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Archive for June, 2010

Father’s Day

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Influences, tagged on June 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

I’m not going to go all sentimental about my dad on this Father’s Day.  It’s not either of our styles.

But I did want to show this picture of him from back in 1963 or 1964.  That’s my brother, Charlie ( Chuckie back then), in the background.  When I think of images of my father this one is always first in line in my head.  It was a Sunday morning ( my memory says it was an Easter but I can’t be sure) and we were living in an old farmhouse on Wilawanna Road, outside Elmira, that played a very large part in my formative years.  We had a large chunk of yard to one side of the house that became a ballfield, a place where many of the kids on our road came to play baseball regularly and where Dad would often pitch to us or hit soaring fungoes that we would run under, pretending to be Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle.  Dad is standing near home plate in this photo.

I love this photo.  It show my father at about 30 or so years of age, as strong and powerful as I would ever know him.  I was four or five years old and he was larger than life to me then, could do no wrong.  My protector and my boon companion.  This view of him sums that all up.

  The pose has a bit of the pride and arrogance of youth in it, still brimming with the what-if’s and what-can-be’s of potential.  It’s not something you’re used to seeing in your parents and witnessing it is like seeing a secret glimpse of them, a side you know must have been there but remains hidden from you in your day to day life with your parents.  Maybe that’s why I like this picture so much.  It seems like a marking point between his youth and ours, his kids. 

I don’t know.  Like many personal things, it’s hard to explain.  All I know is that when I see my Dad today or think about him, the image of this photo is never far from my mind.

happy father’s day….

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I Wish I Was the Moon

Posted in Video, tagged on June 19, 2010| 4 Comments »

Under a Pale Eye-- GC Myers 2010

Saturday morning and there’s a cloudiness of thought and as I sit here, wanting to say something of value, I find myself an empty vessel.  There’s not always something there when you reach down inside so I put this aside for a while and listen to some music, putt around the studio and look at things.  Read a post on another blog that sets me thinking.  It was about the act of forgetting, losing all the details of an experience.  Remembering only your view and not taking in the whole.  The richness of the entirety.

Maybe that’s not even what this blogger was trying to say but we tend to transform what we hear or read or see into something that pertains to our own base of experience and knowledge, if only to try to understand what is being said. 

As I’m wrestling with this in my foggy mind, a song comes on.  I Wish I Was the Moon from Neko Case.  And it fits  as I find myself wishing I, too, were the moon, fleeing the rising sun that is beginning to flood through my studio windows.  Wish I were the moon casting light on wherever my eye might fall and cloaking the rest in the shelter of darkness.  And I think of this piece, Under a Pale Eye.  And in it, I am the moon, if only for a moment.

But the sun is shining bright and the fog begins to lift from my mind and I am no longer the moon.  For now…

Here’s Neko Case–

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Pan American Unity

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , on June 18, 2010| 7 Comments »

Diego Rivera's Mural at the City College of San Francisco

There are pieces, paintings, out there that I would love to see in person and then there are some I would rather see from a distance, if only to avoid feeling utterly humbled in my own small talent by their beauty and grandeur.  The great Mexican muralist and painter Diego Rivera created such a work.

It is his Pan American Unity mural that resides at the Diego Rivera Theatre at the City College of San Francisco.  Painted in 1939/40, it is a massive true fresco that measures about 22 feet tall by 73 feet long.  Because of time overruns in the painting of such an epic piece, much of  it was painted as a public display during the Pacific Exposition of 1940.  Actually, after its completion it was packed away for over twenty years, unseen, as World War II intervened then the Cold War.  There was some controversy in the 1950’s over Rivera’s dalliance through the earlier parts of the century with the Communist Party in Mexico and and at that point, anything red was dead in the eyes of those in authority.  So, a masterpiece sat and sat like a dormant volcano, waiting to burst into open air once more.  It finally did in 1961, four years after Rivera’s death.  There is a piece of silent color film from the exposition that shows Rivera at work as well as his assistants at various tasks.  You can see it by clicking here.

I have seen other Rivera works and never fail to feel humbled by his great talent as well as his larger than life persona.  The Pan American Unity mural seems to sum up Rivera in one giant sweep, a piece so dense with imagery that one could spend months examining it and still find new details of beauty and color.  It is bold and big, like the man.  Epic.

