Steven Rhude - Paintings/Drawings

https://www.emmabutler.com/2020-Holiday.htm   "I dislike neatness, or a pictorial order that doesn't quantify mystery. I dislike the encroachment of vinyl siding, sanitization, clean up crews - the modernist forensic and sanitizer. I prefer the scene of the crime, the mess, the clutter. For years we have delighted in hiding the evidence." - Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS   Boat Shed, oil on masonite, 16" x 20", Steven Rhude   Battery Woman, oil on masonite, 16" x 20", Steven Rhude

                                      Who was Roxanne?   We know one thing for sure; a myth originated in the Canso, NS area during WW2 about a local prostitute who was bemoaning the downturn in business since most of the available men had gone overseas to fight. An idea occurred to Roxanne to spread a rumor that a German sub had been spotted off the shores of Canso, Nova Scotia. This caused great concern since the Commercial Cable building in near by Hazel hill was a major communications link with Europe. The rumor quickly spread up through the ranks and extra Canadian troops were sent in to protect the facility. Naturally, business improved for Roxanne, and her myth grew after the war. I named her Roxanne after the famous pop song by the Police - “Roxanne”. The painting is an oil on panel, 18" x 13", with an antique frame restored...

                                                   Grates Cove, Ship of Theseus, Steven Rhude   Artist: This your boat? Man: It was. Artist : you build it? Man: sure did. Artist: you fished with it? Man: quite a while. Artist: did it always look like this... you know it seems modified? Man: Many times over, was wood and such, now fibreglass. Artist: Got a new one? Man: Yep. Artist: why? Man: don't know... just do. Things change. Artist: what going to happen to this one? Man: You tell me. Time was a boat was more important than a car.

Greenwich is a Canadian rural community located in eastern Kings County , Nova Scotia . It was previously known as Noggins Corner, as travelers could procure a noggin of rum at a local public house. The community is bordered to the south by the Wolfville Ridge, immediately west of the town of Wolfville and east of the village of New Minas . It is also bordered on the north by the south bank of the Cornwallis River (also known as Chijekwtook), opposite the village of Port Williams . Greenwich Woman, oil on masonite, 16" x 20", Steven Rhude

“Basically, I believe the world is a jungle, and if it's not a bit of a jungle in the home, a child cannot possibly be fit to enter the outside world.” ― Bette Davis                                         Blue Beach, oil on masonite, 12" x 14", Steven Rhude                                                              Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS

Ochre Pit Couple, oil on masonite, 12" x 12", Steven Rhude  He first became acquainted with that rebel place through an invitation. Like a potent drug it only took one hit and his addiction was complete. It appeared in his dreams, sometimes while listening to the car radio, or watching the telly, in distracting conversations, or in a glance from one of his children, and it appeared in strange and tangential ways, through his paintings created for the most part, far away from their inspirational origins. He came to believe that the real artist was memory itself; that the recollection of his time there was in and of itself a work of art... albeit an unfaithful record. Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS 

Lovers, Blomidon, oil on masonite, 12" x 24", Steven Rhude Lovers, Blomidon Love. One word that describes so many complex emotions and states. Physical love, spiritual love, elicit love, brotherly and sisterly love, parental love, love of spouse, family, community, country, place. Love of town and city. Love of nature - land and sea. The list goes on and on. However, the overview of our lives as individuals usually is composed around the nature of love.  Love suspends time, and thus how we arrange our insight into love is often revelatory. When I gestured in this painting, the couple kissing were more visible. As the painting progressed they became more enmeshed and tangled within the landscape - the warmth of the landscape imbuing the couple’s love for each other. Steven Rhude, NS

The shape and symbol of a circle (Tondo meaning round in Italian) has fascinated painters for centuries. Most marvel at its unity and historic journey echoing our relationship with those matters of the spirit. And yet, a circle within a square conveys the spirit within the physical world - the four points of the square inferring the points of the compass. As an early Renaisance principle, western painters continue today to use the Tondo whether they're conscious of its origins or not; origins that go back thousands of years in the visual language of man. The circle also conveys the concept of a cycle. The life cycle for instance, or something as evident as the cycle of a day, a week, or a year. Seven Days in the Valley is just that simple. The implications of selecting a single observation from a single day in the cycle of a week inspired these works. The inherent suggestion of the spirit in each work is yours to determine or reject. Things have all changed now as we become (hop...

Portrait of Callum (The Hobbiton, New Zealand), o/c, 36" x 48" private collection   Here's a recent commissioned oil portrait of an Acadia University student. “I come from under hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen…I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number…I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me…I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am barrel-rider.” - Bilbo the Brave Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS

http://www.harvestgallery.ca/ Girl and Valley, oil on masonite, 34" x 48", Steven Rhude We've all had that feeling more or less of returning home. There are signifiers for those who are familiar with, and travel the traditional routes... like in our case when a highway approach shifts under a diagonal bridge as Blomidon comes into view - it can still mesmerize as one kindles a cultural relevance from a distance, of a sliver of clay that has commanded so much from us. However, there is also the idea of the valley as a new home to someone indescribable... she could be from Ethiopia for all we know, as she ponders what... a biennial which grows, in its second year, from a taproot (the carrot) to a height of two to four feet? It is by all means radical. Her language has been eclipsed, but not lost to her subconscious, that is a field with Queen Ann's lace and the articulation of a distant hillside. She has several siblings now and is comfortably at home. ...

Boat and Fence, Cape Spear, oil on canvas, 37" x 49",private collection St. John's. Leaving the Air B&B in the morning - headed down King Street. A woman, blue house coat, goofy slippers, smoking a cigarette with her coffee, standing in a doorway. He nods good morning. Same day, evening, more walking, same woman, jeans, tan linen shirt, smoking a cigarette with her wine. Newly opened bottle by the door. Woman: "Saw you go past here a few times now. You must walk a lot, you're wearin out my side walk."  Nova Scotia: "Yes, touring the city and area."  Woman: "Wheres you belong?" Nova Scotia: "Sorry?" Woman: "Where you from?" (emphasis on from)  Nova Scotia: "Oh, Nova Scotia"  Woman: "Ah... New Scotland, didn't like the old one?" Nova Scotia: "Sorry?" Woman: "You apologize a lot" Nova Scotia: "Oh, I get it, ya sorry" Woman: Well Nova Scotia, car...

Horse, Church, Cheverie, oil on canvas, 48" x 48", private collection My first contact with the horse as a subject in painting was as a kid when I came across a George Stubbs reproduction of a lion attacking a horse; a viscous attack on the nature of spirit. Later, Da Vinci's Battle of Anghiari studies/drawings caught my attention in a monograph on his life's work. Subsequently, as an adult at art college, the riderless horse that made Kennedy's funeral at Arlington Cemetery so dramatic, was once discussed in class by John Gould - we were riveted by the historical account he proffered to us. The church in Cheverie is in reality down the road from this location. The horse was a Grey Hanoverian that turned white as it aged. Cheverie speaks for itself. Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS.