SPALENKA EYE

I am honored to announce that I produced art for the new Danaë Xanthe Vlasse album, MYTHOLOGIES II. I created the cover art and inside illustrations for her first Grammy winning MYTHOLOGIES album two years ago. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs on this second version to great effect. I know everyone is hoping for another Grammy nod.

Sopranos Sangeeta Kaur and Hila Plitmann embody iconic characters from ancient Greece. Here Sangeeta represents Medusa, a beautiful priestess devoted to the goddess Athena who was transformed into a Gorgon, played by Hila. 

Greek mythology has persisted for thousands of years because those stories speak fundamental truths about the human condition and what we value in society. 

The above image reflects the Andromeda composition. In the story, Queen Cassiopeia offended Poseidon (the god of the sea) when she boasted of her daughter Andromeda’s beauty. Poseidon reacted by sending a deluge of tides and a sea monster named Cetus to ravage the land as a penalty. An oracle predicted that the kingdom might be spared from starvation if Princess Andromeda is sacrificed to the sea serpent.

Here I show Perseus arriving on Pegasus for the showdown.

All images were conceptualized and designed, then produced using photographic reference, Photoshop, AI elements and a heavy dose of evolving happy accidents.

More images were created and these will most likely be shown in a follow up album. 

 I Am The Sun- Redux II

The evolutionary process of exploring and making art has been at the forefront of my forty plus year career even while working for big publishing companies or in the film industry. Trying new techniques, methods and technologies are ways to challenge myself and find unique ways to express my soul in physical form. 

AI is a new tech that has received a mixed welcome in the context of how it generates images by sourcing trillions of art and photography pixels. People ask me if I am afraid of being ripped off by AI and how do I feel about all the artists whose art these AI programs were trained on?

#1. As soon as an artist's work becomes digital in any format you are vulnerable and there is really no way to completely protect yourself at that point. You can copyright your art, but try to sue someone in another country.

#2. I am so utterly in competition with myself (as an artist/educator), I pay no attention to people, companies or bots using a part of my art or my style for other purposes. It is not worth my time or energy. I am too damn busy! That being said, if one of my copyrighted pieces of art was used straight up without my permission to sell a product etc. that is where I draw the line.

We are all standing on the shoulders of creative giants, AI is standing our shoulders, artists will stand on AI... it’s the history of art. 

What is the solution? Focus on making great art, all the time. Period.

Which brings me to my NEW Limited Edition Redux Print Series! 

These are existing images of mine that I bring into an AI program then brainstorm and manipulate them into alternative versions. I finalize them in Photoshop. It is a similar technique that I used when creating my "Progressions" except these spin offs become digital prints only.

I Am The Sun- Redux I

I started with my original I Am The Sun painting on canvas (below). This art was transformed into three new versions.

I Am The Sun, acrylic, oil, 4'x5' canvas on wood

I Am The Sun- Redux I, II, III are celebrations of the Summer Solstice within us. When the sun rises high in the sky for the longest day of the year, we are bathed in that fierce, intense, electrifying, invigorating, exhilarating energy. These images remind us that we are an abundance of health, vitality, inspiration, and infinite spiritual potential! 

I Am The Sun- Redux III

 $250 Buy Now

Zen Mind, represents the inherent potential for enlightenment in all beings. Our intrinsic nature is pure, luminous consciousness. Whether through meditation, visualization, chanting, or other techniques, the goal is to uncover this quality that resides within each of us. Realizing our true nature, allows our innate wisdom and compassion to fully manifest. 

This piece has a calm vibration and could be a visual reference for your own spiritual practice. 

THIS LIMITED EDITION PRINT IS BEING OFFERED IN A TIMED SALE ENDING AT 11:59PM (MST) ON SUNDAY, April 7th. AFTER THAT THEY WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE AND THE EDITION WILL BE BASED OFF THE TOTAL NUMBER SOLD. PRINTS WILL THEN BE MADE WITH MY SUPERVISION, AND SHIPPED AFTER THAT PROCESS, ABOUT A WEEK LATER.

GO HERE TO LEARN MORE AND PURCHASE.

The idea is the foundation of all great art, but how to get a good one? First I think big by determining what universal themes I want to address, then I look at the details. It is the same with illustration and concept design – getting to the core of a concept then breaking it down into specifics. I create simple icons inspired by words from a story or scene then cross reference and overlay them to produce new images. Beginning as thumbnails they evolve into loose sketches.

I love the tactile quality of a pencil moving against the surface of paper. It connects my mind with the world of image potentiality. Many of my early sketches are indiscernible scribbles and smudged lines yet slowly they declare their secrets. This is usually enough information for me to get started on final art.

