Dave's paintings page

David Birkey's original artwork

Lingering Apprehension 2005 acrylic on paper 6x8"

Peripheral Paranoia 2005 acrylic on paper 6x8"

Followed 2005 acrylic on paper 6x8"

Hoodwinked 2004 acrylic on paper 30 x 38"

Bruises Confuse Us 2004 acrylic on paper 18x40"

The Weight of Knowledge 2004 acrylic on paper

Swimming to Safety 2004 mixed media 5x7" (collection of: T. Baron)

BACKYARD BARBECUE
2002 acrylic on 24 squares of museum board mounted on masonite
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PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTIES
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UNTITLED, (FOR LEONARDO DAVINCI) ink & acrylic 2002

CATSPACESUIT (unfinished) 2002

ANCIENT ESKIMO ASTRONAUT - acrylic 2001
published in New American Paintings
September 2004 Juried Exhibition-in-Print Number 53, page 22

UNTITLED (HORSE-HAT) 2001 ink & watercolor 7x11

SACRED GEOMETRY: PENTAGRAM (Detail) acrylic 2001
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ARBOR DAY PARADE

This piece was inspired by a visit to an old, overgrown pine plantation in Ohio, and two photos that my sister Betsy took, during the same week, while she was an exchange student in Ireland. I wanted to show these two contrasting realities together in one composition. The right hand of the figure is emphasized for a couple of reasons: it's the interface between art and artist, it could be red with blood, (caught red-handed) since he's holding a gun and the deer appears to have just been shot. The figure is actually supposed to be me. Although I've never been hunting, and find the whole concept repulsive, it seemed a good way to show partial responsibility for what we humans have done to the earth.
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METAPHYSICAL BUST

I don't have enough space to get into what this one means, I'm not even sure that I know yet, but I can shed a little light on the process. The light-colored square with the circular stains on it, is a napkin that I folded up and set a used tea bag on... the patterened border is made up of pieces of paper placemeats from the Omega resturant...the leaves are that of a potato plant suffering from blight...and the title is written in Russian at the bottom.
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METAPHYSICAL BUST II acrylic 2001

OUTSIDE-IN acrylic 2000 click here to view in detail

BROOKLYN-1941 (explosions in the glass palace) acrylic and coffee 1999

this was painted from a b&w photograph taken by Edward Weston in '41, from the Brooklyn bridge, looking northeast; (the Williamsburg bridge is in the background). I really like the photo and found myself looking at it over and over. finally, I decided to explore it further by reprising it in color. with a piece of museum board on the floor, I sketched in the basic composition over the next few days by squeezing the filters from my morning coffee over it, allowing the drips and splatters to dry and overlap. Then I gradually added more detail in acrylic, varnishing between the layers. It started out being mainly about pollution, and I suppose it still is, but the main focus for me turned out to be the interplay between the browns, blues and yellows.

"ELECTRIC CAT"acrylic 20x20 09/98 PSYCHEDELIC CAT" 20x20 10/98 "COSMIC CAT"20x20 11/98
click for link to Louis Wain
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LIFE-SQUAD acrylic 1998

This is an illustration of a song which was written by a close firend. It tells a true story of a boy in Southern Ohio who was warned by his mother not to go sledding too near the road. He did so anyway, and was hit by an ambulance, speeding by on its way to (or from) some other crisis. The song mentions his mother back inside the house who hears "...a scream so loud, ...it came over the radio..." and then continues, "...I lost my legs today... I lost my legs today..." The exterior view is from the vantage point of a large bird, which can be seen (along with the ambulance) out of the window on the extreme left. The mother is looking out of the window in the house at the bottom of the hill.

CHUTES AND LADDERS IN THE GENE POOL
(The Jellyfish Reflector)
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OLD FART AT PLAY - acrylic
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This is also an illustrated song (of the same name) by Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart. It's from his 1969 masterpiece: Troutmaskreplica; (the album title itself is a reference to this song). Instead of trying to explain, I'll just reprint the lyrics.

Click to hear Old Fart at Play

Pappy with the Khaki sweatband An Assortment of observations took place

Bowed goat potbellied barnyard Mommas licked 'er lips like uh cat

The old fart was smart Pecked the ground like uh rooster

The old fart was smart Pivoted like uh duck

The old gold cloth madonna Her stockings down caught dust'n doughballs

Dancin' t' the fiddle 'n saw She cracked er mouth glaze caught one eyelash

he ran down behind the knoll Rubber 'er hands on 'er gorgeous gingham

'n slipped on his wooden fishead Her hand grasped sticky metal intricate latchwork

The mough worked 'n snapped all the bees Open t' the room uh smell cold mixed with bologna

Back t' the bungalow Rubber bands crumpled wax paper bonnets

Momma was flatten'n lard Fat goose legs 'n special jellies

With her red enamel rollin' pen Ignited by the warmth of the room

When the fishead broke the window The old fart smelled this thru his important breather holes

Rubber eye erect'n precisely detailed Cleverly he dialed from within from the outside we observed

Airholes from which breath should come That nose of the wooden mask

Is now closely fit Where the holes had just been uh moment ago

With the chatter of the old fart inside Was now smooth amazingly blended camouflaged in

