Mike Lyon

Painting Drawing Printmaking Japanese Woodblock Printing Furniture Lighting

Valentine Linda – 48 x 48 inches – acrylic on canvas

By

I thought of this image as “The Valentine Portrait” of my wife, Linda because of the big heart shape formed by the eyebrows and the ‘V’ of her chin in her hands. Note: most images on this site can be viewed full scale by right-clicking on the image and selecting “open link in new tab” […]

Linda – acrylic on canvas – 35 x 35 inches

By

Black and white square spirals on gray ground, the black augmented by spirals in a narrower line width. I think this painting begins to balance traditional materials with novel computed tool manipulation – the process and the image become more balanced.

PRINTKITE Collaboration with Koichi Yamamoto

By

I met Koichi Yamamoto in early November of 2016 during my term as adjunct professor of printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute. Koichi was/is a professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and spent a day or two demonstrating copper engraving and printing on very light gampi paper which he printed, then folded […]

Linda in Black (mokuhanga) 41 x 29.5 inches

By

Because of the way the four sets of spirals overlap in my painting Linda in Black, it seemed to be a perfect design for mokuhanga (Japanese technique woodcut). I isolated the four layers of square spiral I’d generated for the painting into four block plans: The spiral density (the number of revolutions of line in […]

untitled (four self-portrait variations ) 36 x 153 inches )

By

Painted in overlapping rectangular (rather than square) spirals, each of the four canvases that make up this work is different but similar. The colors were painted in the same order on each canvas, but the orientation of the rectangles was varied so that, although the reference images are identical, each painting is different. I think […]

Elena – painting on canvas – 42 x 54 inches

By

Another attempt at a more naturalistic color. The reference image in calculating the spiral densities was Elena Sherman’s face. Painted on white canvas in red, yellow, blue, black, and white, I was still working to produce intricate tiles (the seven by nine main grid). She’s in there, but you’ve got to be far enough away […]

Hal – acrylics on canvas – 72 x 24 inches

By

Life size portrait of Hal Wert in blue jeans with hands in pockets. Another shot at naturalistic color. I keep trying and trying! The resolution is so low that the image seem more robot man than Hal, I think, but I can almost see him in there!