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Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category

Oklahoma USA

Posted in Current Events, Influences, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2013| 2 Comments »

oklahoma-mapA lot of us probably don’t think too much about Oklahoma and when we do, it’s probably as a result of the latest blow dealt to it by Mother Nature.  This past week’s tornado devastation in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore is the latest such natural disaster to bring our eyes back to Oklahoma, near the very center of our country.  As we do whenever a disaster anywhere occurs, we as a nation come together and give the full benefit of our gathered strength in aid and support.  We are doing this now for the folks in Moore, Oklaoma and if you can, donate a bit to the Red Cross or one of the other relief organizations that will be helping them back on their feet.

Oklahoma has always had a special appeal in the American psyche .   It lives in our minds with Curly riding the plains in that idealized burgeoning new frontier in the musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein.  John Steinbeck set  his fictional Everyman Tom Joad, the plain-spoken hero and seeker of fairness from The Grapes of Wrath,  in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma.  He remains oone of my heroes and I  think of Tom Joad as the epitomized conscience of America.

I have a lot of other heroes from Oklahoma.  Growing up, whenever I heard mention of that state I immediately thought of Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench, both OK natives.   And you can’t forget that perhaps the greatest athlete of his time, Jim Thorpe, was also from OK.   Or hero astronaut Gordon Cooper.  Oklahoma also gave us the sharp stick of humor that Will Rogers wielded as the greatest observer of  our country in his time and another observer in the form of Woody Guthrie whose songs are filled with the American soul.  His This Land Is Your Land is a tribute to our unity as a nation.

Even in these divided  partisan times, Oklahoma sits near the heart of this country, both geographically and figuratively.  Like I said, give them a hand make it OK again for them.  Here is a take  from one of my favorites , the Kinks,  on the American vision of Oklahoma as seen through British eyes.

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Commuter

Posted in Current Events, Neat Stuff, tagged , on May 7, 2013| 5 Comments »

Moscow Wild Dogs - The Sun UKOver the years I have been fortunate to observe many wild animals from the windows of my studio.  I am always amazed at the  intelligence and resourcefulness as well as the sense of community and family that they so often display.  Their ability to adapt to situations is remarkable, something which many humans  fail to do when faced with any sort of change.  I suppose that’s why I was not surprised when I read an account of the wild dogs of Moscow and how they have adapted to a changing world.

It seems there is a large group of these dogs which works during the day in the city center where scavenging for food is easier from tourists, office workers and city dwellers who frequent the street vendors there.  These dogs have even developed a method where they approach an unsuspecting street  diner from the rear and bark very loudly, often making the startled person drop their food.  With children, they change their tact, using a softer approach where they will rest their heads on the child’s knees and look dolefully at them as they eat.  It often yields a few tidbits.

At the end of the day these dogs move to the subway and head out to the suburbs, where it is safer for them at night than in the city center.  They board the appropriate trains, dashing through the doors at the last second, and know how long it takes to reach their destination.  They ride in the less crowded cars at the front and rear of the train and often  fall asleep, having  to be awakened by the barks of their companions to let them know that it is time to get off the train.

If you’ve had a pet, especially one that was extremely bright, then this probably doesn’t come as any sort of surprise.  I wish I could find one that would write my blog and do my taxes.

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Running Free

Posted in Current Events, Recent Paintings, tagged , on April 21, 2013| 6 Comments »

GC Myers- In the ZoneIt’s hard to imagine that it’s been less than a week since the Boston Marathon bombing and all that followed.  It seems as though that so much has occurred that six days could not possibly hold it all.  I normally don’t do work that is topical in any manner and, to be quite honest, when I was finishing this piece I wasn’t even consciously thinking about the Boston bombing.  In fact, it was quite the opposite– I was working to shut out the emotion of the events.  it was only after finishing that I realized that there was some relevance in this piece, an 8″ by 16″ painting on paper that I call Running Free.

I originally thought that this would be a simple Red Tree piece, just the tree set against a fragmented sky.  Quiet.  Placid.  But I inadvertently started with a block that didn’t run level, giving it a sloped appearance.  As I worked on the sky, I thought about the challenge that the slope offered, an obstacle to overcome much like a runner looks at a hill.  I felt that  a runner moving up this slope was a good metaphor for the obstacles that we all at some point  take on and overcome.

The way the upper section– the sky– finished left a larger block that seemed to be a perfect  spot to place my runner.  Safely isolated, much like a runner might feel when they are in mid run and have blocked out the external.  In the zone, which was also the first title that came to mind in the aftermath of finishing this piece.

But looking at it I realized there was a connection to last Monday’s events, one that I had never intended.  The term freerunner came to mind  but that is so connected with the guys who run and jump their way through urban landscape that I opted for the simple Running Free.  All I could think of was of those people who challenge themselves with their running and find a release, a freedom, in it.  Who find sanctuary of a sort in going inward as they block out everything but their own thoughts and the road ahead of them.  And how that safe haven was invaded last week.

But runners are by nature strong-willed and will not be intimidated by cowardly acts.  I’m looking forward to seeing images of the runners streaming through London today as they run their marathon there  in defiance of those who seek to take away their freedom and their security.  May they continue to  run free…

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Auction for the Arts

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, tagged , , , on April 17, 2013| 6 Comments »

GC Myers- Sending Out This piece is called Sending Out , a 12″ by16″  painting on linen that is currently available  in an online auction to benefit The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, a local organization that promotes the arts in my area.  It has been a mainstay in our area for many years  and  has provided immense support for numerous young (and older!) artists through that time.  One of my first solo exhibits early on in my career took place at the gallery space at their offices in Corning.  It was a big boost for an unknown artist and gave me the confidence to push ahead.  I think it’s a vital organization for our area and I hope that in some small way I can contribute to its continued success.

This online auction ends on May 3 and is then continued and ends after a silent auction (which has absentee bidding on the auction site) at their annual REcycled Runway Fashion Show on the following evening, May 4.  This is their big event each year and consists of fashions made from unusual discarded items.  There was a  gown made from old blue nylon tarps and another  dress made from colorful  bags that once held black oil sunflower seeds in last year’s show.  The creativity is pretty remarkable and it’s always a rousing success for an organization that I want to see continued in my home area.

I normally don’t donate  a lot of work for the many art auctions for charities that take place in many localities around the country.  I know that sounds sort of rude when taken at face value so I had better explain.  It’s not that I don’t support these charities.  On the contrary, I usually donate cash instead or will auction a piece on my own, as I have done here in the past for the disasters in Haiti and Japan.  It’s just that most of these events take place in the areas where the art market is small and the retail galleries in these areas are definitely hurt by these auctions.

Maintaining a gallery in a small market is a tough business with a finite amount of collectors and to lose even a handful of potential sales from one of these auctions, let alone the dozens that usually take place throughout the year, can hurt their business and even imperil their very existence.  I have a sense of loyalty and responsibility for these galleries that give a community such a cultural flavor and offer many area artists  an opportunity to exhibit and sell their work.  I know that I am forever indebted for them giving me a life-changing opportunity when I began my career.  If I can help them stay in business then hopefully that same opportunity can be extended to another young artist whose life will be forever altered.

But this is the one auction I do donate to.  I thought that this year I would let the wider world know about it in hopes of raising a few more dollars for an organization that enables the dreams of  many artists, both established and aspiring,  in this area.  So, if you want to help the Arts  or want to possibly pick up a piece of art at a bargain price, check out the auction at BiddingForGood.com.

Thanks!

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Yesterday

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , , , on April 16, 2013| 5 Comments »

John Tiumacki- The Boston Globe April 15 2013I wish that I could paint my paintings or write this blog in a vacuum, completely isolated from the often grim  reach of the outside world.  But that is impossible, of course.  My work is a product of my interaction with the world and that means that days like yesterday with the horrible scene that took place in Boston cannot be stripped away or shrugged off.  It affects the way we see the world, how we react to it and it makes me wonder about the motivations of those who were responsible.  Why this day?  Why this place?

Just why?

This is not something we know, not something that we accept as part of our life here, fortunately.  I have a friend, a pen pal really,  in Northern Ireland that I have known for over thirty years.  He lives outside of Belfast and works in the city and over the years he has experienced all sorts of partisan terrorism in his world.  He  has written of becoming so inured to a world ruled by terrorism that you become accustomed to crossing the street  when you see an unattended parked car on your side of the street or to having your bag checked when you walk into a store.  Bombing were regular occurrences  there and nobody was truly safe.  A bombing in 1998 killed 29 people, including 9 children, in the small city of Omagh.

