The Auction to Aid Japan ends today, Monday, at 12 noon EST. Bidding is closed.
#2- Seems Like a New Sun - Current High Bid $850
#1 Full Silence-- Current High Bid $775
Archive for March, 2011
Auction Closes at Noon EST/ Latest Update
Posted in Current Events, tagged Auction on March 21, 2011| 21 Comments »
Persevere (Face the Wind)
Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, tagged Auction, Paintings on March 20, 2011| 5 Comments »
This is a painting from the early part of the past decade that is titled Persevere (Face the Wind). It is one of Cheri’s favorite pieces and was immediately claimed by her when I finished it. It is one of my favorites as well and has unfortunately languished in one of the bedrooms of my studio that serves as storage space now until we find the proper place to hang it in our home.
It’s a very large painting on paper, 32″ wide by 52″ tall, which really enhances the open feeling of the scene. The colors feel bold and bright but are somewhat muted which allows the central figure to strongly contrast and really dominate the picture. There is no ambivalence about the subject of this piece.
The path that comes into the foreground is left unpainted, creating a white ribbon that grows out of the unpainted space around the painted image. I contemplated painting it for a long time but ultimately chose to leave it as is, favoring that ribbon that comes from the whiteness of nothing. To me , it adds a different dimension, adds another question that hangs over the image enigmatically. And I think that’s a good thing.
I periodically go to check on this painting in that back bedroom, moving things out the way to get a better view of it in the small space. I am always filled with a sense of liberation when I allow myself into the picture plane. I feel the wind that blows through the leaves of the tree and feel the strength of the tree as it defies the wind. It is autonomous and it’s oneness fills me with the reminder that we are all are on our own paths that are self-defined, beyond what anyone else can decide for us. Our happiness, our concerns and our hopes are all our own.
I see a lot in this painting with each view, sometimes things new and unexpected, and am glad that Cheri placed her claim on it those years ago. It’s a piece that feels like a very large part of me.
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Auction Update
A reminder that tomorrow, Monday, at 12 noon EST is the final deadline for the Auction to Aid Japan.
#1 Full Silence-- Current High Bid $650
#2- Seems Like a New Sun - Current High Bid $810
Auction Update and a Little Soul
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Auction, Otis Redding on March 19, 2011| 8 Comments »
#1 Full Silence-- Current High Bid $650
#2- Seems Like a New Sun - Current High Bid $800
Here are the paintings and current high bids that are up for bid in an effort to raise funds for the Japanese relief effort. The winning bidders will receive the painting and a signed copy of my book and I will also add $5oo to each of their bids for the donation to the Red Cross. Bidding ends at 12 noon EST on Monday, March 21. A note: Please make any new bids at least $10 above the current high bid.
Many, many thanks to all who have participated. It is most appreciated and will hopefully make some sort of difference, if only a small one.
Here’s a little bit o’ soul from the immortal Otis Redding. I think that, with this disaster and a looming war in Libya, we should all try a little tenderness. This is a great version from the Stax Tour of Europe in 1967.
Empathy Deficit/Auction Update
Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged Auction, Empathy on March 18, 2011| 4 Comments »
EmpathySymbol.com
“I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I’ve come close to defining it: a lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants. A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”
– Gustav M. Gilbert, prison psychologist at Spandau prison, where Nazi war crimes defendants were held, 1945
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I know that the quote above sounds pretty dark for a character trait that most people would recognize as being positive but it has haunted me for some time. Empathy is something I take for granted as being a large part of everyone’s psyche and to think that there are are large segments of the population without the ability or the willingness to put themselves in others’ shoes or to imagine how the world looks through others’ eyes was disturbing to my simplistic worldview.
Disturbing , yes. Surprising, no. There was always ample evidence of a lack of empathy in the world and we have often exhibited a large capacity for cruelty and selfishness. Just glimpse through history or read the newspapers on any given day. There are scores of examples.
So I am not surprised so much as I am disheartened, especially when I came across a report that was released last year concerning a study from the University of Michigan that surveyed over 14,000 college students over a thirty year timespan, beginning in 1979. They were examining the degrees of empathy and found that over this timeframe that empathy had decreased severely among students, with the most dramatic drop taking place in the last ten years. Today’s college student is likely to be 40% less empathetic than students from 20 or 30 years ago. They are less likely to consider how they would feel in someone else’s situation, less likely to have concerns for others’ problems and less likely to feel pity for those being treated unfairly.
