Landscapes

"Verge"

"Verge", 2005, Acrylics on Panel, 5 7/8 x 14 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2005
Acrylic on Panel
5 7/8 x 14 in.

, art, painting, mist, fog, trees, monk, robed, solitary, solitude

"Building Empires"

"Building Empires", 1998, Acrylics on Canvas, 34 x 40 in., by David Jay Spyker

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“David Jay Spyker’s ‘Building Empires’, which won the second place prize, is a meticulously detailed image rendered with a quasi-Renaisannce style and palette. The viewer looks through a crumbling window, the ledge of which swarms with bugs and fruit. In the distance is a timeless city on the water’s edge, below an oddly menacing sunset. It’s a strong allegorical painting that, unlike straightforward realism, mystifies more than it clarifies.”

– Amy Sult, from an exhibition review published on Sunday, April 4, 1999 in the Kalamazoo Gazette

1998
Acrylic on Canvas
34 x 40 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

award, art, painting, ruins, dusk, twilight, pomegranates, ants, windows, landscape, shore, water, bay, mortality, history, civilization

2nd Place Award, 1999, Regional Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan

4th Place Award, 1999, 20th Michigan Artists’ Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan

 

"Building Empires" (detail), 1998, Acrylics on Canvas, 34 x 40 in., by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

"A Light Against the Dark"

"A Light Against the Dark", 1997, Acrylics on Canvas, 30 x 12 in., by David Jay Spyker

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1997
Acrylic on Canvas
30 x 12 in.
Collection of the Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan

, art, painting, desert, doorway, surreal, candle, forest, path, sunset, dusk "A Light Against the Dark" (detail), 1997, Acrylics on Canvas, 30 x 12 in., by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

 

"The Haven (In Memory of Martin Maddox, 1954-1997)"

"The Haven (In Memory of Martin Maddox, 1954-1997)", 1998, Acrylics on Panel, 24 x 36 in., by David Jay Spyker

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1998
Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36 in.
Collection of the South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana

award, art, painting, tornadoes, field, storms, fence, house, wind, mortality, death, remembrance, memory, museum, collection

2nd Place Award, 1998, 19th Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan

“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

"The Haven (In Memory of Martin Maddox, 1954-1997)" (detail), 1998, Acrylics on Panel, 24 x 36 in., by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

 

Martin Maddox Website

"The Stone"

"The Stone", 1999, Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard, 9 1/2 x 8 3/8 in., by David Jay Spyker

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1999
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
9 1/2 x 8 3/8 in.

, art, painting, landscape, rock, stone, mist, fog, field

"Heartland (Prospecting for Gold)"

"Heartland (Prospecting for Gold)", 2000, Acrylics on Canvas, 32 x 48 in., by David Jay Spyker

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2000
Acrylic on Canvas
32 x 48 in.
Corporate Collection: Pfizer

award, art, painting, canoes, boats, wheat, field, storms, rain, lightning, telescope, landscape, figures, man, standing

Pharmacia Corporation Purchase Award, 2000, Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan

"Heartland (Prospecting for Gold)" (detail), 2000, Acrylics on Canvas, 32 x 48 in., by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

"Tuesday (May 13, 1980)"

"Tuesday (May 13, 1980)", 2000, Acrylics on Canvas, 12 x 20 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2000
Acrylic on Canvas
12 x 20 in.

, art, painting, tornado, tornadoes, houses, storm, landscape, sky, field

"The Curator’s Choice"

"The Curator's Choice", 2000, Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard, 7 x 9 in., by David Jay Spyker

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2000
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
7 x 9 in.
Private Collection: Dexter, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, man, river, building, night, shore, water, figure, solitary, solitude, alone

"Homestead"

"Homestead", 2000, Acrylics on Hardboard, 9 7/16 x 8 3/8 in., by David Jay Spyker

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2000
Acrylic on Hardboard
9 7/16 x 8 3/8 in.
Private Collection: Wilmette, Illinois

, art, painting, houses, landscape, trees, birds, hawk, clouds, ruins, abandoned, empty, field