Their troubles there have   waned  a bit over recent years and a sense of normalcy without violence settled in for a short while.  But,  as their economy suffered, the troubles have  began again.  He writes of recent bombs there and the police finding more and more devices.  His tone is a bit sad and resigned and I can’t help but think how fortunate we have been here to have thus far evaded pervasive local terrorism.

So far.

We don’t know who did this or why.  Obviously, someone with a viewpoint that hovers on the fringes of the political/religious spectrum.  Someone who felt that there was a point to be made with senseless suffering.  Someone who thought that their belief, their opinion,  would somehow justify an act of terror on unwitting victims.  But we will find out who it was and it still won’t make any sense.  There will never be any justification strong enough to excuse these actions.  Let’s just hope that this is not a trend and we can write it off as the tragedy born of one sick mind.

Let’s hope…

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42

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Influences, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2013| 3 Comments »

jackie-robinson-1956_April 15 means a couple of things to some people.  Of course, there is the unpleasant connotation of it as being Tax Day, the due date for income tax filing here in the USA.  But for the baseball fan, it is a date that marks the first day a black player took the field as a major leaguer, when a special player ran out to play first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers back in 1947.   This young black man was athletically gifted, smart and tough-minded.

That player was of course Jackie Robinson.

Major League Baseball now honors him on this day every year, Jackie Robinson Day, with every player on every team putting aside their own uniform numbers to wear his number 42, which is now retired throughout baseball. Currently, only Mariano Rivera wears the number 42 on his back  and after he retires at the end of this season, no player will ever wear the 42 on their back again outside of this day each year.

Retiring a number is a sacred thing in baseball.  A player’s number has an almost mystical connection with the fans.  Growing up, everyone knew that Babe Ruth was 3,  Lou Gehrig 4, Mickey Mantle 7, Willie Mays 24, Hank Aaron 44 and on an on.  Whenever I see the number 45 all I see is my hero Bob Gibson on the mound. And everyone , even Mariano Rivera fans like myself, knows that the 42 belongs to Jackie Robinson.

There is also a new movie out that bears that number and it tells the story of Robinson’s initial turbulent year with the Dodgers.  I haven’t seen it so I can’t really comment other than to say that it is a story that every child should know.  It is a remarkable story of self restraint and strength in the face of institutionalized hatred, one that made possible the  broader changes that took place in our country in the civil rights movement in the decades after Robinson’s first day on that field in 1947.

From what I have read, the biggest complaint is that the movie doesn’t really give a full accounting of Robinson’s life. Jackie was a legendary collegiate athlete at UCLA, lettering in four sports– football, basketball, track and baseball.  He was the NCAA champion in the Long Jump and could have easily played professional football.  Of course, that was impossible because  the NFL was segregated at that time as well.

Nor does it detail his military career which is of interest mainly for Robinson being court martialed for refusing to sit in the back of an Army bus at Ft. Hood, Texas.   He was eventually acquitted of all charges by an all-white panel of officers  but it was an incident that foretold of his strength and willingness to enter the fight in taking on the segregated major leagues.

Nor does it address the health problems that led to his early death.  He suffered from diabetes and was nearly blind when he had a heart attack that ended his life at the age of 53.  It was much too early for this remarkable man’s story to end.

As I said, it’s a story that every child should know and celebrate.

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Celtic Spiral

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , on March 17, 2013| 6 Comments »

newgrange-spiral-stoneI was looking for something to use here on the blog as a symbol for Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day.  I didn’t want to go the typical shamrock and leprechaun route. We’ve all seen enough of those.  Instead, I began to focus on their triple spiral symbol, the triskele.  It first showed up on the stones at Newgrange in County Meath,  a large burial mound or temple which dates back over 5000 years, making it older than the pyramids of Egypt.

The elaborately carved stones featured three spirals which meld effortlessly into one another, as though it is a continuum without beginning or end.  Though its origins and meaning are still vague at best, this triple spiral has come down through the ages as being symbolic of the trinity of later Christian believers and even found its way into the form of the ubiquitous shamrock.  I think the mystery and symbology of the triple spiral is fascinating in the way it still resonates in some primal part of us.  It is an elemental symbol, a part of who we are as a people.  And by that, I don’t mean simply the Irish but all people.  Everyone can identify with this symbol of  the unity of time and constant rebirth.