My ego hopes I never see it…

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Lifeblood

Posted in Influences, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , on June 17, 2010| 2 Comments »

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked throughout the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

———-Viktor Frankl

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I don’t know why this came to mind today but it did.  Viktor Frankl was an Auschwitz survivor who, after the war, created logotherapy, one of the important schools of psychotherapy alongside those of Freud, Adler and Jung.  It was a therapy based on finding meaning in one’s life, a reason to struggle onward.  In his best known book, Man’s Search For Meaning, he recounts his time in the concentration camp and how he and others who survived  seemed to have something in common– the discovery of a purpose and meaning in living.  It might be love. It might  be the will and drive to create.  Just something to set on their horizon to pull them ahead despite the horror around them.

Maybe it was this painting, Lifeblood,  that brought back Frankl for me.  I had come across his work a number of years ago and and his words and example have helped me through some desperate, foundering times of my own.  There is a certain power in knowing that we all are fated to suffering of some sort, just by the sheer nature of existence.  There will be pain, there will be death.  No one is exempt from the distresses of  life.  But these can be endured through the knowledge that we have the choice in how we react to such events, how we perceive the deprivations of our lives.  We can choose to wallow, to give in,  or we can forge ahead.

Maybe that’s how I see this painting, as a path through the pains of living, symbolized by the blood red of the ground.  All the leaves, everything it had,  have been stripped from the tree yet it still stands.  It reaches for the light above, seeks a meaning for its suffering. 

I didn’t see it that way when I first painted this.  It was simply color and form.  Simplicity and harmony.  But sometimes there’s an associative power to a piece that gnaws at you, begs you to look deeper and find what it’s trying to say.  And maybe the ideas of Viktor Frankl hide in this piece for me…

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Into Great Silence

Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, tagged , , on June 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

There is a film that was made a few years back by Phillip Groning called Into Great Silence.  It is a documentary that was filmed over a year at the Grand Chartreuse Monastery in an awe-inspiring setting in the French Alps, home to the Carthusian Order which dates back to the year 1084 and remains fairly unchanged from that time to the present.   It is an order that maintains silence at all times in the monastery.

I came across this a few nights back as I scanned the channels and only caught a short bit of it near its end.   It is a film that is silent but for the sounds of the monks movements that echo in the ancient spaces of the monastery.   The sound of footfalls down a long stoned hallway.  The sound of the monastery bell.  The sound of their Gregorian chants from the sanctuary. The filming is in natural light so there is a quality to all the scenes, combined with the surroundings, that gives the film the feel of a medieval painting– dark and quiet.  It moves beautifully with a spellbinding quality and a rhythmic quietness  that seems the antithesis of  most  modern films.  No car crashes here. 

 No cars.

There is one segment where the camera follows a group of monks as they head out into the snow outside the monastery in their flowing robes.  It is shot from a distance so you can’t hear anything specific but you suddenly realize they are chatting away, almost excitedly, once they leave the boundaries of the monastery.  They come to a smaller hill set among the higher, sharp peaks of the Alps.  You sit watching and wondering what they might be doing as the scene unfolds, the camera set several hundred feet back so the monks are small in the frame.  And with a faint laugh that carries across the distance, they are sliding down the hill as though their feet were  snowboards.  They would whoosh for a bit then often tumble through the snow to the accompaniment of guffaws that seem startling in the context of the rest of the  film.  It is a moment of pure but simple joy and gives the monks a more human quality, lets the viewer identify with them and see them not only as dedicated men of  their faith.

This film and its imagery have haunted me since I saw the small part of it that I did that night.  I have always claimed to be seeking Big Silence and these men seem to have found it.  And it appears just as I hoped it might.

Do I want to be a monk?

No.  I don’t have the faith or belief that must be required.  Not even sure I could live with so many others, even without words. 

 But that silence.  There is something there in the void of words, something that speaks volumes, that gives us a peek into the chasm of time that we all seek and fear.  And not too many of us are willing to take that leap into great silence… 

Here’s the US trailer for the film-

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Tom Buechner

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 15, 2010| 8 Comments »

Tom Buechner In His Studio-- Photo by Barbara Hall Blumer

Tom Buechner died Sunday, June 13, at his home in Corning  after a short time after being diagnosed with lymphoma.  He was 83 years old.   He is survived by his wife, Mary, and his three  children.

I don’t know how you would characterize Tom’s career, it being so multi-faceted.  He did so many things in so many areas, all at the highest levels.  He was a true man of accomplishment.

 He was well known in the museum world, having started the Corning Museum of Glass, which evolved into the world-class facility it is today,  before leaving to head the Brooklyn Museum throughout the 1960’s.  He was president of Steuben Glass, the company that produced some of the finest American crystal and art glass ever made.  He also was instrumental, serving as President for a decade,  in the formation of the Rockwell Museum in Corning, which has the largest collection of Western Art east of the Mississippi.