I know that this is only a study and may have large flaws in it so I am taking this with a grain of salt. But to contemplate those numbers and what it may mean for us as a society is a scary thing. Perhaps we need some sort of emapthy training, something that shows the young how to walk in the shoes of others, that explains how the suffering of one is the suffering of all. I don’t know. I just know that if these numbers are vaguely representative of the true nature of our youth then we are in for some tough days ahead.
Sorry for being so downbeat especially at a time when the world needs positive reinforcement. Maybe I’m using this as scare tactic. Whatever the case, we need to close the empathy deficit. You can take the U. of Mich’s Empathy Test and see how you stack up against the numbers. There are also several good articles online that go further on the results of this study.
For those of you with a bit of empathy here are the current totals on the ongoing auction:
#1 Full Silence-- Current High Bid $650
#2- Seems Like a New Sun - Current High Bid $800
Auction Update
Posted in Current Events, tagged Auction on March 17, 2011| 2 Comments »
- Painting #2- Seems Like a New Sun
Auction to Aid Japan Update
The current high bid on Painting #1 , Full Silence,shown below, is at $650.00 (as of 10:45 March 20). The high bid on the piece shown at the left, Seems Like a New Sun, stands at $800.00. As fully outlined in yesterday’s post, I am holding an auction to aid in the relief efforts for the Japanese disaster. The winning bidders will receive the painting they are bidding on and a signed copy of my book. In addition, I will be adding $500 to each winning bid to enhance the donation to the relief effort. The bidding ends Monday, March 21, at 12 noon EST.
Good luck and many thanks to all bidders!
Painting #1- Full Silence
Auction For Japanese Aid
Posted in Current Events, tagged Auction on March 16, 2011| 8 Comments »
Painting #1- Full Silence
I have been watching the continuing disaster in Japan and have been disappointed by the American public’s somewhat tepid response to it. Perhaps it is because it is a continuing disaster with a possible nuclear catastrophe overshadowing the horrors that the earthquake and tsunami set loose upon the Japanese people. Maybe we are viewing this like a car crash where the car is still careening out of control and we are simply waiting for the car to come to rest so that we can determine how we can help. Or maybe we view the Japanese as a capable people who are prepared to persevere without as mmuch assistance. I don’t know.
But I do know that we can do more. In doing my small part, I am auctioning two paintings off, as I did last year following the Haitian earthquake, with all proceeds to go to relief organizations. Last year, I was able to donate $5000 dollars to 3 organizations. Again, that is a small amount in the big picture of this disaster but it is a small step forward nonetheless.
Here are the auction details:
* The auction starts now and runs until Monday, March 21, at 12 noon EST.
* Bids may made through the comments section or, if you prefer, you may send them to my e-mail at info@gcmyers.com . Please specify your name and the painting you are bidding on.
* Winning bidder will receive their chosen painting with a personal dedication on the reverse side and an autographed copy of my book, In Quiet Places. I will pay for shipping and insurance.
* I will add $500 to each winning bid’s amount for the donation. For example, a winning bid of $1000 actually has the effect of becoming a $1500 donation to the relief effort.
* Donations will be specifically directed to the Red Cross’ Japanese Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami effort. If you have a different charity of choice, please specify this and I will be glad to talk this over with you.
I have chosen two paintings that I feel pertain in some way to this effort. The first, Full Silence, shown at the top, has a very Japanese/Zen feel. It is on paper and the image is approximately 7″ by 16″ and is matted and framed to a size of 14″ by 24″.
Painting #2- Seems Like a New Sun
The second painting to be auctioned is Seems Like a New Sun. This is a 12″ by 24″ painting on canvas. I chose this because in the aftermath of painting this I always thought of this city as being Japanese, with a sort of Tokyo-like feel. Even the title’s reference to the sun reminds me of Japan being called the Land of the Rising Sun. And it definitely feels like a new sun that rises over Japan after it was hit by this three-headed monster of a disaster.
So, please consider placing a bid on either painting or at least sending something, even a very small amount, to one of the relief organizations that are heading into the disaster. As I said, it is a small step but it is a step forward and that is what truly matters.
I will be posting updates over the next few days of the auction.
