D. Victor Pytko, a Michigander since 1979, was born in 1946, and was raised in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. He has drawn or painted most of his life.

While majoring in astronomy at Indiana University from1963 to 1968, Pytko elected numerous studio and color theory classes. He continued to draw and paint throughout his adulthood studying at art institutes in Canton and Toledo, Ohio, and at Monroe Community College, Ann Arbor Art Association and the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center in Michigan where he is a volunteer and past board member.

A prolific artist, Pytko paints in both representational and non-representational styles on hardboard panels and canvas, and he often incorporates found objects, newspaper text and builder's materials such as sand, concrete patch, or drywall tape. His work reflects a notion that text and images are similarly rooted and he often infuses headlines, stock quotes and obituaries into his work.

His paintings hang in private and corporate collections, here and abroad, and he has exhibited extensively in Michigan as well as in Denver, Colo. New York and Alexandria, Va.

Pytko maintains a studio in his home and in the Pioneer Building on E. Grand Blvd., in Detroit. The URL for his Web site is www.victorpytko.com .

It is my belief that the human esthetic is essential to the realm of art. The presence of the hand, heart or mind is not passable to a reproduction, not even a perfect one. Only an original is the quintessential creation.

I have spent a lifetime painting, but only since 2000 with full commitment, passion and zeal. Through painting, I seek to better understand the past, present and future, to test my personal tenets, to present a unique and sometimes controversial point of view and to gain the insight to recognize a difference.

Such goals will not be reached by traveling someone else's pathway, so I try to sidestep the quicksand of others' revelations. Enlightenment for me may come from abstraction or representation, a blending of the two, or in an other totally new style.

Whichever, I seek to create illusions of space and time by manipulating and arranging the paint, mixed media and the occasional found objects to not only bestow new meaning and context to the elements and the painting as a whole, but also to give the viewer reason to linger and discover the surprises, and just maybe, a personal message.

While sketches and maquettes may help resolve complex concepts, output that is too well-planned comes close to being crafty and is not as rewarding as a conclusion reached through happenstance, consequence and serendipity.