SUSPENSION - THE BUOY
oil on canvas
30 x 30 in.
framed dimension: 33 x 33 in.
$2,800

SUSPENSION - THE SHED
oil on canvas
24 x 30 in.
framed dimension: 27 x 33 in.
SOLD

DEVIL'S ISLAND BOAT
oil on canvas
30 x 60 in.
framed dimension: 31.5 x 61.5 in.
$5,000

By colour we’re instantly captured and pulled into a journey, a tale, a mystery.
Encountering the bold power of primary colours – the three colours that have travelled with us throughout our rise from the primordial swamp – we know to be prepared, switched on, watchful. Steven Rhude’s work takes this instinctive alert as a beginning. ‘Look’ the paintings seem to say ‘it’s all here. Right on the surface.’ But from that point, we suddenly swirl down into unknown waters.
The subjects, all familiar to some degree, are also slightly at an angle from real life. The paintings are not actually surreal but they wisely wink at the constant possibility of the bizarre at the fringes of the normal. There is narrative too but the canvas is not overloaded with storyline. The plot is nudged in from the edges, whispered from behind the unseen.
The paint surface recalls the dynamism of Jackson Pollock drips or that trademark 1980s marbled-look. All the time though, a smooth eggshell quality marches in the great traditions of Canadian realism. This is a truly novel style. The depth swells beneath us, murmuring a tale about we’re not sure what.
And so we’re left with more questions. How can fishing buoys hanging in front of a landmark or resting behind an empty bottle be mischievous? When is a lighthouse more than a lighthouse? How can calm water brood? These are the untold stories of Steven Rhude’s work that glint like fish, too rapid for the eye, beneath the surface. These are the mysteries that roll under the waves and hills of the east coast – a place where colourful stories begin in a primal journey.

Leopold Kowolik, 2011

DEVIL'S ISLAND LIGHT IN ROTHKO CHAPEL
oil on canvas
24 x 30 in.
framed dimension: 26 x 32 in.
$2,800

Nikki speaks with Steven about his inspiration and painting process....

Steven Rhude was born in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec in 1959. His father was a Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot and traveled extensively throughout Canada before settling his family in Scarborough, Ontario. In Scarborough, Steven was raised, educated and studied civil engineering at Centennial College. After one year he switched to the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto where he studied fine arts and graduated in 1983 with honors in drawing and painting.

It was at OCAD that Steven was introduced to the pantheon of draughtsmen from Ingres to American modernists like de kooning. Teachers such as Fred Hagen, John Gould and John Newman instilled in Steven the relevance of drawing as a complete form of expression in itself. Steven also attended the colleges off campus program in Florence, Italy for one year which included an intensive study of the Italian and Northern European renaissance. This year of study was made possible by receiving the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation award.

Afterwards, he met Simone Labuschagne and they were married in 1986. Over a period of three years Steven worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario as a technician installing exhibitions, an experience he still recalls with appreciation due to first hand contact with master works of all kinds.

In 1990, Steven began to devote himself to drawing and painting full time. He and his wife moved to Fox Island Main, Guysborough, County, Nova Scotia. It was there, in relative isolation, that Rhude developed the realistic and colorful style he is known for today. In 2007, he exhibited a 10 year retrospective of his work at Argyle Fine Art, Halifax, NS. In 2010, Steven's "Temple of the Mind" Exhibition was showcased at the Acadia University Art Gallery in Wolfville, NS.

Art critic Elissa Barnard stated "In this body of work Rhude has grappled with and further developed his subject matter, maintaining his engaging style but deepening his ideas and calling on the viewer to put more thought into the work and the plight of coastal communities in Atlantic Canada".

In his work, Rhude continues to explore his passion for themes which evoke the ethos of coastal communities in Atlantic Canada , their social conditions and iconic character. Since moving to Lunenburg, NS. with his family, the town has been a primary source of subject matter and pride. Steven also played a role in the creation of The Art Galleries Association of Lunenburg and is a board member of The Lunenburg Arts Council.

His work can be found in numerous private, public and corporate collections around the world. Steven's work has been reproduced in various publications, including on the cover and inside the 2009 book "from Land and Sea - Nova Scotia's Contemporary Landscape Artists" and the 2010 coffee table book "A Place Called Away - Stephen Rhude, Living and Painting in Nova Scotia".

COMMUNITY WHARF
oil on canvas
40 x 60 in.
framed dimension: 41.5 x 61.5 in.
$5,500