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2- Day Workshop Coming Up!

Posted in Biographical, Current Events, Motivation, Painting, tagged , , , , on September 10, 2016| 3 Comments »

Sunny Point on Keuka Lake, Location of this year's Workshop

Sunny Point on Keuka Lake, Location of this year’s Workshop

As it was last year, I am leading a two-day workshop this month for the Arts Center of Yates County.  This year’s edition is going to be held at their Sunny Point facility (shown above) on the shores of beautiful Keuka Lake on Thursday and Friday, September 22-23.  I plan on having the attendees experimenting in my reductive technique as well as composing their work in different shapes and sizes than they might otherwise be accustomed.

One of the  purposes of this workshop is to see their materials in a different light and to knock down the limitations and rules that we often set on ourselves.  Basically, the idea is to get them realize that there are no rules when it comes to expressing yourself.

Last year was my first attempt at teaching and if you were reading here at that time you may recall that I had a lot of anxiety and reservations about the whole thing.  But I found it to be a very fulfilling experience and the feedback from the attendees was strong enough to convince me that there was indeed something of value here, that I was getting across something of use to these folks.

Frank B. at last year's workshop

Frank B. at last year’s workshop

Plus, it was just fun spending some time with some really nice people.  We had a lot of laughs, told some stories, learned some new things and made some really interesting work in those two days.  If you recall, I was blown away at how quickly that group absorbed the lessons.  At the end of the workshop they were working at a point that took me a year or more to reach on my own.

I was informed yesterday that there was still one and possibly two spots available for this workshop.  So, if you are interested in attending, you can get more info and register by clicking here or phone the Arts Center of Yates County at 315-536-8226.

Keuka Lake in the fall is always beautiful and I know we’ll have a pretty good time along with a few pleasant surprises.  Hope you can make it!

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Coming Up After August

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- At the End of the Day smI have written here several times about my dislike for the month of August, most recently in a post from last year called Cruel August.  This year’s events have not changed my mind one bit.  But today mercifully ends August and there is the somewhat more soothing feel of September and October on the way.

Here’s what is on my calendar for the next month or so:

There are only a couple of days left before my show, Contact, comes off the walls at the West End Gallery in Corning.  The show ends this Friday, September 2, so if you want to take a look at this year’s show, please get into the West End in the next day or so.

On September 17, I will be giving my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This is my 14th talk at the Principle and it is always a pretty good time.   It’s a simple matter of combining some good folks, good conversation, a few confessions and the chance to win one of my paintings at the end of it all.  And a little more.  There are more details that will be revealed in the next week or so.  As I said, it’s Saturday, September 17, beginning at 1 PM.

Then then following week, I head up to beautiful Keuka Lake where I will again lead a two-day workshop for the Arts Center of Yates County.  Last year’s workshop was my first foray into teaching and, despite the initial apprehension that I wrote about here on the blog, was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.  I was amazed at the amount of info the attendees absorbed and the great progress they made in two days.  It was very satisfying and I am excited to be at it again this year.  The workshop runs on Thursday and Friday, September 22 and 23 from 9-4 each day.  For more info click here.  You can also call them at  315-536-8226.

After that, it’s on to this year’s last solo show, Part of the Plan, which opens October 29th at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA.  It’s been two years since my last show at the Kada, which has represented my work for over 20 years now, and I am eager to show some new work in this show.  There will be more details upcoming on this show but mark your calendar.

 

 

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Sprites at the West End

Posted in Current Events, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , , , on August 4, 2016| 4 Comments »

SPEAROW at the West End

SPEAROW at the West End

I am totally out of the loop about the current Pokemon Go craze as well as Pokemon in its original form.  I don’t know what the characters are or what they are called.  Nothing.  I only know about it from the stories I have heard of people so engrossed in playing the game on their phones that they walk into traffic and so on.

But it turns out that the sprites, as I learned they are called, have been spending time in the West End Gallery lately.  The gallery is a PokeStop in Corning and there has been an increase of people coming in with smartphones in hand to the point that owner Jesse Gardner began to worry about their safety on the stairway leading to the upper gallery.  The idea of someone stumbling down the steps in pursuit of an invisible sprite isn’t in her business plan.

Jesse took a few pictures of some that she found hanging around the work.  So if you come to the Gallery Talk this Saturday you might be able to catch sight of NIDORAN, SPEAROW or CATERPIE or whoever else might be there that day.  Hopefully, they won’t cause any problems during the talk.

And don’t worry, they are not eligible to win the painting that will be given away at the end of the talk.  So whether you see the sprites or not, I hope you can make it to the West End Gallery for the Gallery Talk that runs from 1-2 PM.  There will be refreshments, a prize or two, some art and maybe a few laughs.

