Poetry Politics Thoughts: Inauguration Poetry
by David Jay Spyker
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Inauguration of Hope
America Waits
Waiting,
A breath held for fear of exhalation,
Perchance to dare,
to hope again.
Frozen,
The paralysis of fear begets timid inaction.
Breathe!
Move!
~ David Jay Spyker
~~~~~~~
Congratulations, President Obama.
You have shown us the audacity of hope, now show us its tenacity. Be that beacon of honesty and wise leadership, which we so desperately need to see shining at the head of our nation.
Above all, always remember, your greatest strength lies in your ability to inspire others to action, goodness, and greatness. Never let us forget that change for the good of all begins with the individual – that each one of us can find a way to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us.
Art Exhibitions: Art Competition Exhibition Painting
by David Jay Spyker
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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
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?
Art Artistic Motivations: Birds Painting Skull
by David Jay Spyker
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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.