Blue Vigil- GC Myers
I’m about a month away from my annual show at the Principle Gallery and my studio is a mess. There are paintings scattered about in varying degrees of completion. Some are done and many need little touches here and there. Some are still in early stages of development, still having many different potentials. Some are still in my head, the result of ideas that blossom in this chaotic time of my year.
It’s hectic and I always seem to be behind my time schedule. So much to do. But it still remains one of my favorite times of my painting year if only for those new paintings in my head. The intensity of the painting that comes with a looming deadline always seems to inspire new concepts and ambitions for my work which keeps me excited in the studio which makes my time spent alone there very easy to bear.
This new excitement may come from working with a simple color or form or from a slight tweaking of my technique. It may come from revisiting concepts from the past that I haven’t used recently. Or by a change in the materials I use. A different canvas, paper or gesso often spurs me on.
This need to feel excitement in my own work is very important for me. The main reason is simple. If I cannot be stimulated by my own work, how can I expect others to be excited by it? I’ve always believed that you can usually tell when a painter is inspired by their work. There’s a confidence and surety in the rhythm of these pieces. Perhaps this excitement is that which gives their work a signature “look”.
The other reason for this need to excite is that it fosters growth and change in the body of my work. The changes may be small and imperceptible to many but they mark subtle expansion for me. I see it when I scan back through the work over the last decade. Each year brings something new which changes the overall face on my body of work. It may often seem much the same but it is actually an evolving continuum. And I find excitement in this evolution…
Redtree Times 