CATERPIEwithGCMyers

CATERPIE using the Bridge

EEVEEwithGCMyers3

EEVEE Taking in the show.

NIDORANwithGCMyers

NIDORAN at the West End

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Sacrifice

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , , , on August 2, 2016| 6 Comments »

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

What is sacrifice?

There has been a lot of talk about this word over the past several days as Donald Trump tried to somehow equate the service of a fallen Muslim soldier and the loss felt by his family to those things in his life he views as “sacrifices”—working hard, hiring people and building buildings.

I wasn’t going to comment but yesterday morning I heard one of the many Trump surrogates [ for a man who so readily proclaims his own brilliance he requires an army of people to explain and interpret his often incomprehensible words] saying that opening a business is a sacrifice, similar in many ways to serving one’s country in the military or public service.

It is not similar.  It is so different that it is offensive to even try to defend his statement in that way.

Yes, opening and operating a business is a risk and a gamble.  True, there is a choice made to do this rather something else and devote time to this.  But it is not done for altruism but with the desire and goal of creating personal gain and wealth for the person taking the risk.

When a businessperson hires an employee (or thousands of employees) it is because they are necessary to create and maintain profit.  I doubt that Trump has ever hired a person who did not serve his personal goals or could not serve his needs or help enrich him in some way.  This is an expense and an investment.  This is not sacrifice in any form.

Erecting buildings is much the same.  It is done with the desire for wealth creation and sometimes, as in Trump’s case, self-aggrandizement.  It is not done to serve the public good unless that somehow coincides with increasing one’s wealth and brand.  This, too, is an investment, not sacrifice.

And as to working hard, I consider myself a hard worker.  I consider it a positive personal trait but would never consider it a sacrifice.  Working hard is a privilege, a right and, to many, a pleasure.  It is the opposite of sacrifice.

Sacrifice is the giving of that which is precious to you for something greater than yourself.  It can be, as in Captain Khan’s case, the giving of one’s life to save his fellow soldiers or it can be in giving up personal gain and rewards to serve the greater good.

I didn’t want to write this.  I want to stay a million miles away from this whole thing.  I would much rather focus on painting and almost anything else.

But it must be addressed.  We have someone who is so close to attaining so much real power in this world yet does not understand the meaning of personal sacrifice and displays so little empathy for those less privileged than himself.  This is a man who has had advantages and privilege in every aspect of his life from the day he was born yet doesn’t even recognize that simple fact.

His goals are his goals alone and not ours.

The only things he has sacrificed in his vain and cynical grasp for power are dignity, honor and truth.  But realistically, even that has not been a sacrifice for Trump—those were never of any value to him in the first place.

And still there are people who ignore these most basic character flaws and his almost endless ( and proven) lying, still believing that he has their best interest at heart when there is absolutely no evidence beyond his empty boasts.

It is beyond my comprehension.

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Declaration of Conscience

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, Quote, tagged , , , , , on July 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Margaret Chase Smith

Margaret Chase Smith

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk.

— Margaret Chase Smith

************************

One more word on the current political scene and then it’s back to business as usual here– a little Sunday Morning Music tomorrow and basically art thereafter.  I promise.

Donald Trump is the Republican Party’s Presidential candidate.  We know exactly who this man is now and who he has been over the past 30+ years he has spent in the public eye–  an immensely vain and amoral blowhard and bully with little regard for those who cannot serve his selfish personal interests.  He has appealed to the electorate with a blend of ugly rhetoric rooted in division, fear and anger and has assembled a fair sized group of equally angry, fearful and hateful true believers behind him.

But you know something, I don’t blame Trump for who he is, as much as I deplore him.  There have always been and will always be figures like him.  That can’t be helped.

No, the people who are most responsible for his rise are those who enabled the intolerance, group thought and uncompromising  partisanship that has taken over the Republican party over the past few decades and created an environment that gave him the opening he could exploit

I’m talking about those Senators and Representatives and other politicians who simply went along, never taking a stand or speaking out against even the most egregious and often hypocritical actions of the party as it tried to gain short sighted political gains, ones that only served their own selfish interests and not the general welfare of the American people.  They were against any form of compromise, entirely intolerant of any opposition to their short term goals and would remain quiet as the most outrageous claims were repeated and repeated to the American people, their notable silence acting in itself as an acceptance of those claims.