He was a leading glass scholar, being one of the biggest authorities on  the work of art glass pioneer Frederick Carder.  He wrote the glass section for the Encylopedia Brittanica.   He also wrote a best-selling book, Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator, that  is one of the definitive works on the great American artist.

He is perhaps best known as a painter.  Trained as a young man at the Art Students League in NY and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, Tom maintained a passion for painting throughout his life.  His landscapes, still-lifes and  portraits are highly sought after in the many galleries throughout this country that represent his work and hang in many fine collections and museums, including the Metroplitan Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  His portrait of Alice Tully hangs in the hall named for her at Lincoln Center in NY.

In this area, he was also the biggest influence in our local art community.  Generations of artists benefitted from his talent and knowledge,  many taking his well-known classes in painting as well as painting with him on a more casual basis, in weekly get-togethers.  His influence on local painters was so strong that when I first started going to the West End Gallery, I would have to go from painting to painting to check the signatures because so many of the painters had adopted his style and palette from their time with him.   He was also a huge presence behind the scenes of many local organizations and events, something that probably went unnoticed by many.

That’s just a quick thumbnail version of one hell of a life in art.  There are so many other aspects to his talents that it could go on for many more paragraphs.

Now, I didn’t know Tom well at all.  We talked several times briefly in the gallery, usually about his work, which had a classical appearance.  Actually, I wasn’t sure he was even aware of my work until one evening when he showed up unexpectedly at one of the openings  for a show of mine at the West End.  As I was talking with a lady before a painting, he came up and asked if he could interrupt.  He then gave me several minutes of exuberant praise, telling me that he envied me for creating a body of work that had its own distinct look and feel, that was instantly recognizable as mine.  I think my mouth was hanging open in shock as he turned and was gone.  The lady  that had been speaking with me  gasped out, “Oh my god!  That was amazing!  You should have recorded that.”

I was giddy, trembly inside.  Even though I was well along and fairly well established in my career, I was shocked that these few words of praise meant so much to me, that they affected me so much.  I felt validated.  I felt changed in some way.  To me, Tom Buechner represented  the established art world and even though I never sought its acceptance, to be received so heartily made me feel very … well, I can’t even describe how it made me feel.  It remains one of the highlights of my career.

I think that says a lot about Tom Buechner’s magnitude, that a few brief, kind words given at an opening could make me feel completely different about my own work.  For that moment alone, I will always have a place in my heart for Tom Buechner. 

May his spirit live on…

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The photo of Tom from the top  of this post is from the book , In Their Studios: Artists & Their Environments, from photographer Barbara Hall Blumer.  Here are a couple of  pieces from Tom’s body of work,,,

Leslie-- Thomas Buechner

My Still Life– Thomas Buechner

 

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Flag Day

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged , , on June 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

Childe Hassam-The Forth of July, 1916

Today, June 14th, is Flag Day, a semi-holiday without a lot of fanfar ethese days that came about in 1916 when Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it as a day to celebrate the day of the origin of our flag in 1777 as we, as a country, were on the brink of entering the war in Europe.  The flag has always been a strong iconic image in art, used by a number of artists to make a statement of sorts.  Perhaps the best known of these are the flag paintings of Jasper Johns, one of which has sold at auction for over 28 million dollars.

However, when I think of paintings of flags I always think of the work of Childe Hassam.  He started this series of paintings in 1916 as the buildup to our entry in World War I was reaching a crescendo.  In many cities around the country there were Preparedness Parades that displayed  the general population’s escalating enthusiasm for entering the fray.  The most famous of these was in San Francisco where, at one such parade in July of that year,  a bomb was exploded by radicals of the time that killed 10 bystanders and injured many more.  However, Hassam was in NYC and the displays on the avenues of multitudes of flags among the canyons of the growing city inspired him to produce a number of powerful paintings, not bombs.

I think these paintings say a lot about America, especially at that time.  The cityscape shows an expansion of urban growth brought on by the influx of an immigrant population and a prospering, industrialized economy.  The flags represent a unifying bond that ties together all these diverse groups, a simple symbol that speaks easily to the wants and desires of the population.  Their dream of America.  Perhaps it also covered up many of the injustices and inequalities rampant then.  And now.

But I tend to think of it in the better light, as a call to our better nature and to a society of choice and opportunity.  An image of possibility and hope.   And Hassam’s paintings do that for me in a beautiful, graceful manner.  The flag in its best light…

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Show Reflections

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged , on June 13, 2010| 5 Comments »

Keynote-- GC Myers 2010

Well, this year’s opening for my show at the Principle Gallery is over and it actually went very well.  Great crowd with many familiar faces and many new ones as well.   It was a lovely evening and I left feeling that it was, by all accounts, a very successful show.

