Recent Paintings, May - October 2017

Three Zombies, September 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, three panels, each 6x18 inches, $165.

The first real painting done after the DC trip, and a suggestion of the new approach applied to figurative works. I want them kept spare as possible, lack identity, and have more attention given to how the paint is applied to the surfaces then suggesting a narrative.

What follows runs in rough chronological order from May through late October 2017. Please note that all prices are for gallery reference only: None of these works are currently for sale, and my hope is to keep them together as a body of work for an exhibit in the spring of 2018.

Dutch Interior, May 2017, 4x7 inches, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood.

$85

Trees and Fungi, August 2017, acrylics on wood, 6x7 inches.

$95

Rain and Mist, August 2017, acrylics on wood, 6x7 inches.

$95

Forest With Rain, August 2017, acrylics on wood, 3x6 inches.

$75

Buildings and Heat (1), August 2017, acrylics on wood, 4x5 inches.

$75

Buildings and Heat (2), August 2017, 5x5 inches.

$85

Street View (1), August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 4x6 inches.

$110

Street View (2), August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 4x6 inches

$110

Babylon in Steel, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on masonite, 12x12 inches.

$185

14th and Florida (1), August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on masonite, 4x8 inches.

$115

Overhead Gridwork, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on luan, 6x8 inches.

$115

Museums and Cathedrals, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on masonite, 5x8 inches.

$125

Chinatown Gate at G, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on masonite, 6x8 inches.

$125

Chair With View, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on masonite, 12x12 inches.

$165

Eclipse Day, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on plywood, 9x32 inches.

$245

Heathaze, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on paper, 16x36 inches.

$295 (unframed), $425 (framed).

Night and Day at the 711, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 5x7 inches.

$110

14th and Florida (Diptych), August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 9x14 inches.

$145

14th and Florida (Tryptic), August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 16x14 inches.

$185

Neon Night, August 2017, acrylics on wood, overall 11x24 inches.

$195

Last Sunset, August 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on luan, 6x6 inches.

$85

Girders and Fog, October 2017, acrylics on masonite, 8x6 inches.

$90

Golf Course Trees, October 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 7x7 inches.

$115

Water Hazard, October 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, overall 18x16 inches.

$215

Sheba's Park (1), October 2017, acrylics on wood, 8 inches.

$145

Sheba's Park (2), October 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 8 inches.

$145

Primordial Accretion Mass, October 2017, acrylics on wood, overall 16x16 inches.

$265

Horizons, October 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, approx. 8x10 inches.

$195

Clark's Reservation (1), October 2015, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 2x6 inches.

$95

Red Fish Ship, October 2015, acrylics and watercolor crayon on wood, 7 inches.

$125

The Utica Swamp, October 2015, acrylics on wood, 6 inches.

$95

BONUS PAINTING: Castle Squonkenstein (1), October 2017, acrylics and watercolor crayon on insulation board, 24x24 inches.

$350

All prices are for gallery reference only -- None of these works are for sale at this time.

"What I Did With My Summer Vacation" by Steve Nyland

Early August getaway to a Fortress of Solitude in the Adirondack Mountains. It rained two of the three days we were there and I loved every minute.

I did find some time to do a little painting with mom and produced three very small, very simple works which suggested directions to pursue once I was able to clear my mind of concern for other people's artwork.

More traveling later in August, taking a picture inside the car with the flash on here and by jove if it isn't totally cool. I will also forever get to joke about how I missed a turn and ended up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Just the name is guaranteed a chuckle.

Enjoying basking in the sun over Washington DC with my crayons melting in the heat, which produced a marvelously unique texture when combined with half congealed 90 degree acrylic gel tar. 

Excuse for the visit was dog sitting, and I produced 23 small to medium paintings over the course of six days. This after not having "painted for real" since January.

The catalytic event: Encountering Thomas Hart Benton's mammoth "Achelous and Hercules" (1947) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which completely blew my mind. Not just for the complex nature and sublime beauty of the composition, but because he had used pretty much exactly the same palette I'd chosen with my melting crayons three days prior. 

Standing there in front of this monster convinced me I was onto something, a feeling I had not enjoyed since conceptualizing the "Fun In Space" exhibit almost a year prior. Knowing inside that this moment was going to lead to something bigger than my wildest dreams or my current capacities. New methods would need to be learned and latent skills honed to a professional sheen. I'm not there yet by a long shot but my confidence in myself as an artist has been restored and it started here. I know what I want to see, and that I am the only artist who can cultivate the vision which germinated during this encounter. 

Have followed up by watching every Italian made "Hercules" type movie at my disposal to better understand the mythos of the character, and eventually conceptualized a worthy narrative response suggested by a passage of music from 1971 by Genesis -- I've begun work on it but am keeping my yap shut until I'm sure it will rule. The artworks which follow are preparatory gestures involving putting new concerns about surfaces & textures in line with the picture-making. I want the paint to have more of a voice as well. My focus at current is to stop forcing my ideas onto the surfaces and allow the images to evolve, like thousands of meteorites glomming together into an accretion mass upon which life might evolve if given the right care.

Yet more of my melted crayon colors. My verdict on the installation?

"One grant well spent."

Utilizing the DC skyline as a study on vertical forms during an incredible afternoon of drawing on the roof. Construction cranes and visualizing the Heathaze blanketing the city became recurring themes in certain efforts.

I also got to meet with Washington DC based Curator & Critic Joan Dare, who took me on a tour of the Smithsonian's new Native American museum just across the street from our nation's Capitol. Above is artist Jenna North's video documentation of the interview and excursion.

Symbiotic thinking.

From the return voyage.

Evaluating the initial results back in mom's dining room in Syracuse.

Click Here for a closer look at them & what came after.