Hiroshige
Posted in Influences, tagged Hiroshige, Hokusai, James McNeil Whistler, Van Gogh on March 15, 2011| 4 Comments »
Watching the coverage of the disaster taking place in Japan has brought to mind the many Japanese influences on my work. I have always been drawn to the work of the Japanese print masters such as Hokusai, who I have written about before, and Hiroshige. I was influeneced by their work before I was even aware of it, mostly through their influence on the European artists in the late 19th century. Artists like Whistler and Van Gogh were enthralled by the beauty of their woodblocks, Van Gogh even going so far as simply copying them for some of his earlier paintings.
When I began to look more closely at the work of Hiroshige, I too was captivated. There is great unity and totality in the work, a harmony of color and line rhythm that fills the picture frame. The colors are softly graded yet there is deep saturation that is like a feast for the eyes. The landscapes seem to grow organically with lovely curves and lines that evoke that sense of rightness I have often struggled to describe here. They have a great polarity as well. They are bold yet subtle. They are quiet yet not timid. they are simple yet complex. They are both earthly and ethereal.
In short, they are just wonderful.
Take a look at this beautiful work and how it reflects its homeland. If you can, take a few minutes and donate what you can to relief organizations whose help a great part of this nation is desperately desiring in this time of disaster.
Obscurity
Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged John Locke, Recent Paintings on March 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This is a new 12″ by 24″ painting that sits in my studio at the moment. It draws a lot of my attention at the moment and I’ve been enjoying it over this time. I find this a very hopeful piece, the whiteness of the house’s reflection of the bright rising light set in contrast to the dark foreground. It’s this contrast that creates the hope I see. Like many things, hope is relative to the conditions of the situation.
I’ve left the landscape bare of other trees other than those in the foreground which form a stage-like setting for the scene beyond, wanting to create more focus on the starkness of the house. The path moves from dark to light and also conveys this sense of hope, of moving towards a more illuminated situation.
I’m thinking of calling this Obscurity. I know that this doesn’t convey the hope of which I speak but I have been thinking of a line from John Locke’s An Essay on Human Understanding that has been bouncing around in my head for a week or so. Locke states:
Untruth being unacceptable to the mind of man, there is no defence left for absurdity but obscurity.
It sounds wonderful. In a perfect world. I can’t help but wonder if in fact the opposite might apply to our times: Untruth being acceptable to the mind of man, there is no defence for rationality but obscurity? This thought has hung hauntingly on me for some time and maybe I see this house as a refuge of some kind for rational thought in what seems an irrational time. A place of obscurity.
Or maybe it’s just a house. After all, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
That’s The Way The World Goes ‘Round
Posted in Video, tagged John Prine, Norah Jones on March 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The time has moved ahead this morning and I awaken later than normal to a dark and gloomy morning. My world is layered in mud and I don’t feel like sharing this morning , wanting to keep my thoughts to myself and to take the time to think things out. There are a lot of problems in the world that I find distracting today including the crisis in Japan. My sense of empathy keeps bringing my thoughts back to what they must be enduring right now and the idea of talking about my work seems ridiculous this morning. And the problems that others, such as the Japanese, are experiencing make my little quibbles seems tiny and trite.
So, today I will stop right here and just let the day form on its own accord. That’s the way the world is and that’s the way the world goes ’round, which brings me to a nice version of John Prine’s song, That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round, by Norah Jones. Hope your day is peaceful.
Earthquake!
Posted in Current Events, tagged Earthquake, Japan on March 11, 2011| 2 Comments »
Tsunami Sweeping Across Japan
I came into the studio this morning and sat down to write a post about painting when I flipped on the TV to catch up quickly on the headlines and caught sight of the devastation taking place in Japan. They experienced a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off their coast several hours ago which caused widespread damage. Then in the quake’s aftermath came the tsunami which hit the coastline with its full impact sweeping well inland, carrying everything in its path along in a thick wall of destruction. The videos are amazing and terrifying, leaving one to wonder the extent of this catastrophe.
So, painting seems like a trifle today and my attention is on Japan. There are tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific rim and hopefully they will be minor, to spare any more suffering from this disaster. Cheri is keenly aware of news reports of earthquakes and has for the last week said that there was something big coming based on recent quakes. She will not be surprised by this.
Anyway, I’ll hold off on the blog until a better day and hope that the people of Japan come through today okay, ready to start the long clean-up ahead. My thoughts are with them.
Redtree Times 