Salute to Harry Orlyk
Pondering the country-side scenics of Harry Orlyk, whose works I discovered surfing websites of East Coast galleries like Gross McCleaf (Philadelphia) and the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, New York, I came away with a deeper, richer appreciation of the technique, Plein Air.
For more than 25 years, Harry Orlyk has been possessed with the focus to paint from his van, finishing entire country scenes in one sitting, despite sometimes nearly unbearable weather conditions.
In his own words he describes his devotion, "Sitting in the cold in a traditional way, I paint what is before me, sometimes as still as the Eskimo who earns his family's meal by waiting and watching and thinking. He kills an animal; I make an image. We are linked together by our years of long-studied views across a common land."
He does this year-round.You might think he'd have his van heater on during winter weather but he tells us that he does not as he is leary of the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. Still he sits, like the Eskimo, and paints the scene before him. Why does he not use a camera? Well, praise God that he doesn't! He's leaving us a legacy as the painters of European old did, his incredibly accurate renderings of upstate New York in the country at all times of the year--scenes that marvel us all but only the few have the eye to see.
I put you here, Harry Orlyk, because I wonder at your singular dedication to be nothing else than who you are...and that is a blessing to all of us who love the open air, the country and art. Check him out yourself. You'll find an artist with an exceptional sensitivity to the play of light on our natural world, all times of day in all seasons.
###Dwayne K. Parsons
For more than 25 years, Harry Orlyk has been possessed with the focus to paint from his van, finishing entire country scenes in one sitting, despite sometimes nearly unbearable weather conditions.
In his own words he describes his devotion, "Sitting in the cold in a traditional way, I paint what is before me, sometimes as still as the Eskimo who earns his family's meal by waiting and watching and thinking. He kills an animal; I make an image. We are linked together by our years of long-studied views across a common land."
He does this year-round.You might think he'd have his van heater on during winter weather but he tells us that he does not as he is leary of the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. Still he sits, like the Eskimo, and paints the scene before him. Why does he not use a camera? Well, praise God that he doesn't! He's leaving us a legacy as the painters of European old did, his incredibly accurate renderings of upstate New York in the country at all times of the year--scenes that marvel us all but only the few have the eye to see.
I put you here, Harry Orlyk, because I wonder at your singular dedication to be nothing else than who you are...and that is a blessing to all of us who love the open air, the country and art. Check him out yourself. You'll find an artist with an exceptional sensitivity to the play of light on our natural world, all times of day in all seasons.
###Dwayne K. Parsons