“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”

- St. Francis of Assisi

"On the Walk Home"

"On the Walk Home", 2000, Acrylics on Hardboard, 10 x 13 in., by David Jay Spyker

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2000
Acrylic on Hardboard
10 x 13 in.
Collection of the Artist

award, art, painting, landscape, man, tornado, walking, path, field, hills, storms, solitary, alone, solitude

1st Place Award, 2001, Regional Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan

"Hope"

"Hope", 1997, Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard, 6 23/32 x 3 3/4 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarg

1997
Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
6 23/32 x 3 3/4 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

, art, painting, tree, desert, sunset, dusk, landscape

“Hope is a waking dream.”

– Aristotle

"The City"

"The City", 1998, Acrylics on Canvas, 15 x 12 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

1998
Acrylic on Canvas
15 x 12 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

award, art, painting, trees, landscape

Award of Merit, 2000, The Holland Friends of Art 37th Exhibition, Holland Area Arts Council; Holland, Michigan

"The View Remains"

"The View Remains", 1998, Acrylics on Panel, 3 27/32 x 3 1/2 in., by David Jay Spyker

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1998
Acrylic on Panel
3 27/32 x 3 1/2 in.
Private Collection: Glenn, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, dusk, dawn, twilight, shore, river, marsh, hills

"Over the Ridge"

"Over the Ridge", 1998, Acrylics on Hardboard, 2 3/32 x 10 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

1998
Acrylic on Hardboard
2 3/32 x 10 in.
Private Collection: Plainwell, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, dusk, dawn, twilight, hills

"The Place"

"The Place", 1999, Acrylics on Hardboard, 5 3/16 x 2 3/4 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

1999
Acrylic on Hardboard
5 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.
Private Collection: Kalamazoo, Michigan

, art, painting, sky, night, stars, trees, landscape

"Morning Still"

"Morning Still", 1999, Acrylics on Hardboard, 2 1/2 x 10 1/8 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

1999
Acrylic on Hardboard
2 1/2 x 10 1/8 in.
Private Collection: Grand Rapids, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, river, hills, dawn, sunrise, mist, fog, shore, water

"The Cathedral"

"The Cathedral", 1999, Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard, 6 x 7 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

1999
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
6 x 7 in.
Private Collection: Boston, Massachusetts

, art, painting, church, building, river, shore, landscape, hills, water, shore, clouds

We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting.

– Kahlil Gibran

"Standing Alone"

"Standing Alone", 2001, Acrylics on Hardboard, 12 x 10 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2001
Acrylic on Hardboard
12 x 10 in.

art, painting, landscape, man, solitary, solitude, dead, tree, field, clouds
"Standing Alone" (detail), 2001, Acrylics on Hardboard, 12 x 10 in., by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

“In the woods we return to reason and faith.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Summer Taking Her Leave"

"Summer Taking Her Leave", 2001, Acrylics on Canvas, 25 x 20 in., David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2001
Acrylic on Canvas
25 x 20 in.
Private Collection:
Unknown Collector

art, painting, woman, forest, woods, water, stream, autumn, fall, trees, mist, fog, figures, solitary, solitude, alone, change, changing, seasons

"Summer Taking Her Leave" (detail), 2001, Acrylics on Canvas, by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

"The Tower"

"The Tower", 2001, Acrylics on Hardboard, 5 1/2 x 7 15/16 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2001
Acrylic on Hardboard
5 1/2 x 7 15/16 in.
Private Collection: Chicago, Illinois

, art, painting, ruins, ruined, trees, stormy, dark, sky

"Watchers"

"Watchers", 2002, Acrylics on Panel, 5 7/8 x 14 in., David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2002
Acrylic on Panel
5 7/8 x 14 in.

art, painting, winter, snow, storm, monks, robed

"Relocation"

"Relocation", 2004, Acrylics on Canvas, 5 x 7 in., by David Jay Spyker

click to enlarge

2004
Acrylic on Canvas
5 x 7 in.

, art, painting, flying, houses, landscape, storms, tornadoes

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