by Jenny Van Zanten // Photos by Kevin Ryan, Eyefrogs Photography
In the air above the rolling grasslands of Wyoming, a helicopter hovered toward the Law Enforcement Academy—a 7-1/2-foot polycarbonate sphere tethered to its belly. The pilot skillfully lowered the piece of art entitled “Order/Disorder” to its permanent location on the Center’s grounds; a moment representing the culmination of nearly a year’s work by artist Dick Termes. “Nine months of work and the helicopter took that up into the air like it was a feather. It was very scary but I was too busy down below telling him where to bring the ball, up, down, left and right, that I just put trust in him. He was very good it turned out,” said the artist.
Dick Termes has always had “a love for the arts, the thought of exploring the universe’s ideas and to add to our human experience.” It would seem the perfect formula. It was when Dick was working on his Masters in Art at the University of Wyoming that he discovered what would become his life’s work. “I was using a grid system to help me understand how you might expand the amount of visual space you could include in your drawings.” He had achieved success with four-point perspective, and when he started playing with a five, then six-point drawing, “Someone suggested to me it looked like a ball,” he explains. “That was what I needed, to try this system on a ball. It fit perfect.” The name “Termesphere” came a few years later after he left Wyoming. “They started calling my work Termespheres so I thought that sounded good and started using it myself.”
For the past five decades, Dick has been researching, designing and painting Termespheres, creating an international legacy. He is an acclaimed one-of-a-kind artist, and Black Hills native, whose global recognition includes lectures and workshops in China, with shows and sales in Japan, France, New York, Australia, Singapore, and Germany—where he did eight years of workshops with the Defense Department Schools. In recognition of his talent, he has received countless awards.
A visitor first sees a charming dome-shaped greenhouse, then several more geodesic buildings of varying size and designation come into view, six in all: distinct structures crafted by an original mind. This is the home of the Termesphere Gallery. Upon entering, one is instantly immersed in the visual; globes ranging from 2”- 60” float from the ceiling in every spellbinding direction. Viewers are drawn into an arched corridor of a Parisian cathedral, or a sphere of a coffee shop full of multi-generational life and the comfort of ritual. “I really enjoyed the building and also the people that came there,” Dick shares. “Rarely had I painted my own world. Most of my work was famous places around the world. Instead of painting the famous places, I thought maybe my art can make this become a famous place.” He adds playfully, “we shall see about that.” Dick is easy company, unpretentious and willing to take the time to share a story about the making of any dome.
“When I do the Termespheres I imagine I am inside the sphere, a transparent sphere, and I am looking out at an environment around me.” Dick describes his creative process, “I copy that world I see or imagine onto the inside of the sphere. I then move to the outside to look at what I was inside seeing—this is all painted on the outside of the sphere, however.” He speaks about his ability to deviate from “the original plan” and go with the flow of his imaginative thought. He explains how design in art is like geometry to math. “I have found both are very closely related. When I got into studying patterns I found my love.”
Merging language from more than one discipline unravels wisdom; in layers, with words not only applicable to art and his spheres, but easily transferable to life itself as a metaphor to our unique individual perspectives, whether it be flat, or 6-point.
“See if you can find the biker in this one.” Dick’s assistant, Sue, prompts, “it took me two months to find it.” After a few hints, Dick points to a front tire, then to the biker’s profile…and suddenly there are handlebars where there had been tree branches a moment before; the biker is now in full view. This is typical of the spirited thought behind each design Dick imagines, as noted in George Escher’s apt words in the most meaningful compliment Dick has received, “… I enjoyed the sudden discovery of double interpretations, the switches in space perception, the hunt for hidden images, the little concealed jokes. I thought of your planning for a new sphere, and of your exciting explorations…”
Behind the gallery, Dick’s dome-world continues. A worn path takes the visitor to a studio; a Geppetto-like workshop—an unapologetically cluttered space alive with ideas in the making; drop cloths, putties, paints and dozens of brushes in jars. Items, colorful and stimulating—primarily circles—hang from the ceiling, including a huge plastic bag of red and green ornaments that Dick, “will likely use to play with new designs before transferring to the large globes.” More raw art materials are affixed to a wall and stacked and piled unrestrained upon the floor. Most wall space is covered with newspaper clippings, notes and photos— manifestations of an unconstrained, gifted mind.
In the early years, Dick sought any spherical surface on which he could paint. Initially, Termespheres were made from two joined half domes of a then commercial product called “Tip a Tub”. Today, he gets his round canvasses directly from the factory of a lighting fixture manufacturer. Once received, there is a substantial amount of prep work needed. “The seam never lines up just right and so I putty, sand and prep with layers of Gesso.” Depending on the size, a Termesphere can take from 1-1/2 to 9 months to complete.
Suspended from the ceiling is a pulley, part of a stealthy, built-in system used to hoist the spheres. By design, the studio floor has an 8’x8’ hole with removable floor joists which allows globes to enter through the lower level garage doors. This is where the sphere that now sits at the Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas, WY was completed—Dick’s largest work to date.
As to future plans, Dick states, “I never know that. I will work on ideas until mother nature says that is enough.”
CONTACT:
UPCOMING:
- A book of mural compilations
- A possible anniversary celebration in summer 2018 commemorating 50 years of Termespheres and 25 years of the Termesphere Gallery
EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL:
- termespheres.com/shop/
- See also: PBS online series with 21 downloadable drawing sessions: SDPB.org/Art