Their silence allowed a demagogue to grab the helm of their ship away from them.  Some sheepishly have gathered behind their new ship’s captain and shamelessly assented to much of his nonsensical babble.  But shamefully there are those in that party who are horrified by the words and actions of this man as well as the direction in which he takes their party who still refuse to speak out and denounce the man.  Perhaps they hope he will somehow avoid the rocks towards which he is steering them and that they will be able to rip back the helm from him and come out unscathed.

But their silence and inaction could lead to more dire consequences not only for their party but for this country and the ideals on which it was formed.

Speak up.  Put aside your self-interest and serve your constituents, not your party.  Be a citizen first and protect those ideals.

Speak up.

Below is an excerpt from a speech,  Declaration of Conscience, that is considered one of the great American speeches of all time. It was given by Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith in June of 1950 when the dark days of Joe McCarthy and his Communist witch hunts were taking hold.  She saw what McCarthy was and the great harm that could come to this country if he was allowed to continue his campaign of rampaging character assassinations. She spoke out against him and those in her party who remained silent and simply went along.  She did not endorse the other party but pointed out that any victory for their party that was based on ignorance and fear and  that came at the expense of their true principles would be a disaster for their party and the country.

If you don’t know who Margaret Chase Smith was, it is worth taking a moment and looking her up.  She was a tough but moderate Republican who made a habit of reaching across the aisle and of backing bills that often went against the Republican ideology of the time.  She believed in doing what was right for the American public first, regardless from which party an idea emerged.  She was also the first woman to be placed into nomination for the Presidency by a major political party.

Margaret Chase Smith would most likely not be welcome in the current Republican Party.

Read these words from her Declaration of Conscience in 1950 and I think you will see how they apply to this election over 65 years later.  While I don’t agree with the assertion that our current Democratic administration needs to be replaced I do understand that there are those that do.  But to replace it with a morally dishonest alternative is not the change that will best serve the American people.

Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of this country.  Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer as long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic Administration.

Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation.  The nation sorely needs a Republican victory.  But I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.

I doubt if the Republican Party could — simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest.  Surely we Republicans aren’t that desperate for victory.

—–Margaret Chase Smith, Declaration of Conscience speech,  Delivered June 1, 1950

This is perhaps the most important election of our lifetimes, folks.  Pay attention and speak out against fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear.

Back to our regular scheduled programming tomorrow.  I promise.

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Light and Dark

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , , on July 29, 2016| 11 Comments »

DNC 2016Yesterday, I heard journalist Carl Bernstein call this election the Gettysburg in America’s cultural wars, meaning that this election might very well determine the nature of our future existence as a nation.  I found that a very striking  and fitting analogy for this race.  This race entails two very different visions for America, one filled with light, the other darkness.

For example, the difference between last week’s Republican convention and this week’s Democratic convention was breathtaking.  The Democratic convention was a showcase of diversity across the spectrum of America– there were even many longtime Republicans that spoke to the crowd.  It had substance.  It had optimism and a positive message that spoke to the ideal of the American can-do spirit.  It was uplifting and inspiring with too many awe inspiring speeches and stories that I can’t even begin to list them here.

It was about us, about our love for this country and not the love for the hate-filled rhetoric of an angry reality star.

It was filled with light.

On the flip side, the Republican convention was the darkness, somehow both an angry and low energy affair  filled with a crowd that lacked the vitality and diversity that makes us America.  There were only 18 black faces out of the over 2400 delegates, a number so low (that’s only about .07%, folks) that the black delegates were asked to not  congregate so that they could better disperse through the crowd. The whole event terminated with Trump’s dismal vision of America and his assertion that he alone could solve the problems of this country.  He couldn’t even deliver on his boast to make the Republican convention a “showbiz” convention, packed with flash, celebrities and a “winner’s night.”  I must have somehow missed that part of the convention.

No, he portrayed this country, including our military, as being filled with fearful cowards who are not up to a challenge. He certainly didn’t offer one to the people of this country in his rambling diatribe.  No, he offered to take over with an air of authoritarianism that is all too reminiscent of  Mussolini and the rise of Fascism in Italy in the 1920’s.

You do know how that turned out, don’t you?

He says we must believe him when he says that he and only he has the answers and solutions we need, though he has yet to offer any tangible plan for us to see.  Nor has he any evidence of having any answers in the past as a so-called businessman.  He is a businessman in the way that the Kardashians are celebrities– all flash and little substance.  He is all about brand.  That’s it.

Take for example, his only experience in operating a publicly owned corporation, Trump Resorts (DJT).  If you had invested $100 dollars in it at its IPO in 1995 and cashed out ten years later you would have been left with $4.  Four– a  loss of over 95% of your investment.  This company lost staggering amounts of money every single year from 1995 until 2005 at a time when other casino stocks boomed and the stock market index was doubling.  A $100 investment in his competitor MGM Grand turned into $600 over the same time frame.

