“Vessels”
I started work on “Vessels” in 2006 not long after completing the painting “Flow”. After a few months I pulled it from the easel to store face-against-the-wall (sometimes you just need to do this with a particular painting), and it wound up staying there for all of 2007, and some of 2008 while I dealt with the worst part of a long term, cornea-scarring injury to my right eye. When I finally put this piece back on the easel I worked at it on and off until it was finally finished in December of 2008. Sometimes a painting just comes together almost as if it’s fulfilling a mystical destiny, and occasionally it’s like pulling the teeth from a running wolf.
"Vessels", 2008, Acrylics on Canvas, 30" x 42", by David Jay Spyker
I have been entranced with waterfall images lately – by “lately” I mean the last few years – and the idea of this space surrounded by an impossibly long and meandering wall of plummeting, rushing water was something I couldn’t get out of my mind. The myriad boats swirling and bobbing about in the swelling waters of this basin symbolize us – humanity as individuals, and as a whole. Each of us is in our own boat (we are the boats), and we all drift about together in the same dangerous and beautiful flow of life.
Carnegie Center for the Arts Competition, 2009
I have a small piece titled “Wave Study” in the 2009 regional competition at the CCA in Three Rivers, Michigan. The Carnegie show is always one of my favorites; it’s such a wonderful old building, they always put on a very nice opening, and there is typically a great selection of art to be seen.
Wave Study, 2008, 5" x 7", Acrylics on Canvas by David Jay Spyker
The Carnegie Center for the Arts/W.R. Monroe Museum utilizes all available exhibition space for a generous showing each year. It also happens that the Carnegie is where I had my first full solo show – at the time, Tom Lowry was the director – so it definitely holds a special spot in my personal artistic history.
The 2009 Regional Juried Arts Show runs January 18 – February 22, and the opening reception and awards ceremony is on Sunday, January 18 from 2-4 pm.
Small Website Update
The Tree, Graphite on Paper, by David Jay Spyker
I finally put some drawings in the drawings section on my website; it’s only a handful, but it’s better than nothing.
I’ve also been playing with a new, clean color scheme, and updating some links. I wanted something more simple so I used whites and very pale greys for the background, and shades of grey for all text and borders. There is still a complete remake of the site in the works one day, which will include some things to make it easier to update, and a clean-up of some other issues that still exist. It will be some time yet before that happens, and maybe someday I will also get around to adding some more paintings.
My other project has been setting up this blog at its new sub-domain. Writings have been transferred over from my original blog, from the news section of davidjayspyker.com (that section no longer exists), and from notebooks and various loose sheets of paper covered in my chicken-scratchings.
The drawings are here.
Addendum: My main website went through a major overhaul in May, 2010, and all drawings have moved to their new listings at www.davidjayspyker.com
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.
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
A Trip to the Art Institute of Chicago
On a recent trip to Chicago we spent several hours in the Art Institute viewing our favorite paintings, and seeing some wonderful, recent acquisitions. It had been a long time since our last visit there – too long, really, maybe two, perhaps three years – and it was an interesting experience. Much of the American art collection had been rearranged, and the place had that weird, alien-yet-familiar feel at first.
In The Sea by Arnold Bocklin (detail)
I say it was an interesting experience because, from my perspective, I knew I would be viewing these pieces through eyes which have been changed by personal study, and through experience as a painter over the past few years. My hope was to see new things, new techniques, and expanded artistic languages and expressions within the layers of paint that hang upon those walls. I was not disappointed.
It is amazing how much a painter can learn about another artist and his techniques by studying his work up close. As I learn more, I come to see more information twinkling in a masterpiece, and the more I see, the more I learn. I find myself wondering what I will see and understand after another decade or two of study and painting.
On this visit, I was paying particular attention to the various representations of water in the American landscapes, and in the more classical realistic works. There was something I sought, and I think that perhaps I found it, but only time at the easel will reveal what fruits will be borne of the experience. I am hoping for a rich harvest.
Remember to visit often the things you love, lest your soul starve, and your heart wither.
~David Jay Spyker
KIA Artbreak Slide Presentation
I will be giving a brief presentation at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 for the KIA’s Artbreak series. It will begin 12:15, and should run approximately twenty minutes. The slides will feature a selection of paintings from 1995 through 2005 as I give my thoughts on each piece.
A Brief Thought on Artistic Community
Recent events in my own life have reminded me of the importance of community between artists. It is all too easy to become insular, isolated, when living as an artist. Our work requires hours of solitary action, observation, and thought, but without creative interaction – between artists, and also between artists and the world at large – there is indeed a certain void in our lives.
