March 2000
Royden Card
Born in Canada and raised in Utah, Royden's main inspiration and focus has been the red rock landscape. He captures the impact of the desert in basic black and white woodcuts and his small canvases convey the majesty of the landscape in miniature zen-like views.
Royden is after a "visual poetry, nature not technically defined but hinted at — nuanced in passages of paint. Some things left out — lines and colors exaggerated or subdued." He states, "I share that nurture of nature that comes to us through the eyes…pieces of sunset, the gold in the wheat, lichens on a stone, morning light raking over hills, vein patterns in a leaf…all those things that must be looked at — looked into…and, when finally "seen" the soul is fed — satisfied.
The work Royden creates is a "form of devotion to that end…a visual testament of my time and travels on the earth."
Royden received his BFA and MFA from Brigham Young University. His works are held in university and private collections nationwide including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. From 1989 to 1992 the state of Utah honored recipients of the "Governor's Award in the Arts" with a collection of Royden's woodcuts.
Royden has taught part time for the University of Utah and Utah Valley State College. He was a printmaking instructor for Brigham Young University for sixteen years. He now devotes his time to painting and printmaking. Recently his paintings have become larger in scale and his palette more colorful. He resides in Salt Lake but frequently wanders the red rock deserts of the Southwest.
