Artist Bio

Bryan Waytula is an active fine arts professional living in the Sand Springs area. Following in the footsteps of his mother and grandmother, both of whom are Cherokee Treasures in the art of basketry, Bryan has created both traditional and contemporary works enjoyed by patrons and professional athletes. He’s been translating a variety of artistic skills through numerous competitions, exhibitions, and galleries. Drawing since the age of 5, Bryan continues to spend time furthering his techniques and style while teaching young artists as an Oklahoma educator.

Piece Description

“The wheels were already turning in my head on what to create even before my tour of Kimray was completed,” Bryan says. “Creating a composition that would allow for the main center of interest to pop at the viewer and grab their attention required that I try and make the background a contrasting color, yet subtle enough not to compete for attention with the valve itself. I chose the light-changing values of neutral tones for the background, knowing that the use of primary reds throughout the piece would contrast well once I added the surrounding black to my colors.

“With the history Kimray has, I wanted to integrate the Kimray logo and formulas into the work, and felt the subtle, neutral tones of the background could be used to simulate aged paper that the logo was originally drawn on. I darkened the Kimray logo itself, making that a priority to the viewer when seen at a distance, but as one came closer, they could see how the logo was generated and came to be by the marks and measurements shown in pencil. A sense of rhythm is created by the repetitive use of circles that in some areas hold structure by creating implied lines, but in other areas help aid in the values of assorted colors.

“The placement of the valve in the composition was already provided to balance the work, so I could focus mainly on emphasizing the subject, which I did using subtle changing of colors to create a three-dimensional object providing details to every form. After filling in the negative spaces with ink on top of the unnecessary colors of acrylic, the circles now come together to create one unified piece.”