Two of the new faces I saw at the show belonged to the charming twin daugthters of Erin and Noah Ristau.  Ever and Grey are 7 or so months old  and came out to their first opening with their parents who made this a pitstop as they moved their home from Richmond to Ohio for a new position for dad Noah.  The lovely girls seemed pretty at home and I was honored to meet them for the first time.  I’m sure they and their parents will prosper in Ohio.

Actually, Grey and Ever were not the only children at the show.  There was Henry, fresh (and tired) from a swimming lesson, accompanied by his parents, Stephanie and Tom.  I first met Henry at a gallery talk there when he was just under a year old.  He sat placidly through the whole time of the talk, taking in the paintings and never fussing once.  I always think of  him as the calmest child I know but I’m sure his parents beg to differ.

Then there was the shy Lexy who hid behind her mom, who asked if I had advice for her aspiring artist  daughter.  Lexy likes to draw.  The best I could tell her was to be bold, make strong marks on the paper.  Show people who you are.  And there was Kai, the young son of Leslie, who hails from my home area.  Kai is a big eyed waif  who aked if I remembered teaching him how to draw Snoopy at last year’s opening.  I told him I most certainly did then  told him about the lesson from my 5th grade art teacher who had us fill sheets of paper with little drawn objects, making  a trash heap.  This lesson had led to the Archaeology series for me and I hope Kai gets something from it as well.

I answered what seemed like an unending barrage of questions until my throat was dry and sore.  Afterwards we went with a group from the gallery and their friends (and my old friend Al)  to see the band The Reserves (who used a painting of mine for the cover of their first CD) play a set at a local club.  Dave and the other members of the band had stopped in for a while at the opening and I didn’t have an opportunity to say hello so it was good to catch up a bit.  They have a new CD that is garnering really positve reviews and they sounded great that night.  

But soon, I just ran out of steam and the night was done for me.  All in all, a good night.

I wish to thank everyone who came out to the show this year.  It is this support and interest for my work that makes it possible and I am ever appreciative.  Also, special thanks to Michele, Ali and Clint at the gallery for making this show possible and providing such a comfortable and relaxing environment for the work.  Their partnership in showing my work for these past 13 years has played a vital part in any growth I may have had as an artist and for that alone, putting aside the friendship they have always extended, I will always be indebted.

Thanks, everyone…

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Facets

Posted in Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , on June 12, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well, my show at the Principle Gallery, Facets, opened last night.  Wow! Was it ever great!?

Actually, I’m writing this Thursday afternoon so I have no way of knowing how everything turned out at the show.  I’m probably heading back up the highway as you read this but I will give you some details within the next few days. 

The painting shown here is actually the title piece for the shows, Facets.  It has a very stained glass feel and the sky is broken apart in a way that seems to section off the light from the moon/sun, giving me the title.  It’s a simple, pensive piece and one that I think works well with the concept contained in the title.

Here’s a little traveling or just hanging out music from Billy Bragg and Wilco‘s interpretation of Woody Guthrie’s lyrics for a song called Walt Whitman’s Niece. Enjoy your Saturday!

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Alive in the Gray Area

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on June 11, 2010| 3 Comments »

Alive in the Gray Area- GC Myers

My show opens tonight at the Principle Gallery.  I head down the highway early in the day and settle into my hotel and relax for a short time before the opening.  Have a bite to eat and try to take my mind off the show.  I still have anxiety over the whole thing, as I talked about in yesterday’s post.  But it’s not so much of a panic after 25 or so solo shows. 

Just try to keep the flop sweat down and be grateful for those who show up.

Dancing in the Gray Light

This year, I’m bringing a couple of pieces with me on the day of the show.  They are two smaller paintings done in shades of gray and black with touches of color.  I started these this week as an exercise, sort of to clear my palette.  Go back beyond color then come forward again.  These were primarily done as such and were not meant to be shown but I found that they really appealed to me and gave a different flavor to my normal compositions.  Taking the focus off the color made my eye instead fall to subtlety of line and tonal differences in the grays.

It was still my work but I was seeing it  in a different way.  Like hearing a song you know very well played in a much different manner.  You recognize all the things about it that you liked in it normally but notice things that evaded you before.

That’s kind of how I feel about these pieces. 

So I decided to show them tonight if only to get a bit of feedback.

So if you’re in Alexandria tonight, stop in at the Principle Gallery and say hello. Maybe take a look around.  There’s plenty of color to go along with the grays…

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