Ron Nordyke - July Artist of the Month

On display at the Sidney Public Library and the Cheyenne County Community Center until Aug 10^th are paintings by Ron Nordyke of Chappell.  Some of the paintings at the Center are from a series of “hand, quilt and sky” pieces called the Time-Life Quilt series.  Each painting expresses a time of day which coincides with a time of life.  For example a 6:00 a.m. sky and the hand of a newborn on a baby blanket quilt.  A 9:00 p.m. sunset with the hand of a his 84 year old Mother-in-law on a “States Quilt” with her hand across the Nebraska block, a state where she was born and raised.  Her hand showing the signs of a life of endless working, cooking, loving, writing, washing, serving, dancing and somewhat reshaped by the presence of arthritis.  This series of paintings appear to be landscapes.  

 

"Life's Little Ups and Downs"

As a small child all Nordyke dreamed of being was an artist.  After graduating with a BFA from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Ron spent over twenty years in the upholstery business with his wife Dianne.   In 1992 he began a new career teaching Art for the Chappell Nebraska Public Schools giving him incentive and more time to paint.   Since then he has focused on painting many subjects, commissions, and murals mainly in acrylics.

     Recognized regionally for his “Landscape Quilt” paintings Ron Nordyke is continually using the juxtaposition of objects and ideas to create visual metaphors in his works.   Whether he’s working with his art students on a community project, on a commission, or his own work,  he’s searching for “meaning”.   A love of art has kept him searching and creating with his hands since he was a small child.   His works don’t actually fit into any category. He enjoys the awesome beauty of a sky, a landscape, a face, or just something old, weathered, and worn.  In some ways they are a lot like the quilts he paints; a little piece of this and a scrap of that.  Just as quilts are laid out in patterns of simple repeating shapes, his art has some of these themes that reoccur regularly,… and life is a lot like that.  Looking for ways to visually express the overlapping of the “natural” God-created world and the “man-made world” fuels his artistic fire.

   Like a composer of music he’s looking for that “hook” that will cause you to look and think deeper.  In his own words, “I like to think I’m portraying our common  heritage by way of visual images.”  Many of these ideals are universal: the value of  hard work and fine craft; the virtue and strength of character that comes from age; the freedom and energy of youth; the awesome regenerating power of faith; the magnificent beauty and diversity of creation; even the thoughts and emotions linked to images from our collective past.  He uses common ordinary objects and presents them in thought provoking compositions creating visual metaphors.  In addition to Ron Nordyke's display of artwork at the Sidney Public Library and the Cheyenne County Community Center more of his artwork can be viewed at rnordyke.com.