989. Nearly twenty years ago. Where does the time go?
The Lost
"The Lost", 2000, 5 x 3 3/4 in., Acrylics on Hardboard
In representational art, a man or woman pondering the human skull is used to convey an awareness of mortality, or more accurately, mankind’s awareness of his own mortality. The presence of a human skull in painting is a reminder that each of us is here only for a short while, and that our time is indefinite and unknown.
The bird skull in “The Lost” is meant to remind us of the interconnectedness and mortality of every living being with which we share this ever-shrinking globe. It is tiny, fragile, easily overlooked; and while the bird is living, it is swift and fleeting, impossible to simply grasp in one’s hand.
I found this particular skull in a hedge row in my overgrown back yard. I looked down, and it was just lying there atop a single brown leaf in the midst of a patch of dead leaves, pale and ghostly in the near twilight like someone had carefully placed it there as an offering. I could easily have missed it – and stepped on it – as I crept beneath the tangled branches. I knew I had to paint it.
“The Lost” is a small, simple painting. There is no one to ponder the skull; only the skull – painted in life size – hovers before you, the viewer. You are the philosopher, meant to think over this tiny thing. It is intended to engage you, and make you the human element to this painting.
The Acrylics Forum is Closed
When I began hosting it in 2006, I had originally hoped the forum for painters working in acrylics would become a useful resource for artists, as well as a point of artistic community on the web. In practice, it was more of a magnet for spammers and spam robots than a hub for artists, which is why it is officially closed.
Perhaps, in the future, and if there is interest, and if I have the time, I would consider starting a new forum in the same theme. I can still be reached by email (see my contact page on davidjayspyker.com), and friends and fellow artists are welcomed to leave comments here on my blog too.
Wishing you peace in your lives,
David Jay Spyker
Some Advice on Artist’s Support Media
I don’t recall where I originally gave the following advice on artist’s supports for painting, but it was in answer to an oil painter seeking a large scale, more rigid alternative to canvas or linen. He was concerned with longevity and cracking. I felt it might be of interest, so I’ve republished it here.
Everything will decay eventually, but a quality Masonite (or “hardboard”, as Masonite is a manufacturer of the product) should be every bit as reliable as any canvas or linen supports. Make sure to fully seal the edges and the back of any hardboard panels. Ideally, the back of any type of panel should be gessoed with the same number of layers as are applied to the front so as to create more even tension on both sides of the support, which will minimize warping. This will also serve to seal the wood materials from the air – ancient Egyptian wood that was painted can be found surviving rather well in tombs, while unpainted wood in the same tombs has rotted terribly. You could go one step further and apply some extra to the back to account for the layers of paint that will be applied to the front.
There is a tiny oil painting in the Art Institute of Chicago which was done on copper sheet. I don’t remember the date off hand, but it was hundreds of years old, and it looked like it was painted yesterday. Aside from potential dents, which will be difficult to remove, copper’s drawback is its weight when used in large sheets. Aluminum is lighter, but it is also much softer than copper.
I have painted on copper, stone, wood panel, birch plywood, hardboard, canvas, linen, and paper; I have also used canvas, linen, and paper mounted on wood and hardboard. The birch plywood actually performs very well, but is very heavy in large sheets. For anything large, I’d recommend you do stick with canvas or linen. I know you said you did not want to do that, but it is still potentially the best choice for large pieces.
Focus instead on proper layering and preparatory techniques for your painting to help prevent any problems that might occur over time. At some point in the future, it will be up to the conservators to ensure the longevity of your work. Existing in museums are hundreds of pieces on canvas that have been transferred to rigid supports. Museum conservators know what they are doing, and once you’re dead (before that actually), your work’s future will be totally beyond your control.
Another thing to consider, if cracking is a nagging worry, would be to try working in acrylics instead.
If you are up for some technical reading on the subject of choosing the proper hardboards as artist’s supports, I recommend the following page: http://www.true-gesso-panels.com/2003_stp_article.htm
Doves Do Not Cry, But Murmur
Doves Do Not Cry, But Murmur
The grass grows with equal severity,
Temerity,
On either side of the wall.
Dark headers bloom,
Roil,
Boil,
In a raucous assembly,
Wing beats, breast ruffles, heart croons
For the onslaught of Spring.
Diminutive blades bow
Low under splatter and spray
Until moist warmth settles,
An ever-increasing, palpable blanket,
On both sides of the wall.
And, doves do not cry,
But murmur.
