The Gardens by Tyson Anthony Roberts

Happy Tuesday collectors! It's Sara here on a very crisp and sunshiny NYC afternoon to introduce a brand-new edition from a brand-new 20x200 artist: The Gardens by Tyson Anthony Roberts. Jen first came across his work on Design-Milk and after visiting his site to see more, we agreed: wowza indeed.

Upon spotting The Gardens, Jen immediately conjured Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte. While the compositional elements are strikingly similar, Tyson, in fact, was inspired by a more recent reference, a trip he took to the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. But this blending of then and now is an appropriate lens for viewing Tyson's work.

With cunning strokes of his brush, Tyson mixes the best of old-skool traditions to create a quiet commentary on the world we live in. Landscape painting goes way back to the beginning of artistic conventions in both the Eastern and Western worlds. From there, Tyson brings in a little bit more modernism, referencing abstract expressionism and minimalism, then eventually transports us to the ever-changing present. His brushstokes, while defined by history, are very much objects of the here and now, looking a little like exaggerated pixels or Legos. However you see them, it's hard to not get the feeling that they are moving, or are, at least, recording something in motion.

As Tyson writes, "the places we know are always changing whether we are ready or not." This is especially true for nature. In spite of our efforts to tame and control it—Butchart Gardens boasts five seasons!—and sometimes, intentionally or not, to destroy it, nature relentlessly continues to permeate the globe. In his painting, Tyson is reminding us that not only will nature persist, but we'll be lucky if we're able to keep up with it. The same can be said for pretty much every aspect of life today; it's cliche but resonant: the only constant is change itself.

I'll leave you today with this little bit—knowing full well it's a thought that can be equally overwhelming and exciting. But I am doing so also knowing that Tyson's work provides a little peace, calm and quite amidst all this craziness.