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Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category

New Year’s Prayer

Posted in Current Events, Music, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , , , , on December 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Brighter Days Ahead sm

GC Myers- Brighter Days Ahead

It’s New Year’s eve tonight and we’ll shake off the dust  of yet another year and move into the next, all clean and shiny with that new year smell.  Well, that’s the popular belief.  We are, of course, who we are and no amount of calendar voodoo will alter that.

But that’s okay.  We should be okay with ourselves and just ride along on the tides of time.  Good and bad things happen along the way and both can be tolerated if we just can understand and accept who we are.

I think that’s why I chose this painting at the top and the song below to end 2014.  The painting is titled Brighter Days Ahead and has a brightness and optimism that jibes well with its title.  But the darkness underneath gives it some balance that keeps it from being too giddily gleeful.

Yes, there are brighter days ahead but there are some darker ones as well.  But having a belief in who we are, believing that we have the balance and strength to withstand troubles and accept the good with grace makes this brightness seem more tangible and less wishful thinking.

The song, New Year’s Prayer, is from the late Jeff Buckley who in his short life left us a remarkable version of the Leonard Cohen song, Hallelujah, and much more.  This song has a mantra-like feel to it with the phrase … feel no shame for what you are… as a refrain.  It doesn’t look forward or back with any hope or regret– it is just in the moment.  And that’s how I feel about the turning of this year.

Wishing you all a good New Year with the hope that feel no shame for what you are.

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Shop Small This Holiday Season

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , , , , , , , on November 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

Small-Business-SaturdayWatched the news just now and they featured clips from around the nation that had shoppers pushing and shoving one another at department stores early this morning.  Black Friday, of  course.  Scenes of a guy being taken away in a police cruiser after a fight with a lady over a $5 Barbie at some distant Walmart  just don’t seem that unusual on this day.

Good grief, as Charlie Brown might say.

I only mention this because I am urging you to shop locally and shop small this holiday season.  Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday where shoppers are urged to do just that– support their local, small businesses.  It’s a concept that is very important to me as I am a small businessman, as is every artist. I create work that is art first.  But after the creation, the distribution of this out into the world is not unlike that of all other products, requiring packaging, shipping and advertising, among other things.

And every gallery that I sell my work through is a small business and all have been  anchors in their local business communities for many years.  For example, the West End Gallery has been a fixture on historic Market Street in Corning, NY for 38 years now.  They show the work of over 50 local artists and craftspeople– glassworkers, jewelry makers and fine woodworkers.  All are small businesses who buy most of their materials locally and who spend the bulk of their income locally, supporting other local small businesses in both ways.

It is this cycle of small business that gives communities like Corning that  vibrancy makes them beautiful places in which to live.  This is a purely speculative statement but I would guess that most comfortable and livable communities, big and small,  around the country feature a foundation of strong small businesses.   After all, who can best serve the local needs?  The answer is small businesses with a stake in the community.

So, this year, please try to shop locally and shop small.  You are feeding the lifeblood of your community when you do so.  Besides, is a $5 Barbie really worth a beatdown or an arrest?

 

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Aswirl

Posted in Current Events, Painting, tagged , , , on July 18, 2014| 4 Comments »

GC Myers -AswirlI started writing a diatribe this morning about the dangerous world in which we live, given the recent events in the Ukraine and Israel.  But I realized there is more than enough talking (well, not really talking in substantive terms but mouths opening and words of some sort coming out) going on from politicos and pundits and little action actually taking place.  If you’re reading this, you’re probably fatigued by the whole thing and looking for something to calm you or at least divert your mind from the chaos of the outside world.  I know that is a great part of the motivation behind doing what I do, going inward to find a place of peace where I can take shelter.

So, today is a bit of both.  It’s a little anomaly of a piece that I am including in my upcoming West End Gallery show, Layers, which opens on July 25th.  It’s a small painting, about 5″ by 7″ on paper, that I call Aswirl.  It’s inward but it acknowledges the swirling nature of events in the outer world.  It is chaotic but finds a harmony in rhythm and color.

This is a piece that I have had in my studio for years and have wanted to show but just never got around to doing so.  But I like including at least a couple of small anomalies or oddities in my shows and as I assembled this group of work, this piece began to start popping up.  It always seemed to be in sight and though it is much different than almost anything in the show, it still feels like it fits.

Maybe that’s just me.

But I do know that it takes me away from the tensions of the events in the outer world and settles me as I find pattern and motion in the swirls of colors.  And if that is its only purpose, or my only purpose in what I do, then that is enough for the moment.

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Excelsior

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on May 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

9914-169 Excelsior smI call this new painting Excelsior and I showing it today in honor of  young Sriram Hathwar of nearby Painted Post who last night became this year’s co-champion in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  We have followed Sriram’s quest for the past seven years, half of his young life.  Last year Sriram came coming tantalizingly close to his goal of victory with a third place finish but third place just didn’t satisfy his desire to be the best and over the past year he worked hard to make his dream come true in his final opportunity.  He and co-champion, Ansun Sujoe of Ft. Worth,  Texas, showed incredible composure and grace in a pressure-packed situation that would overwhelm  most adults, let alone quiet, studious 14 year olds.  Sriram even cracked a joke, saying Gesundheit after the reader spoke the word he was to spell at one point.  One cool customer.

