"Particularly impressive is 'The Haven', a piece that employs the most severe of Midwestern weather phenomena as allegory. The piece was painted in response to the passing of Spyker's friend and mentor, Martin Maddox. It shows a simple farmhouse, windows lit but shades drawn. Its white clapboard seem to glow in the dark scenery, and it's anchored in a field with grass that swirls like waves beneath a boiling, menacing sky that is spouting twin tornadoes. It's hard to decide whether the occupants of the house are truly in a state of guarded safety or if the shades are drawn in a state of obliviousness to the impending danger, an uncertainty that adds an extra air of mystery and edginess to a compelling painting."

- Amy Sult, from "Regional flavor prevails in Carnegie Center competition",
published on Sunday, April 12, 1998 in the Kalamazoo Gazette