Jeffrey Loyd experiments with colors to trigger emotions
Artist Jeffrey Loyd does not do foliage, portraits or land, sky and seascapes, at least, not in the obvious fashion.
Rather, he captures the feelings that come with those things.
Manipulating color, shape, curved and straight lines in many layers, Loyd represents traditional studies untraditionally.
“Painting to me is like trying to match the colors of the sunset as it melts into the mountains, capturing the colors of the sea as it crashes against the rocks or revealing an emotion within a shape or flow of colors as they blend together to form a subject,” he said.
Loyd’s work is abstract but at the same time, tangible; after a few moments of contemplation, suddenly, there it is – the ocean, envy, cars racing around a track, an undiscovered planet rising over a landscape or, like in his piece “Human Motion,” motion and emotion blended into one.
Loyd’s background is in construction. He started working when he was 12 and really never stopped; the pay was good and so was the experience of working with his hands. He learned how to use tools and industrial materials which gave him a creative outlet.
On Whidbey Island, he opened a company where he produced signs and graphics, eventually expanding his creative expressions by hand-painting the backgrounds of his signs.
A trip to an art supply store with his father after watching Bob Ross on TV opened up a new window to Loyd’s expressions. He bought a painting kit, filled up a pad, selected three drawings, had them framed, took them to a coffee shop and sold them.
About seven years ago, Loyd headed to Spokane to be closer to his son. In a sense, he started over. He found a job in hazardous material removal and began trying new media, materials and tools with which to express himself. He applies many layers of acrylic paint mixed with thinning or thickening media to wood, sanding, scraping, and carving each layer to subtly reveal the initial layer.
Ranging from small to large and architectural in nature to flowing, his work is all about color. “It’s about blending colors together to make other colors, using an overlay to shade and bring out the colors from layers beneath, exploring and experimenting, finding the color combinations that bring out emotions within me and others,” he said. Color has the ability to change mood and affect the body, a concept he learned after watching a documentary on painting the walls of a prison and how certain colors coincided with certain emotions and physical reactions.
About four months ago, Loyd moved his supplies into a studio in downtown Spokane where he could make a mess and focus on his work. He has shown at a gallery in Soap Lake, at Santé, LeftBank Wine bar, Nectar, Studio 66, and Latah Bistro. Through November, his work will be displayed at Chocolate Apothecary in the Flour Mill.
“All I wish for is, when someone looks upon one of my paintings, it inspires contemplation,” he said.