Seascapes, Lakescapes, and Water

"The View Remains"

click to enlarge

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

"A House on the Water"

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1999
Acrylic on Canvas Mounted on Hardboard
7 x 9 in.
Private Collection: Glenn, Michigan

, art, painting, house, dusk, twilight, dawn, sea, lake

"The Cathedral"

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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

"Summer Taking Her Leave"

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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

"Conspirators"

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2002
Acrylic on Hardboard
9 x 10 in.

, art, painting, monks, robed figures, beach, shore, water, fire, night

"The Voyage"

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2002
Acrylic on Hardboard
7 1/2 x 10 in.
Private Collection: Saugatuck, Michigan

, art, painting, ships, boats, sails, tallship, rain, storms, seascapes, water, lightning

"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

"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

"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

"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