I chose this piece to accompany this post because of its title, Excelsior, which means Ever Upward.  I thought it would be a fitting title as well as a fitting image to  illustrate a young man’s quest for excellence.  There’s a quality in this piece of basking in the moment, taking pause to reflect on the journey and all of the hard effort it required to reach this lofty point.  I hope that Sriram takes a moment to  really appreciate his accomplishment before moving on to his next challenge.  But I know that it will be only a moment because the word Excelsior  does mean Ever Upward.

Excelsior, Sriram!

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This painting, Excelsior, is  18″ by 26″ on paper and will be at the Principle Gallery as part of my upcoming solo show there.  The show, Traveler, opens June 6 at the Alexandria, VA gallery.

 

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Mandela

Posted in Current Events, Photography, Quote, tagged , , , on December 6, 2013| 3 Comments »

Mandela at Robben Island-Photo: Jurgen Schadeberg

Mandela at Robben Island-Photo: Jurgen Schadeberg

Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.

–Nelson Mandela

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Nelson Mandela died yesterday at the age of 95 in his native South Africa.  His is a remarkable story of strength and perseverance, a man who fought in words and actions for the freedom of a people in a repressive society.  He experienced the greatest depths and heights in his long and often arduous life, becoming one of the greatest sources of inspiration for our time.

His death is a great loss for all people everywhere.  We have lost a source of tempered wisdom and the placid eyes of reconciliation and forgiveness.  We have lost a knowing witness.

There is much to grieve in the death of Nelson Mandela but there much more to celebrate in the life of Nelson Mandela.  And that is what we must do today– celebrate his life and the great inspirational gift he gave to us to carry forward.

It is a gift that must never be forgotten.

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There is an interesting website at nelsonmadelaart.com that features lithographs of drawings from Mandela of Robben Island as well as iconic photos of him, such as the one above from Jurgen Schadeberg.  There is a lot of wonderful info on this site, making it definitely worth a visit.

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Thanksgivukkah!

Posted in Current Events, Music, Video, tagged , , , , on November 26, 2013| 12 Comments »

ThanksgivukkahThursday is our traditional Thanksgiving holiday.  But this year Thursday is also the first day of Hanukkah, the eight day Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights.  The holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.  The eight  days of  Hanukkah refer to the purifying ritual of that took place in the Temple after their victory.  Because the Temple had been defiled by foreign gods, it was determined that it must be purified by the burning of  ritual oil in its menorah.  They discovered that there was only enough oil for one day but lit it anyway.  It burned for the required eight days which was considered miraculous and gave rise to the Hanukkah celebration.

This is the third time the two holiday have converged since President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a holiday here in 1863.  The first two times, 1888 and 1899, occurred before the current laws which dictate that Thanksgiving fall on the fourth Thursday of November.  This is the first time since the law went into effect and will the last time the two holidays fall simultaneously until the year 79811, as calculated by a physicist with some extra time on his hands.

This convergence has been dubbed Thansgivukkah.  Kind of catchy, huh?  I don’t know that there is any real significance here but it sure sounds ominous  (and kind of cool) when you throw in the fact that it won’t happen again for another 77,ooo years or so.  And anytime you get to throw around a portmanteau like Thanksgivukkah, it’s got to be good.  So enjoy your Thanksgivukkah, whether you’re thinking about the Pilgrims or the Maccabees.

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek look at this rare holiday with The  Thanksgivukkah Anthem from the Jewish a cappella group Six13.  Kind of kitschy fun…

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50 Years

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , , , , , on November 22, 2013| 7 Comments »

Aaron Shikler- John F Kennedy -Official PortraitHistory often turns on certain points in time, with dramatic  events that send us on a course that seem drastically different than the one we imagined ourselves to be on beforehand.  Perhaps it’s an exercise in futility to wonder what the world might look like had these events not taken place but one can’t help but imagine, if only for a moment,  an alternative history.  For instance, how would our country look today had Lincoln not been assassinated or if the events of 9/11 had been averted?  Pearl Harbor?

Of course, I’m writing this today on the day marking the 50th year since President John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas back in 1963.  That day seemed to mark a swing in our consciousness from which I don’t think we’ve ever fully recovered, leaving me to wonder how the last 50 years would have differed had not JFK been killed.  Where would we be now?

The ripples from this event are many.  How would Viet Nam proceeded?  Would there have been the same escalation and would there have been the same sense of outrage from the youthful protesters of that era?  Would the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy taken place?  Did JFK’s killing somehow enable these other assassinations?

