Douglas Rutzen Line of Sight Paintings

06/18/2024

02/11/2020

Seven examples of 2019 work. The subjects are taken from rural Illinois or northern Minnesota. Thanks so much to friends and family who are interested in what I'm doing. If anyone would like more information, [email protected] is a better way to reach me than is Facebook.

03/06/2019

The second painting bought by the Great River Medical Center for display in their main conference room Is “Along and Across.”

The body of water featured is the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa. The Mississippi marks the historical division of American east and west.

Like the larger painting, this one is also about juxtapositions:

The title and inclusion of a boat and the BNSF railroad bridge refer to the geographic and historic significance of the river as both a barrier/boundary and a transportation corridor.

The cool side of the picture (the far side of the river) is Illinois, and the warm side of the painting, (the viewer’s vantage point), is Iowa. The organizing color idea is contrasting silver and gold.

12/31/2017

Happy New Year! I pray that 2018 will be a year of great blessing for you, even in the hardships that will inevitably come.
Posted here are images from ten paintings done by me in 2017. Caveats:1.One was done in late 2016 but no image of it has been posted. 2. Two others are paintings that I seriously reworked in 2017 to their great benefit. All but one of the pieces represented are relatively small (although two are roughly 30" square). They are grouped here by subject matter of water or flora.

04/25/2017

The painting “Chromatic Hours,” (2015, 96”x60”) is of a north woods birchstand. The location is in far northern Minnesota along the Ash River Road. The focus of this particular painting is the spectrum and the simple fact that blue and yellow make green (in pigmented, reflected light). The composition consists of two overlapping squares: a blue one and a yellow one.

The overall dimensions of the painting, the placement of the two main vertical divisions and the horizon are derived from the ancient Greek theory of the Golden Section. This concept is thought by many to form an ideal of beauty through the use of pleasing proportions, (1/1.62, or 5/8). I particularly enjoy working with the Golden Section concept because of its’ interesting use of the square (1/1).

It is the intent of all my work to use different elements of God’s creation to gently remind viewers of the fact that we are all made by God in His image, and that we live in the natural environment that He created for our benefit. Most of the paintings I do concentrate on expressing a little bit of the qualities and glory of light. So the painting “Chromatic Hours” isn’t so much about birch trees and ferns as it is about the Light that illuminates the world. The spectrum is used to suggest the different “feel” of the daily progression of time. So the picture starts out with the cool morning and ends with afternoon warmth. The shadows in each section differ in direction to suggest the idea of the viewer standing in one place as the earth revolves on its axis.

04/20/2017

Genesis Medical Center East, in Davenport, Iowa, is opening a large new hospital, for which they bought alot of original artwork. Included in their new collection are two large paintings for which I claim responsibility. These are installed at opposite corners of their main lobby/waiting area, near the main entrance. This is a huge honor, and was arranged and executed by the Quad Cities Arts organization. The same group is also responsible for the singularly beautiful rotating displays of artwork at the Quad Cities Airport. (My work was included in a show there a year ago). The larger painting is entitled "Chromatic Hours,." The smaller one is entitled "Anticipating a Mansion in the Father's House." Besides the reference to John 14:2, this is the view that Dad and Mom enjoyed for the many years they lived on Bear Island Lake near Ely, Minnesota.

02/16/2017

A view from my school bus. Twice every school day I get to drive through the ever changing, but always beautiful Mississippi valley in western Illinois with about 50 friends on board. The growing light of dawn and diminishing light of late afternoon are what I choose as subjects for paintings. However, we often see deer, eagles, coyotes, wild turkeys, geese, cattle and chickens as well. This painting, "Winter Woods Light," was chosen for inclusion in this year's "Galex" juried show at the Galesburg Civic Art Center. 106 artists submitted images of their work this year, and work from 50 people was selected. The show opens Friday, March 3rd from 5-7. It will be up for the entire month.

11/18/2016

What's going on here? The 2016 members show at the Burlington Art Center (Iowa) opened last night (Thursday, 11/17) with a lot of people enjoying a lot of high quality art work and the beautiful music of a jazz trio called "Play by Ear." The paintings "Along and Across" and "Autumn Allelleluia" can be easily viewed from the sidewalk outside.

11/16/2016

Regarding the inscription on the back of the painting "This Middle Earth:"
The person who bought it out of the October Burlington Gallery show is a Tolkien fan and wanted my favorite passage from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (the books, not the movies). I couldn't narrow it down to one, but chose three that speak to the fact of life that the reality in which we are right now is necessarily in-between greater realities. For example, every generation is in-between other generations; the present is in between past and future; the fact that we are made by God in His image requires that we are accountable to our Maker and live between heaven or hell.
Visually, the painting was first meant to be overlapping squares of the opposite colors yellow and purple. The submerged rock is an image of potential calamity. The surface of the lake carries the idea of the middle, in between hidden peril and a dramatic sky.
The Inscription
“It was not Gollum, Frodo, but the Ring itself that decided things… Behind that there was something else at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master…Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.” Gandalf explaining the history of the One Ring to Frodo. “Fellowship of the Ring,” Chapter 2, “The Shadow of the Past,” p. 65

“Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more…” Gildor the elf to Frodo, when a group of elves happened upon Frodo, Sam and Pippen, inadvertently saving them from a Black Rider. “Fellowship of the Ring,” Chapter Three, “Three Is Company,” p. 93

“Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” Bilbo to Frodo, expressing sorrow for the dangerous task that became Frodo’s.
“Fellowship of the Ring,” Book II, Chapter !, “Many Meetings,” p.244

“Thou knowest ‘tis common, - all that live must die, passing through nature to eternity.”
William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act I, Queen Gertrude to Prince Hamlet

“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day…So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” II Corinthians 4:16,18 (NIV)

11/13/2016

Anita and I delivered two new paintings for the Burlington Gallery Members Show (November 17 - December 31). Also included is a photo of a painting made for donation to the Burlington Fine Arts League for their annual GALA silent auction.

10/13/2016

The show at the Burlington Gallery has a different look with the addition of another large picture, entitled "Chromatic Hours." It was on display at "Root's Brew Shop" in Grand Rapids for the 2016 Artprize event.