Every so often I will put a sketch through a process of collage, or scan it into the computer to flesh it out more, but the initial idea is born from those primal marks on paper. My ideas flow out onto notecards, scraps of tissue or on the back side of used printing paper. I know that artists throughout time have loved the freedom associated with the sketch whatever material it is drawn on. It is fascinating how some roughly hewn lines can imbue a sense of wonder, explain an idea or tell a story with such vitality. This is one ancient and timeless technology that is not going away. In the 80s and 90s we used FAX machines to send our sketches to the client. Sometimes that tech became part of the sketch!

I am honored to be working with Mei Jin Lu, a master of Feng Shui and the I Ching. We are creating an I Ching Oracle deck together. The art here is a little peek at what is to come. Stay tuned.

Forest Revelry is an image from my White Deer graphic novel that I am still working on. This art represents the moment when the magic in nature meets the nature in our soul. In the poem the young lady who is picking mushrooms, berries and herbs is introduced to a magical part of the forest. She is invited to a special party and banquet. Will she partake of the festivities?

In our life, we are offered opportunities to learn and grow and sometimes party! This art represents the moment we are presented with a mystical choice. What would you do? 

THESE LIMITED EDITION PRINTS ARE BEING OFFERED UNTIL FEBRUARY 18TH. AFTER THAT THEY WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE AND THE EDITION WILL BE BASED OFF THE TOTAL NUMBER SOLD. PRINTS WILL BE SHIPPED A WEEK LATER.

BUY NOW

 I am honored to be working with Mei Jin Lu, a master of Feng Shui and the I Ching. We are creating an I Ching Oracle deck together. The art above is a little peek at what is to come. Stay tuned.

White Deer is an important piece of art in my Goddess cyanotype series. White Deer is associated with myths and lore from around the world and I wanted to bring this timeless story into the world of popular art culture.

I have written a poem that reflects White Deer's rite of passage. It's classical poetry with a hint of children's book prose and is becoming a very limited edition graphic novel! I intend to have the project finished in 2024.

These beautiful graphic novels will accompany the purchase of a White Deer artwork of which there are limited versions. 

Here is an excerpt from the poem, with a sketched panel from the graphic novel above.

White Deer by Greg Spalenka

In the depths of nature's core

A truth awaits, forevermore

That life's enchantment never ends

We evolve, transform, transcend


Childhood Dream


I awoke, yet still was dreaming,

Lucid but my eyes were sleeping

I see the pond, an ancient mirror

Revealing a ghostly White Deer


This rite of passage – girl to crone

Ancient wisdom, we learned to own

When this looming fate pressed near

Uncertain, this maiden fled her fears


With the blush of dawn life bloomed

Illuminating all the darkened rooms

While mushrooms rose in sodden nooks

and berries bounced by babbling brooks


Morning beckoned heartily

Paths of sun lead nature’s bounty

Fauna played, birds alighted

World’s of dark and light collided


Innocence is a mystic trance

In light of day, where shadows dance

The solar rays weave and wind

Through verdant woods of fable


Yet, to step beyond the realm of fear

and let the forest draw me near

I requested a tale untold

Of love and courage, brave and bold

 

A little video I made from a recent trip to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico with Earth Walks and the ancient wisdom from Bea Duran of Tesuque Pueblo. The massive buildings (now ruins) of these ancestral indigenous peoples of this area still testify to their amazing organizational and engineering abilities. From 850 to 1250 CE, Chaco canyon was the NYC of the southwest, with tribes making pilgrimages from across the continent and South America for a myriad of celebrations.

The strata and petroglyphs in the cliffs are remarkable.

In 1989 I was asked by Silas Rhodes, president of the School of Visual Arts in New York City where I lived at the time to create a piece of art for their subway series of posters that lined the NYC transit stations. I was honored to be a part of this tradition that had been around for decades and had enjoyed seeing many of them while riding the subway. 

Dee Ito (Marshall Arisman's wife) conjured up the copy for the poster I was to illustrate… "Even a great idea is just an idea until you make it real."

During that time in the 80’s the subway system was not in the best shape, it was depressing and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) was attempting to clean it up. So I thought I would put an angel in the subway to uplift the environment in a small way. The image I produced shows an angel in a small jail like room, painting a landscape with paint from her wings that are painting palettes.

The posters (hand silk screened in Paris!) looked great in the subway, but within a week or two I was noticing they were disappearing from the walls. No one at SVA knew why this was happening and so I contacted the MTA directly and asked why they were being taken down.

They said to me, “We are sorry Mr. Spalenka, but people are stealing your posters!”

I loved being a part of that SVA history!

SVA is presenting “Underground Images: A History,” a new exhibition showcasing the full collection of the College’s Subway Posters, which have covered the walls of NYC subway stations for almost 75 years. This is the first time the entire collection of more than 200 posters will be shown to the public.

In addition to the posters, this rich time-capsule tribute to SVA's history will include multimedia installations, progress sketches and paintings and a recreated NYC subway platform. Presented by SVA Galleries in partnership with the SVA Archives, “Underground Images: A History” will be on view through Saturday, October 14, 2023, at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 W 26th St., 15th floor, New York City.