I find my head swimming with what-ifs and coulda-beens when I ponder this.  More than my simple mind can handle.  But sitting here this morning, fifty years after that day in Dallas, I can’t imagine a scenario where our world is better now than it would have been had that day not taken place.  I know there is no room for such regrets, that we are where we are and no amount of despairing  will change the course of history we’ve followed to this point.  But, if only for a moment on this single morning, I would like to think of what might have been.  Perhaps, if string theory somehow applies, there is a parallel reality where the events of that day never happened and our arc through history was much different.  I know that I would like to see that …

 

 

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Post-Show

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Painting, tagged , , , , on November 18, 2013| 6 Comments »

gc-myers-internal-landscape-2012Well, my show, Alchemy, opened Saturday night at the Kada Gallery in Erie.  It was a good night filled with conversation with many folks, some longtime fans of the work and some new to it.  One of the highlights of the show was being able to exhibit my large and well documented  The Internal Landscape, show here,  at the Kada.

It is a piece that I am very proud of and it was good to be able to show it to the many folks who have followed my work in this region over the 17 or so years I have shown there.  It drew a lot of attention as it greeted show visitors from an opposing wall as they came into the gallery.  It contributed greatly to a very warm glow that filled the space.

I would like to send out a resounding Thank You to everyone who came out to the show on Saturday.  It is always inspiring to get the feedback that I receive from these shows and for that I am gratefully indebted.

Also, a heartfelt thank you to Kathy and Joe DeAngelo, owners of the Kada Gallery.  I have known Kathy since the early days of 1996 when she took me on as a relatively new artist, having only shown my work for a year or so before coming across through an act of serendipity.

Kathy, along with Joe, has been one  of the most, if not the most, vocal advocates of  my work over these many years, always encouraging me to continue further into my work.  By that,  I mean she always gave me the freedom to explore new directions and has never pressured me to stay at any one point on my artistic path or tried to direct the work in any way.  She and Joe have always been eager to see the new and different paths that I have explored over this time and that is a wonderfully liberating thing for any artist.  Thank you, Kathy and Joe, and thanks to their new young staffers, Morgan and Emily, whose youthful  spirit  and enthusiasm is wonderful to behold in the gallery.

Thanks, everyone involved,  for a great show.  Once again, it has been my pleasure.

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Off to the Show

Posted in Current Events, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , on November 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Forever and EverI am heading out to Erie later this morning for tonight’s opening reception for my show, Alchemy, at the Kada Gallery.  While I am always a bit nervous beefore any of these solo shows, the ride out to Erie generally has a calming effect.  It is a simple and quiet  ride through rural western New York on a highway that sometimes feels deserted, with hardly another car appearing at certain points.  The landscape is a mix of rolling hills that skirt the Allegheny National Forest before leveling off into a plain that runs to the Great Lakes, Lake Erie in this case.  It is sparsely populated and airily wide open.  I think this is an image of New York that would surprise many people. I know that it’s a ride that always has a calming effect for me.

The painting, Forever and Ever,  above is a small piece, 6″ by 6″ on paper, that is include in this show.  It is another take on the Baucis and Philemon myth that I have described here several times in the past.  I really like the vivid tones of the sky and the landscape here.  They seem to give it the other-worldly feel that I think fits the story of the fated couple.

Here’s a little music that  has the calm that I anticipate on my drive westward.  It’s  You Don’t Know What Love Is from two of my favorites, Elvis Costello and the late great Chet Baker.  I hope to see you tonight if you’re in the Erie area and can come out to the Kada Gallery.  Kathy and Joe DeAngelo, the owners of the Kada, are wonderful hosts.  See you tonight!

 

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Step Forward

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on August 14, 2013| 1 Comment »

GC Myers-Step Forward By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward.

–Mikhail Bakunin

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There has been a lot of talk over the last few days about the new form of transportation proposed recently by entrepreneur-inventor Elon Musk, the man behind PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX.  His idea is to have people shooting all over the country in a larger ( and more sophisticated) version of the vacuum tube system that you might see at your local bank’s drive-through, where the transaction is placed in a receptacle by the driver of the car and , once placed in the tube,  it is whisked with a whoosh to a waiting teller in the building.  Musk’s claims that you could shoot from San Francisco to LA in about 30 minutes, reaching speeds of around 700 mph in the tube.

It’s not a mind-bending idea in itself.  I mean, haven’t you wondered about the possibility as you sit waiting at the bank’s drive-through?  I know I have.  No, it’s not the idea but the sheer scope of such a project that raises eyebrows.  We look for any reason to not move ahead with big and bold innovative projects now.  The idea of pursuing the seemingly impossible, that trait that defined our last century, has for the most part disappeared from our psyche.

All you hear is how this project cannot succeed. And maybe the naysayers are right.  But at least there is a tap in this idea into the creative mind, the wellspring that allows us to dream bigger, something we seem to be backing away from.   But our world faces big challenges that require big ideas and big dreams.  Maybe this is not the ultimate answer to one of our challenges but kudos to Elon Musk for daring to dream big.

The painting at the top is in this same vein.  I see this piece as being about being bold and daring to step forward, away from the accepted normal.  Titled Step Forward, it is a 36″ by 24″ canvas that is part of my ongoing West End Gallery show, Islander, that hangs for a few more weeks there.  I’ve had a surprising number of comments about this painting over the course of the show.  Hopefully,  that is a good sign for us all…

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