Clyde Aspevig | Landscape Painter | Aspevig - Guzman Fine Art
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Artist Statement on "Family Ties"

2/8/2017

13 Comments

 
Picture
"Family Ties"     48” x 48”
 oil on linen by Clyde Aspevig
 
All paintings originate in the mind of an artist through an emotional reaction to an experience. Being human, we like to impose our ideas on these emotions as a way to enhance and remember the experience.

Transcending the ordinary is one of the primary goals of the visual arts, and that is why the" idea "becomes the most essential part of its success or failure. It doesn't mean that the viewer of such art immediately understands the symbolism or metaphors that take shape in the process of developing an idea… it means that the artist uses the tools of technique in a more meaningful and profound way that will hopefully entice further inspection and wonderment.
 
FAMILY TIES, a 48 x 48 inch oil on linen, began as an emotional reaction to the view of the aspen grove out our window. Aspen are considered a weed, and they are attached to each other via a root system like our own human nervous system. The mother tree in this scene is the nurturing source of the grove.  My last name is also derived from the word aspen. In a way, I see the tree as my mother, rooted in the earth that sustains us. After living with the grove for a full season on our new property, I chose March as the month to paint the view…. on the edge of spring, but still melancholy enough to satisfy my Nordic roots.
 
I think the metaphors attached to the seasons in nature are obvious, but never boring, and constantly stirring our emotions in different ways as evident in our music, poetry, and fiction writing over time. The little aspen grove begins to inspire new thoughts and ideas as I experienced the character of its nuances through the seasons. During my period of observation, I noticed the repeating shapes in different forms …fractals, musicality, and the duality between the representational world and the birth of the abstract as another way to see the same image.
 
At the time I was developing these ideas, I just happened to be reading a book about the history of Echoes from the ancient Greeks to modern time. Trying to paint the idea of an echo on a flat, two dimensional surface using an aspen grove as the subject was very intriguing. Creating texture and scratching out surfaces in a painting to achieve an effect is nothing new. It's been done before. But using the idea of an echo to facilitate your image created a more powerful platform to express my idea. You can create soft and hard edges and a lot of texture all day long, but it has to have content of idea in order to become engaging to the human mind.
When you examine the surface texture of “FAMILY TIES”, you will see the ghosts of where the branches and trunks of trees were over a period of time…. their echo. The branches, the snow, and the sky are scratched, scrapped, and painted in layers…representing movement through time.
 
I think you can sense the vibrations, the syncopation, the sensuousness, of a living piece of land. It is not static, it is moving through time in an endless cycle of growth and change. I tried to make each square inch of the canvas an individual journey of discovery that exudes these ideas.
 
In the end, whether the idea succeeds or not depends on how far the viewer wants to go with it. Ultimately, the glance through an aspen grove can be just a brief visual delight …. but, with a little help from the artist, it can also evolve into a wonderful journey of discovery and imagination.
 
Clyde Aspevig
13 Comments
Ralph Oberg link
2/8/2017 01:50:14 pm

Thanks Clyde. You have deepend my appreciation of that painting with these thoughts. I now have an intellectual sense of what I was feeling as I enjoyed the strictly visual pleasure of standing before it.

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mike schaefer
2/9/2017 11:05:44 pm

this view has a warm feeling that pulls me into it. thanks Clyde.

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Claudia Davis link
4/4/2017 11:44:07 am

I have ordered all your recommended books. Your paintings create a depth of emotion I can only aspire to.

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Bob Kahler link
8/14/2017 06:18:53 pm

Inspiring. I can feel the cold tempered by the warmth of the approaching sun. I was so fortunate to come across an article on you at the beginning of my own artistic journey more than 20 years ago. It featured your on location studies and you discussing how you learned through on location painting. It was inspiring and encouraging and offered hope when it was needed most. Thank you.

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Ralph Oberg link
8/15/2017 06:00:38 am

There is so much more than simple imagery in your work, your exploration of the intellectual and emotional in art elevates your work above the masses. Thanks for all the insights over the years.

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Andrea rumpel link
8/19/2017 11:00:05 am

I had a dream once of paint flowing all around and through the aspens with a yellow light on the horizon pulling me forward with both curiosity and awe. Love rhis painting. Found you on pinttest. I am looking for someone to help me further in oil painting technique. I am self taught and need something extra to push me into thr next level and toward where I see myself as a painter. Any tips for someone in the Missoula area? I love the symbology as narrative to the image in your painting. Thank you

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marilyne stotz
12/3/2017 11:11:05 am

Your bringing together of a philosophic way of seeing things, and your poetic expression-in words and on canvas, are so helpful.

Also, thanks to your wife's blog; 'land snorkeling' I have a way of explaining my crazy looking habits. There is beauty in everything, if you're willing to look close enough, hard enough, or from a different perspective.

Your recommendation of Carlson's book didn't hurt either!

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Avery link
5/8/2019 06:09:28 pm

Love your art

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Dane Sellers
11/25/2022 10:16:30 pm

I know you posted this way back in 2017, but I couldn't help but to comment on it! Absolutely incredible painting and words to describe it, Clyde! As someone with Scandinavian roots, I can connect to the melancholy mood you displayed in this painting.

I admire the fact that you are able to capture a scene most artists wouldn't even think of painting, such as this one. Most artists wouldn't even include the aspen grove but instead, just the dramatic light and color from the trees in the background.

I just turned 18 a couple of weeks ago. I have highly admired your work for years now. You, along with Scott Christensen and Jim Wilcox, have been the greatest influences in the artistic part of my life. With hard work and the desire to capture the West, my goal is to be half as talented as you.

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Clyde and his wife - Carol Guzman - both paint under Aspevig Guzman Fine Art
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