But he made money.  He stripped every cent he could get his tiny little hands on from the corporation until it finally collapsed in bankruptcy.  Great articles on this in the Washington Post and  MarketWatch.

And while he says he will put Americans to work, only this past week he and his Palm Beach resort filed for 65 guest worker visas so that he could fill staff with foreign workers, even though there are hundreds (according to local labor stats, there are actually over 1300 who are looking for work in the same field) of nearby resident in need of jobs.  His record of filling his staffs with foreign workers is astounding.  There is nothing illegal in it but it certainly doesn’t jibe with his boastful rhetoric.

His proposals and his resume are short on facts because the facts are not his friend.  His word is not his bond and even contracts to which he set the terms are subject to being challenged when he feels it is to his benefit.  This is not a man of honor.  This is a many without empathy and little reason, a man who seeks to punish those who he believes have slighted him.  In fact, even last night at a rally, he spoke about his desire to retaliate against the speakers at the Democratic convention  who pointed out his flawed life and ideology.

At one point last night he said, “I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin, he wouldn’t know what the hell happened.”  This is last night, folks.  This man wants the power and strength of the US military at his beck and call.  God help our troops if this man somehow continues to hoodwink those Americans who refuse to see the evidence of his reality.

And it is there for all to see.  He has shown what he is, who he is.  He is a lifelong bully, a spoiled petulant manchild who is fixated on his own image and his own voice in the grandest form of narcissism we may have ever witnessed.  He uses the lie as tool.  He has never taken any personal responsibility for any of his failures, always finding a scapegoat on which to lay blame.  Nor will he take responsibility for his failures if, God forbid, he becomes President.

And there will be failures.  That is the nature of the job.  That is the very nature of life.

Do your research and don’t believe his vapid promises without first considering the reality of them.

Now for the record, I consider myself a Liberal who is proud of the many accomplishments of the progressive movement.  I like and respect Hillary Clinton very much.  I believe she will work harder for us than any President we have seen in our lifetime.  That is just how she goes about things. But she is not perfect in any way.  She has made mistakes but that is  often, unfortunately, one of the risks in taking on great tasks.

Nor is she the caricature from the Right that has been formed over the last 30+ years, a period of time in which her every word, her every action, her every look and even her appearance have been put under a microscope and dissected.  Think about it, how many of us could hold up with that kind of constant inspection over that long a time?  If you’ve not made a mistake, spoken a wrong word or didn’t do things that you deeply regret then you are either a better person than me or you have not lived a life of consequence out among the people.  I know I couldn’t survive that kind of constant examination.

I will end by saying that I would rather have Hillary Clinton fighting for me than nearly any other person that comes to mind.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Trump fighting for any other person than himself.

If you must respond, I will respect your opinion because in America it is understood that there is often a difference of opinion.But  please be civil.  No name calling.  No broad smears or conspiracies. Use facts please.  That is something I seldom see when reading comments from Mr. Trump’s supporters.

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La Vie en Rose

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , on July 24, 2016| 1 Comment »

west-end-gallery-160First thing this morning, many thanks to everyone who came out to the West End Gallery on Friday night for the opening of my show there.  I am most appreciative for anyone who takes the time on a hot Friday summer evening to come into the gallery.  It was great seeing old and new friends as well as seeing how they reacted to the work, which was hung beautifully by Lin and Jesse.  They did a great job pairing the paintings with original glass work —  each seemed to reflect and enhance the other.

Again, many thanks for making this a great show.  If you haven’t had a chance to get into the West End Gallery, please do try soon.  The show hangs until September 2.  I will also be giving a Gallery Talk on Saturday, August 6 from 1-2 PM at the gallery.  As is now tradition, there will be some sharing so mark the date and try to come on in.

This morning is the end of the Tour de France, the incredible bike race that is one of my favorite events of every summer.  This last day is generally a ceremonial stage, with the riders coming into Paris en masse for a final end of race for one final sprint to the finish line.

Tour de France Froome and Team SkyThe race leader this year is past two-time Tour winner Chris Froome, a Kenyan-born Brit whose skinny frame hides a huge diesel motor within that seems to just chug and chug without end.  Froome’s dominance is quite remarkable but just enduring such a race is incredible in itself.  Three weeks with only two days of rest that covers about 2100 miles that wind around France and neighboring countries, up and over the highest peaks and mountain passes in the Alps and Pyrenees.  