Reaching, twisting, growing fat and heavy;
Heady, swelling, reaching still as though
Otherwise all life would be for naught.
A sway begins
With precise synchrony
On the left,
And on the right.
~ David Jay Spyker
~~~~~
"Which Side of the Wall?", 1996, Acrylics on Canvas Laid on Hardboard
I wrote this poem sometime in 2002, and wanted to share it as Spring unfolds and grows into Summer. It is always a mystical time of the year, filled with anticipation, potential, and even danger. Just as the title of a painting is extremely important to me, I feel that the line arrangement and punctuation of a poem speaks as much as the words.
Why Do We Keep Messing With Nature?
I would like to submit a hypothetical question: Why do we keep messing with nature, with genetics, it will inevitably be our downfall, won’t it? Surely, altering nature to suit our needs is a slippery slope?
While there is a great potential for disaster, I don’t believe that it will be our destruction. Instead, it will only lead to continuing chapters in our evolutionary history, and is likely the necessary method of adaptation to any challenges we create for ourselves. Mankind has been messing with Nature since please continue reading…
Reaching, Always
John Lennon said it in Imagine. Imaginative people have been saying it for centuries, millennia. Maybe enlightenment only comes to the individual, but I like to believe that an entire society is capable of achieving social peace and unity. Dream, imagine, believe; live peace, become love…
Someone has to be the brave and daring soul. Someone has to reach out first, has to be the first – wholly commit to being the one to hold out a hand regardless of the cost, and irrespective of the other’s position.
Someone has to lay down his gun first, and live for peace. It is too easy to die for a cause; it is too tempting to celebrate those who give their lives for a cause.
It is so horrifically simple to hate – to kill for a cause.
It is so much greater to live a life of compassion and respect for all.
We are not all so different that there should be hate. Not one of us has the right to kill another of us – there is no reason on this good Earth that gives us that right. We all share the same blood; when one of us spills the blood of another, it is the blood of us all.
Put aside your selfishness and greed to give your neighbor a hand. Show your fellow man that there is nothing to fear from you. Be the brave one to stand up and take that step.
Every day as we go about our lives, whether on a grand scale or in the little ways, it is a choice each of us must make: Love and peace, or hate and destruction. Every individual has the power to make a difference.
You are not alone, we stand together in love, peace, and hope.
Whatever Holiday you celebrate this season, may it be in Peace, with the ones you love.
- David Jay Spyker
A Call for Environmental Solidarity
Numbers matter. All of the scientific data, and an overwhelming number of internationally respected scientists support that the threat of global warming is a real and present danger. Certain politicians and corporate magnates would deny reality for the sake of personal power and wealth. It is time to send a clear message that we, the people of this world, will no longer stand at idle and allow reality to be twisted. We will not allow our future to be sold out from beneath us.
All of the places in which I played as a child – the empty fields with their summer breezes; the cooling woods dappled with sunlight and adventure; the standing vernal pools and ponds, all a-chirp with the music of toads, birds, and insects; and the small whispering brooks, and trickling wetlands – every last one of these places has been usurped by roads and parking lots, and planted over with houses, office buildings, and businesses. These things bring vehicles, require energy, and create pollution.
Kalamazoo Nature Center, Pond Frog
The same is happening around the world to our last remaining forests and wildernesses, and to our rivers, lakes, and oceans. Greed travels arm in arm with consequence, and the two can never be separated. The consequence of our greed is shrinking glaciers and the disappearance of snow-capped mountains, and the flooding and drought that will follow. Avarice asks of us a toll of warmer ocean waters that bring dying coral reefs, diminishing fisheries, and melting polar ice; it gives us killing heat waves and emboldens hurricanes. What cost are we willing to shoulder? What cost are we willing to pass on to future generations?
Kalamazoo River from the Kalamazoo Nature Center
Removing nature from our lives, and polluting the Earth in favor of this kind of “progress” will always come at a price; a hefty bill is about to come due in the form of global warming. It is time to change the way we do everything, and every single one of us can make small, green changes in our lives that will make a difference. We can also demand that our elected leaders help us with those changes that are too big for just one person to affect. Together, we will make a difference.
Numbers matter. The numbers concerning global warming matter, and even if some of our leaders in Washington do not care much for these numbers, there is one set of numbers that will matter in Washington – the number of people who hold environmental issues as an important political issue. Each of us is a powerful, potential vote. Make it known that you will cast your vote at the polls on behalf of the environment, and for the future of all life on this tiny, blue globe. Make it known that any politician who does not actively support a greener, cooler future will not be elected to office.
