Steven Rhude - Paintings/Drawings

                                                   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