Acrylic

"Three Islands"

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2002
Acrylic on Hardboard
3 11/16 x 13 in.
Private Collection: Gobles, Michigan

, art, painting, islands, solitary figures, solitude, alone, trees, boats, rowboats, water

"A Late Winter’s Night"

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2005
Acrylic on Canvas Framed in Shadow Box with Twig Segment
8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in. overall

; art, painting, night, winter, snow, moon, lone, solitary, figure

(detail of painting)
Acrylic on Canvas
5 x 4 in.

detail – click to enlarge

"Wave Study"

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2008
Acrylic on Canvas
5 x 7 in.

, art, painting, water, waves, seafoam, foam

"Waiting for the Light"

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2001
Acrylic on Canvas
14 x 10 in. overall
Private Collection: Saugatuck, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, sea, woman, figure, beach, rocks, torch, fire, dawn, morning, shore, water, islands, solitary, solitude, alone

Limited edition prints of this painting are available. Contact the artist for details.

detail – click to enlarge

"Suspended"

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2001
Acrylic on Hardboard
12 x 9 in.
Collection of the Artist

art, painting, red, apples, hanging, string, tied, dangling, darkness, still life

"Adrift"

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2001
Acrylic on Canvas
14 x 24 in.
Private Collection: Saugatuck, Michigan

art, painting, houses, water, rain, storms, seascape, mortality, power of nature, man in nature’s thrall

“‘Adrift’, for instance, depicts a house at the mercy of a sea squall, and the building somehow appears more vulnerable to ruin than a human victim might. ‘ A person has the power to swim’, the artist reflects. ‘It’s not usual to see a house floating in the water. You wonder, how’d it get out there? I like to take a structure out of context, to put it where it doesn’t belong.’ This incongruity prompts the viewer to consider what the house might represent: A person? An idea or belief? A community? All life on Earth (think of Noah’s Ark)? Spyker prefers to leave that question open.”

– Julie York Coppens, from “What Dreams May Come”,
a review of the artist’s solo show
at the South Bend Museum of Art, published on Sunday,
December 21, 2003 in the South Bend Tribune

detail – click to enlarge

"Chryse"

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1995
Acrylic on Copper Panel
5 7/8 x 9 1/4 in.
Private Collection: Montana

, art, painting, shore, night, city, landscape, water

"She Knew It Long Ago (detail)"

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1995
Acrylic on Canvas
Full Painting Measures 35 x 35 in.
Private Collection: Portage, Michigan

, art, painting, megaliths, stones, rocks, woman, sunset, solitude, solitary, alone

"Eveningstar and Silence"

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1995
Acrylic on Panel
4 7/16 x 3 3/8 in.

, art, painting, star, moai, sky

"Einstein’s Sword of Damocles"

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1995
Acrylic on Copper Panel
5 7/8 x 4 3/8 in.
Private Collection: Murfreesboro, Tennessee

art, painting, atomic bomb, stone, rock, shadow, landscape, night, moon, leaves, fire, nuclear

"This Barrier That Only I Embrace"

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1996
Acrylic on Panel
24 x 21 in.
Private Collection: Antioch, Tennessee

, art, painting, wall, key, window, door, sea, water, still life

"Fear, Courage, Sanctuary"

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1996
Acrylic on Panel
12 x 9 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

, art, painting, tornado, tornadoes, landscape, bird, house, ladder, storms, trees, wind

"Passage Through Vertigo"

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1996
Acrylic on Copper Panel
5 3/4 x 8 7/8 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

, art, painting, sky, sea, ocean, doorway, path, door, hovering, floating, clouds

"Which Side of the Wall?"

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1996
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
5 3/8 x 11 1/2 in.
Private Collection: Holland, Michigan

, art, painting, landscape, stone, wall, hills, field

"The Parlor"

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1996
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Panel, Nylon Monofilament, and Skeleton Steel Key in a Custom Shadow Box
14 x 10 in. overall
Private Collection: Portage, Michigan

award, art, painting, spider, web, hanging, still life, key, mixed media

Award of Merit, 1997, 18th Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan (Juror: Julia Muney Moore, Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services, Indianapolis Art Center)

Center Piece: Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Panel
5 1/8 x 2 1/8 in.

â€œWill you step into my parlor?â€ said the spider to the fly;
â€œâ€™Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.â€
â€œO no, no,â€ said the little fly, â€œto ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can neâ€™er come down again.â€

– from “The Spider and the Fly”, by Mary Howitt

"The Parlor", 1996, Acrylics on Canvas Mounted on Panel (detail), by David Jay Spyker

detail – click to enlarge

"The Cycle"

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1996
Acrylic on Egg Shell
Image c. 2 x 1/2 in. in.
Collection of the Artist

, art, painting, egg, life, old, age, landscape, man, walking, cane, mortality, death, cycle of life

"I Pray for Rain"

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1996
Acrylic on Canvas
44 x 22 in.
Collection of the Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan

award, art, painting, fire, burning, house, island, boat, rowboat, boat, bucket, night, museum, collection

Best of Show Award, 1997, 10th Michigan Art Competition, Holland Area Arts Council; Holland, Michigan (Juror: Jerry Peart)

2nd Place Award, 1998, 19th Michigan Artist’s Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan (Juror: Tim Lowly)

“I Pray for Rain and The Haven are two of the most powerful pieces to be included in the show. They are haunting, violent pieces that very effectively convey a sense of despairing loss and destruction. The viewer will find himself unable to look away from these highly charged and emotional pieces.”– Roxanne Barry,
from “Artist’s Competition shouldn’t be missed”,
published Sunday, July 19, 1998; Battle Creek Enquirer