Robert Royhl is a Professor Emeritus of painting and printmaking at the Montana State University School of Art. His work is based on closely observed drawings done on site, studying the particular life and light of a specific place. His current paintings are narratives that begin in observed facts, but evolve into rich, symbolic worlds full of transfigurations and surreal encounters. These are works on paper done mainly in egg tempera, but layered with pastel, gesso, inks and pigments mixed with glue.

“My new work comes out of detailed and patient looking at nature. The hidden meaning of a place is only slowly revealed through time. I spend up to a year sketching and observing the landscape that interests me. Drawing at different times of the day and through different seasons. At the moment I am working on a series of works based on the headwaters area of the Missouri River, specifically focusing on Lewis Rock. In the past I have done series based on the Sonoran desert outside of Tucson AZ, the Kamogawa River in Kyoto, Japan and the lake in Central Park in NYC. The facts uncovered during this looking are the essential ground on which I develop my imagery, layering both time and space. Reality is a narrative and these visual facts are seeds that are born, bloom, ripen and pass away. Their flowerings are often surprising and wonderfully odd. Nature is so unexpected. For me, there is no ordinary reality.”