from: Fall Arts Festival

Palm Coast artist Weldon Ryan will be one of the guest speakers for the Black Art, Artists and History Lecture Series at the Museum of Art, DeLand on April 28.

A reception will be held from 5 to 5:30 p.m. that day, followed by his address. RSVP by calling the museum: 386-734-4371.

Ryan was born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and graduated in 1985. He worked in advertising, was a ranger in an urban park in New York City, and later worked for the New York Police Department as a police officer and forensic artist until his retirement in 2004.

About his art, Weldon writes, “I consider myself a realist painter painting contemporary images in a post-expressionist art world. I prefer to paint large for the freedom and excitement it creates. I do not frame my paintings because they are self contained in their edges. I prefer gallery wraps or thicker stretchers to encompass my work. I paint mostly figuratively and usually feature Caribbean carnival and scenes that have a greater acceptance worldwide.

“My solid color backgrounds are meant to bring the viewer into the celebration of the carnival party. I think it is important to crop more tightly and not be traditional in my composition. The parts excluded from the anatomy or object allow the viewer to also create in their think about the continuity of the painting which expands the viewer’s imagination to the edges, causing involuntary participation from the viewer.

“Carnival is about celebrating and letting go of the rules, which also work in this regard. I am also challenged by human anatomy and the natural world. I have to carve; in a two-dimensional plane, the illusion of depth using light. and color like my chisel applied by my brush.”