Maybe this unifying aspect is why there is such great appeal of  this day for so many, Irish and non-Irish alike.  I know that while I drink a Guinness or two today, probably dressed in a Kelly green shirt  as I listen to Danny Boy or some other maudlin ballad for the umpteenth time, I will stop for a moment and think of this trinity of spirals and feel a unity with the past.  And the future and the present.

Maybe the song will be Carrickfergus.  Here’s a version from Loudon Wainwright III that I very much like.

 

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Radio Interview Today

Posted in Biographical, Current Events, Music, tagged , , , on February 17, 2013| 9 Comments »

GC Myers- Eternally FreeJust a reminder that you can hear a radio interview I did with Tish Pearlman for her program Out of Bounds this morning on WSKG-FM in New York and Northern Pennsylvania.   It  can also be heard on a live stream online at wskg.org.  The show airs at 11:30 AM,  just before Ira Glass and This American Life comes on at noon.

One of the questions asked was about what sort of music I listen to in the studio and the one specific piece I mentioned was Tabula Rasa from composer Arvo Pärt, one that I’ve mentioned here in the past.  It always inspires me and reminds me of the drive to find the big silence of the open landscape in my work.  The piece above, Eternally Free, is a favorite of mine that hangs in my studio and is one that I am always reminded of by this music.

I hope you can tune in this morning but for now, here’s the second movement from this wonderful piece of music which is title Silentium: Senza Moto which translates as Silence: Motionless.   The big quiet.

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The Gun Gallery

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, Painting, Personal Mythology, tagged , , on February 5, 2013| 2 Comments »

GC Myers The Kid Outlaws was a series of small  paintings that I did back in 2006.  They were  dark pieces, painted in a deep almost-black sepia,  where the light of figures emerge from the darkness.  There was a sense of desperation in each of these figures, a sort of inner struggle that overflowed to the outer world, that gave the series its title.  They are not necessarily breakers of the law but they are outside it, away from central stream of the world.  Outcasts more than pure outlaws.  Some of the characters held handguns, mainly in fearful, defensive positions.  The exception was the piece shown above, The Kid, which is most aggressive piece in the series and the one that most closely fits the textbook definition of outlaw.

996-240 Confession smIn most of my work, there are elements that take on symbolic meaning.  The Red Tree.  The Red Chair and Red Roofs.  The artifacts found underground in the Archaeology series.These things evoke some sort of  private meaning for most viewers, mostly familiar and gentle to them.  The handgun does this as well, although the reaction is definitely more extremely polarized.  I wanted a symbol that raised extreme emotion, wanted to see how people reacted.

Many people were disturbed by the imagery because it was so far  from the gentler alter-world I normally paint.  It had elements of fear and other darker emotions that are usually absent from my signature work.  The handgun piece, predictably, was the most disturbing to most people. 996-245 The Fear sm I have described here before how the pieces that showed the central figure looking through a window became a litmus test for  a person’s own level of fear or, at least, understanding of the fears of other people.   Some people saw the figure as a threat, peering in the window from the outside, ready to invade their home.  Others saw them as a figure looking out the window from the interior, fearful and haunted.  Although this result was not intended, it pleased me that it raised such distinctly different points of view.

996-229 Two Sides smI suppose this is akin to the way people view the ongoing debate on gun control.  Each sees gun control in different ways.  I grew up around guns.  My father wore a gun to work every day and we always had guns in the house.  Most people I knew  hunted and had guns.  I remember my grand-uncle taking me on an early morning  walk when I was about 5 years old.  We walked down to the cove, an inlet along the Chemung River where people dumped their trash,  which was not that uncommon at the time, unfortunately.  He sat up several coffee cans and bottles and stood behind me, putting his arms around me to help me steady the heavy blue steel of the handgun he took from his holster.  I remember the thrill of the jolt from the blast and the clang of the can.  The pungent smell of gunsmoke in my nostrils and the pointy ringing  in my unprotected ears.  It is an indelible memory.