With the very intricate rainbow trout replica

The old fart inside was now breathin' freely

from his perfume bottle atomizer air bulb invention

His excited eyes from within the dark interior glazed

Watered in appreciation of his thoughtful preparation

UNTITLED (RIVER CAT) unfinished 6x9" watercolor

THE GEOMETRY OF DESPAIR 1997

BLUFF acrylic on paper 1997 view in detail

IN FANTASY DE-LITE
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BREAKFAST ON THE BEACH OF DECEPTION acrylic 32x44 1996
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TRIAMPHIBIANGLE acrylic 1996 click to view in detail

REVISIONIST LANDSCAPE- 1565 - (after Pieter Bruegel) acrylic 32x44 1996

BEAUTY LIVES BY KINDNESS

The title is the motto of the cat lovers society which was founded by the great feline illustrator, Louis Wain (1860-1939). It seems difficult to believe, but in London, at the turn of the century, cats were considered vermin just like rats, and to have one as a pet was virtually unheard of. Wain single-handedly changed all that when his fanciful drawings caught the eyes and imaginations of England. (The cat at the table is adapted from an unfinished sketch by Wain) Click here for detailed view

ST. MICHEL IN VICTORY(THE 100 YEARS WAR)acrylic 21x29
Based on St. George and the Dragon -1460 by Paolo Uccello

EIGHT MINUTES AFTER THE SUN WENT OUTink and acrylic 30x22 1996

AS IT APPROACHED, I FOUND I COULD NOT SPEAK mixed-media 1996

SELF-PORTRAIT IN FOUR DIMENSIONS mixed media 24x30 1994

PREDTUCHA (THE PREMONITION)acrylic 37x47 1994

"BATTLE NOT WITH MONSTERS,
LEST YE BECOME A MONSTER.
AND IF YOU GAZE INTO THE ABYSS,
THE ABYSS GAZES ALSO INTO YOU"
-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

THREE SELF PORTRAITS AS VAN GOGH, acrylic 1996, 1997, 1998

MOONDOGS 1995 acrylic on paper 36x44
Painted from "Annunciation" panel by Domenico Veneziano
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THE PRICE OF KNOWLEDGE mixed media 1993 click here to view detail with plant

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FIN

      the end. a spatial aberration results in conflicting, yet interlocking "now's", which allow one of the giant flying fish to sidestep into our reality. and then...The backgound landscape is the view of downtown Ft. Wayne, looking north from my window on Creighton Avenue. I took out the larger
buildings, but you can still see a couple churches and part of GE. (Fin as in fish, and fin as in finis, the end.)

click here to view Musse Pigg "in process"

MUSSE PIGG

      I haven't been able to confirm it yet, but I read that in Sweden they translate Mickey Mouse as 'Musse Pigg'. The musse part makes sense, but I can't explain where the pigg comes from. Anyway, it seemed the perfect title for a painting that is a reaction to what Walt's company has become in the past couple decades: a greed-soaked empire that values money more than children, and will stop at nothing to squeeze a few more pennies out of their parents. Since McDonalds falls into a similar category, I further defaced the 'classic' Mickey with the now global icon of the golden arches

CREASED LIGHTNING

     I started this piece by making a bunch of folded paint 'smears' on tissue paper, then tried different configurations until I found an arrangement of six that I liked. I varnished them onto a board and then added the tree and background around them during the following weeks.

      My intention was to show the millisecond of impact, a slice of time so thin that a great bolt of lightning could be seen as multi-colored bursts of energy, that make the tree itself seem almost transparent as they disperse.

PILTDOWN MAN 1992 acrylic & charcoal

INFINITIE

David Birkey's original artwork - www.davidbirkey.com

Dave currently resides in Indiana at an undisclosed location

Pappy with the Khaki sweatband	An Assortment of observations took place
Bowed goat potbellied barnyard	Mommas licked 'er lips like uh cat
The old fart was smart	Pecked the ground like uh rooster
The old fart was smart	Pivoted like uh duck
The old gold cloth madonna	Her stockings down caught dust'n doughballs
Dancin' t' the fiddle 'n saw	She cracked er mouth glaze caught one eyelash
he ran down behind the knoll	Rubber 'er hands on 'er gorgeous gingham
'n slipped on his wooden fishead	Her hand grasped sticky metal intricate latchwork
The mough worked 'n snapped all the bees	Open t' the room uh smell cold mixed with bologna
Back t' the bungalow	Rubber bands crumpled wax paper bonnets
Momma was flatten'n lard	Fat goose legs 'n special jellies
With her red enamel rollin' pen	Ignited by the warmth of the room
When the fishead broke the window	The old fart smelled this thru his important breather holes
Rubber eye erect'n precisely detailed	Cleverly he dialed from within from the outside we observed
Airholes from which breath should come	That nose of the wooden mask
Is now closely fit	Where the holes had just been uh moment ago
With the chatter of the old fart inside	Was now smooth amazingly blended camouflaged in
	With the very intricate rainbow trout replica

PAINTINGS (1992- present)

"BATTLE NOT WITH MONSTERS, LEST YE BECOME A MONSTER. AND IF YOU GAZE INTO THE ABYSS, THE ABYSS GAZES ALSO INTO YOU"

"BATTLE NOT WITH MONSTERS,
LEST YE BECOME A MONSTER.
AND IF YOU GAZE INTO THE ABYSS,
THE ABYSS GAZES ALSO INTO YOU"
-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE