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1999
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Landscape
"Progress for All…"
"Winter Murder"
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detail – click to enlarge 2012, Acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 42 in. Southwest Michigan Watercolor Society Award, 2013, Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan |
"Summer Taking Her Leave, Pre-Study"
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2001 Study drawings for “Summer Taking Her Leave” – a page from one of the artist’s bound sketchbooks. |
"Wyeth Tree"
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2010 A study piece based on the woods in one of Andrew Wyeth’s Helga paintings. |
"Quarry"
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2011
Drybrush and Watercolor on Paper 22 1/2 x 15 in.
detail – click to enlarge |
"Homeward"
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2011 |
"Channel"
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2011 |
"Trout Run Rock Fall"
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2010
Watercolor and Drybrush on Paper (Lanaquarelle 140 lb. Cold Pressed) 12 x 12 in. |
"Northbound"
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2010
Watercolor and Drybrush on Paper (Arches 300 lb. Cold Pressed) 21 x 28 3/4 in.
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"Until There Is Nothing Left"
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1999
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard 8 x 13 in. |
"Hope, Sketchbook Study"
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1997
Graphite on Paper c. 5 1/2 in. high Collection of the Artist
Preliminary study for the painting “Hope” – excerpt from one of the artist’s bound sketchbooks.
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"Approaching Storm (A Landscape Study)"
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2009
Acrylic on Canvas 7 x 9 in. Private Collection: Ceresco, Michigan
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"Niagara"
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2009
Acrylic Wash, Drybrush, and Paint on Cotton Watercolor Paper 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.
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"Someday"
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2005
Acrylic on Hardboard 3 15/16 x 5 15/16 in. Private Collection: Kalamazoo, Michigan |
"Building Empires"
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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 |
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1998
Acrylic on Canvas 34 x 40 in. Private Collection: Holland, Michigan
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
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"The Haven (In Memory of Martin Maddox, 1954-1997)"
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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 |
detail – click to enlarge
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"The Stone"
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1999
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard 9 1/2 x 8 3/8 in. |
"Heartland (Prospecting for Gold)"
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2000
Acrylic on Canvas 32 x 48 in. Corporate Collection: Pfizer |
| Pharmacia Corporation Purchase Award, 2000, Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan |
detail – click to enlarge |
"Tuesday (May 13, 1980)"
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2000
Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 20 in. |
"Waiting for the Tide"
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2000
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard 12 x 10 in. Private Collection: Saugatuck, Michigan |
"The Curator’s Choice"
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2000
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard 7 x 9 in. Private Collection: Dexter, Michigan |