It is speed, strength and sheer endurance mixed in with the toughness to scramble up after hitting the road at 45 MPH and continue riding a tough course for another 50 miles.   Imagine running half and full marathons nearly every day for three weeks over rugged terrain in all sorts of weather.  That’s the Tour.

I always hate to see it end.

So for this Sunday morning music here’s a French classic, La Vie en Rose, sung by the wondrous Rhiannon Giddens.  It is a gorgeous version that she mad in response to the terror attacks in France last year.  Unfortunately, it applies this year as well.

But be optimistic and have a great Sunday!

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Day of Hope

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on July 20, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Day of Hope smWe have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon. 

—Franklin D. Roosevelt

******************

We’ve had our share of fear and anger in recent days.  Time to begin looking forward towards the light of the horizon.

Time to look for hope.

I think that pretty much sums up my feelings about this new painting, a 10″ by 30″ canvas called Day of Hope.  It’s about calmness and a real considered contemplation of the future set in optimistic terms, far removed from reactionary destructiveness and irrationality of fear and anger.

Nothing good or lasting has ever been built with fear and anger.  Sure, we have moved ahead in the past when fear and anger have been present but it was in spite of those things, not because of them.  Most of the great strides forward from the past were built on a vision of hope, with a rational belief that the world could somehow be a better place.

That is what I see in this painting– a patient hopeful look to the future.

Call it naivete, call it what you will– I don’t care.  I will choose a hopeful naivete any day over fear or angry cynicism.

This is another painting from my show, Contact, which opens this Friday, July 22, at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.

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The Patient Heart

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on July 16, 2016| 4 Comments »

GC Myers-The Patient Heart smOnly a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

–Pablo Neruda

***************

We are living in a crazy time.  Every week, every day, brings us news of some new atrocity around the world– Nice, France is just the latest of all too many– and we find ourselves gripped with feelings of anger, fear and confusion.  We want answers and solutions yet we don’t really know what are the real questions being posed before us.  We just want action, or should I say reaction.

We seem to react, raging and flailing, to every situation without thought.  We take little time to consider our words or actions and their consequences.  It is all now, now, now.  And this unsettled impatience makes us willing to look to those people who offer us quick and easy answers with little substance to back their claims of what they can do.  This path ultimately comes at a much greater expense than we could ever foresee in our haste to react.

There are no quick and easy answers to the questions and problems that lay before us.  The immediate future requires, as Neruda puts it above, a burning patience.  Our first reaction is not always our best and taking a long moment to contemplate our actions is generally a wise move.

That being said, I have to say that the last few weeks have proved to me that my work has a real purpose, at least for myself.  This has been a time of real stress in the world and with every day’s dose of awful news I found myself looking closer and closer at my work as I was getting ready for the upcoming show.  At certain stressful moments, I found myself really going into the work, being absorbed by the harmonies and rhythms.

These moments were like little meditative breaks where I felt the chaos of the outside world was blocked off, only a dark mass well beyond the boundaries of the world I was now in.  It brought on an energizing calm, one that allowed me to not react with anger or despair.  It reinforced my burning patience.

And that was just what I needed from it.

The painting above is titled The Patient Heart and is 4″ by 16″ on paper.  It is included in my show, Contact, at the West End Gallery in Corning, which opens next Friday, July 22.  The show has been delivered and is now in the gallery for previews.

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On the Dock

Posted in Current Events, Music, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on July 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers-- On the Dock smWhat a time, what a time…

Watching the news it seems like we live in a time of chaos, in days and nights of division and anger.  To a certain extent I believe that’s true.  But for the majority of us– and I believe this includes people of every color, ethnicity and religion– we simply want to live a hassle-free life, one without rancor and hatred.  One where we can be ourselves as we wish ourselves to be and move through our days without fear.

One where chaos is a distant thing that doesn’t find its way to our guts.

Can we get to that point?  I believe we can.

How? That I don’t know.  Perhaps it to be found at first in small ways, in acts of kindness and tolerance towards others.  In not rushing to judgments and showing empathy.

It can’t hurt.

The painting at the top is in my upcoming show, Contact,  at the West End Gallery, opening July 22.  It’s an 8″ by 24″ canvas that is titled On the Dock.  There’s something very pacifying in this piece, something that definitely reminds me of the great Otis Redding classic, (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.  I have heard this song literally thousands of time and it never gets old for me.  It’s always calming and that is something I need these days.

It’s hard to believe that Otis Redding was only 26 when he cut this track not long before his death.  His life may have been short but he gave us so much to enjoy.  So, give a listen and have a peaceful Sunday.

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