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From Pizza to Picasso

Local artist Gavyn Sky is the next new thing, and his art is showing up everywhere from Springfield to Florida.

Photo by Edward Biamonte

Springfield artist Gavin Sky and his son, Madden, play with the tools of his trade. This painter made a quick jump from a job at Dominos to a career creating bold and in-demand works of at.

n 2003, Gavyn Sky was delivering pizzas and living in an unfurnished trailer. He was also seeking a new purpose in life. “I screwed up really bad and lost many years,” the 34-year-old says. “My life had gone nowhere, and I was frustrated.”

Born in Mansfield, Missouri, Gavyn lived most of his childhood in West Texas. He moved back to the Springfield area in 2001. Then something came to him in a dream. “I would see color, I would see texture, I would see design–I realized that I wanted to create paintings that were radically different,” he says. “It was all there, and I knew I had to get it.”

He walked into a Hobby Lobby, where he imagined canvases painted with the images that haunted his nights. They were abstract, full of color and full of light. Gavyn called his mother in Texas, who sent him $2,000 in canvases and paints, and without any formal training, he began painting with acrylics. He experimented with color, texture and technique. “It was like someone was pushing me from behind saying, ‘I’m going to open every door for you,’ and magic started happening,” Gavyn says.

He worked with water, wind and sometimes gravity. He used space heaters to help dry out the atmosphere in which he painted. “There was nothing I couldn’t do because I didn’t have any training or formal constraints telling me I couldn’t,” he says. “Once I started progressing and perfecting, I realized that there were unlimited possibilities with the colors and media I use.”

By 2007, he was onto something. He took a leave of absence from Domino’s Pizza to show his art at a festival in Navarre Beach, Florida,where his father lived. “My first painting sold for $850, and I realized there was more to my life than delivering pizza,” he says.

The Process

He began using resins, which give his art a durable finish that won’t fade and can be cleaned with Windex. Florida art-lovers and Springfield business-owners took notice of the technique. Springfield-area dentist Heather Cline purchased several paintings for her office. “That was a huge break for me,” Gavyn says. The experimentation process has become a mainstay of his approach to art. “I trust every decision I make, even if it seems to be a bad one, because it never turns out to be a bad one,” he says. “If I use too much of a mixture or seem to have messed up, those are sometimes the most beautiful paintings I made, and I would have never tried to make it if it weren’t for the mistake. It’s just proof that some of the most beautiful things can come out of disasters.”

Gavyn’s approach is sought-after, and that’s why he must paint in seclusion. “After about three years, I started to come across copycats,” he says. “They can’t touch me, but they can try.” Although his technique is top-secret, the rituals he uses are not. He sometimes pours a few rum and Cokes and turns on music in his two-car garage before painting. Often, music by singer Chris Cornell is Gavyn’s muse: “He has that passion that I feel like I have,” Gavyn says. “No one can touch his voice. It gives me chills.”

Thirst quenched and emotionally inspired, he begins to paint. “I feel like a puppet. I get into the studio and all those strings are being pulled, and I make decisions without even thinking about it,” he says. “It just happens. I’m the middle-man between whatever creative energy is and the canvas.”

Naming his work is another form of art. “I usually name a painting after staring at if for hours,” he says. “I will also have naming parties with friends. “Hybrid Nation,” “Wicked” and “A Will of a Wisp” are some of the names that, like his paintings, have multi-layered meanings.

A stickler for quality, Gavyn builds all his own canvas frames and uses expensive paints. Due to his hands-on, personalized approach, the artist can produce only 100 paintings per year. He says the challenge remains to always create something new that no one has seen. For Gavyn, each painting is destined for someone. “I want people to open their minds up and see things that maybe aren’t supposed to be there or see colors they haven’t seen before,” he says.

Finding Gavyn in Springfield

His work can be seen all over town. A 100-inch-long cherry blossoms painting, which sold for $3,000, hangs at Hong Kong Inn. Obelisk Home, Fedora Social House, Hebrew’s Coffee, Nakato Japanese Steakhouse and the Ashley Lauren Salon also display his art, and both Parlor 88  locations showcase and sell it. Each year, Gavyn donates several paintings to help raise thousands of dollars to charitable organizations in 417-land. Looking ahead, he hopes to open his own gallery and showcase his work in a larger city like Chicago. “I won’t leave Springfield,” he says. That’s because he finds joy in the simple things in life: fishing, hiking and spending time with his children, Courtney, 13, and Madden, 7.

Now Showing

See more of Gavyn’s work online and at the following Springfield locations.

gavynskystudios.com

Ashley Lauren Salon
(4303 S. National Ave., Springfield)

Fedora Social House
(300 Park Central East, Springfield)

Hebrew’s Coffee
(1604 E. Republic Rd., Springfield)

Nakato Japanese Steakhouse
(2615 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield)

Obelisk Home
(214 W. Phelps, Suite 101, Springfield)

Parlor 88 Lounge
(1111 E. Republic Rd., Suite 180; 3653 E. Sunshine St., Springfield)

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