996-221 Outlaw's Vigil smI don’t have a gun now and haven’t shot a gun in several years.  Can’t stand the noise, to tell  the truth.  But I respect the rights of hunters and shooters and feel that guns do have a place in our country.  That being said, the current debate has become poisoned by the fearful hyperbole perpetrated by the NRA and other advocates.  Any form of gun control is seen by them as the first move towards some  fascist, dystopian future, a paranoia which prevents any sort  of dialogue based on common sense.  They oppose any laws , any registries and almost all oversight.  They say that the laws on the book now should be enforced but they say it with a wink because they know that they have effectively disabled the effectiveness of this enforcement though crafty lobbying which has led to underfunded  agencies such as the undermanned ATF which are hampered in their efforts at every turn by restrictions imposed by lawmakers who are very friendly with the gun lobby .  Until we begin to look at how these agencies can once again be allowed to enforce the laws currently on the book as they are written,  new gun law legislation is a moot point and a distraction from the fact that the enforcement of any new laws is toothless by their design.

Unfortunately, they are a powerful and well funded lobby that knows how to play on the fears of gun owners.  They make people who are at no risk of losing any guns or the right to use  them believe  that the gun apocalypse is near.  They want to stay in the extreme position  because that is where fear is created.  They need that fear and they play on that fear.  It sells guns and ammo and that is the  bottom line.   It’s not about the Second Amendment, it’s not about stopping a Fascist American  government  and it’s certainly not about making us safer.  Their efforts certainly haven’t made any of us feel any safer, gun owners included.  The characters in these painting have guns and they certainly don’t seem any more at ease for it.

Free the agencies responsible to fully enforce the law…

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The Real St. Nick in the Flesh

Posted in Current Events, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , on December 24, 2012| 6 Comments »

St. Nicholas Face ReconstructionWe call him Santa Claus mainly but sometimes we still refer to him as old St. Nick or St. Nicholas,  who was actually a 4th century Greek who served as a bishop in Constantine’s church of that time.  Called Nicholas the Wonderworker and sainted in the church,  his fame spread throughout Europe through  the ages and evolved in story and form into the jolly, bearded fellow that we call Santa Claus today.

His bones are buried in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy.  During repairs made in the 1950’s, his bones were temporarily removed during which time they were measured and photographed with great precision.

In 2005, it was determined that a reconstruction of old St. Nick’s face might be made using today’s cutting edge forensic technology.  An excerpt from an article from the St. Nicholas Center, which is a fascinating site on the history and legend of  St. Nick evolution into Santa Claus, describes the process:

The current professor of forensic pathology at the University of Bari,  Francesco Introna, knew advancements in diagnostic technique could yield much more from the data gathered in the 1950s. So he engaged an expert facial anthropologist, Caroline Wilkinson, at the University of Manchester in England, to construct a model of the saint’s head from the earlier measurements. 

Using this data, the medical artist used state-of-the-art computer software to develop the model of St. Nicholas. The virtual clay was sculpted on screen using a special tool that allows one to “feel” the clay as it is molded. Dr. Wilkinson says, “In theory you could do the same thing with real clay, but it’s much easier, far less time-consuming and more reliable to do it on a computer.” 

After inferring the size and shape of facial muscles—there are around twenty-six—from the skull data, the muscles are pinned onto the virtual skull, stretched into position, and covered with a layer of “skin.” “The muscles connect in the same place on everyone, but because skulls vary in shape, a different face develops,” Wilkinson comments. The tangents from different parts of the nasal cavity determine the length of a nose. This was difficult because St. Nicholas’ nose had been badly broken. “It must have been a very hefty blow because it’s the nasal bones between the eyes that are broken,” she continued. 

“We used clay on the screen that you can feel but not physically touch. It was very exciting. We did not have the physical skull, so we had to recreate it from two-dimensional data. We are bound to have lost some of the level of detail you would get by working from photographs, but we believe this is the closest we are ever going to get to him,” Wilkinson concluded. 

Next the three-dimensional image went to Image Foundry Studios where a digital artist added detail and color to the model. This gave it Greek Mediterranean olive-toned skin, brown eyes, and grey hair and beard, trimmed in 4th century fashion. 

The result of the project is the image of a Greek man, living in Asia Minor (part of the Greek Byzantine Empire), about 60-years old, 5-feet 6-inches tall, who had a heavy jaw and a broken nose.

So, there we have the face of our Santa Claus.  It doesn’t seem so really different from the evolved version although that broken nose makes me wonder who popped Santa. Disgruntled elf?  Or maybe just a mishap with a reindeer.  Even the best forensics won’t tell us that tale.

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