Realism / Surrealism Fine Art
 
Ryl Mandus
contemporary narratives
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About the art:

I loiter in fine art museums to gape in awe at the masters' works and study their palettes, compositions and brush strokes.  Often I'm 'harumphed' at by museum guards who think that maybe three inches between my nose and the painting behind the stanchions is just a little too close.  [Did you know that "harumph" in Danish sounds just like "harumph" in English?]

Whether working in oils, acrylics, or mixed media, I try to match medium to the intended atmosphere of my paintings.  I prefer to paint on surfaces with texture, something with tooth to it.  If the painting surface hasn't got sufficient texture, I'll give it more by applying on either a heavy gel medium or a quick-curing gesso, or by impasto.

It's not what you look at, it's what you see.  -- Henry David Thoreau 


Usually I work alone in the studio, with the exception of the family cats who always seem to be on the wrong side of any closed door.  I need music to work by that echoes the nature of the current artwork: jazz, classical, flamenco, good ol' rock'n'roll, rhythm 'n' blues, or movie sound tracks - guitarist John Williams, Sting, Paco Peña, Seal, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, John Lee Hooker, Danny Elfman, Django Reinhardt and Carl Stalling are among my old favorites.

For the compositions, I draw mostly on my own memories, dreams and nightmares.  I confess a passion for research and tangent-chasing, leading me to see remarkable parallels between the various world mythologies.  Humanity's forbidden and lesser known histories have always beckoned to me, and I try to peel back the veneers imposed upon civilization and the human psyche to see what lies beneath them, working to decipher what I find there using the tools of symbol, metaphor, and archetype.
 
 

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

-- Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends 


 
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