Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Favorite Things’ Category

Helpless

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on May 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I wasn’t going to make Mother’s Day the subject of today’s blog but walking over to the studio in the gray,cool drizzle put me in a slightly sad and wistful mood, one that made me think of my own mother on this day. I’ve posted the bit of writing below a couple of times over the years and thought it was worth doing so again this morning.  I ran this post before with an old Eddy Arnold song that I knew Mom liked very much but today I am running it with one she most likely never heard, Helpless, from Neil Young. It’s one of my favorites and one that certainly aligns with the tone of this morning here. Have a good day.

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

GC Myers- A Hard PastIt’s Mother’s Day again. You might think the image I am showing today is an odd selection for this day. It’s a small painting called A Hard Past that is from my 2008 Outlaws series. It’s one of a few pieces that I deeply regret ever letting go as it holds great personal meaning for me. I just didn’t realize it at the time.

I know that this may not seem like a flattering thing to say but every time I look at this image I see my Mom’s face. At least, a certain look she had when she was sitting by herself in silence at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea and smoking her ever-present Camel cigarettes, those unfiltered beauties that no doubt contributed to the lung cancer that took her life at age 63.

She would sit in stillness for a long period time at that table with a distant and hardened gaze on her face. I always wondered what she was thinking or where she was in that moment. But when you’re a kid you just move through the kitchen without a word or a question.

Oh, the things we leave unsaid and the questions that go unasked.

More’s the pity…

The title, A Hard Past, came from this memory of her. She had a pretty hard life- her mother died when she was three, no school beyond ninth grade, years of toiling in a factory and a long, turbulent and angry marriage to my father. It gave her a hard edge, a toughness that several people commented on after her death back in 1995.

But they also commented on her humor, generosity and willingness to help others who might need a hand– those qualities that I also saw in her. Those qualities that I so miss.

So while this painting may not seem like a flattering tribute, just seeing my Mom in this piece means so much to me, reminding me of all she was to me.

Have a pleasant Mother’s Day…

*************
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7rQvJgTQ9U

Read Full Post »

Rufino Tamayo

Posted in Favorite Things, Quote, tagged , on May 7, 2019| 2 Comments »

Just a few paintings and a simple quote today from the Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991). I love his use of color, something for which he was celebrated. He was very prolific through a long career and while his work is easily understood by everybody, everywhere, as he said above, it was often built with the colors and imagery of his homeland.

I am showing just the tiniest sampling of his body of work which, simply put, is good stuff.

Read Full Post »

Oblivion

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , on May 5, 2019| 3 Comments »

All over the place this morning as I looked for a piece of music. Went from the 1970’s funk of Curtis Mayfield to 1990’s Tom Waits to Pete Townsend at the Secret Policeman’s Ball to Tom Morello and Rage Against the Machine to early and late Warren Zevon to a William Burroughs spoken word piece (Seven Souls) set against an electro beat. There was also some Jimmy Reed blues and some Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

It was fun, as always, one of my favorite parts of doing this blog. I like sliding down those rabbit holes, moving from one thing to another connected by some vague association recognized by an algorithm that is well beyond my comprehension.

But despite it all, nothing hit the spot that I wanted to hit this morning. I felt all out of rhythm in a way. Then I somehow fell on this bit of music.

I don’t exactly know what connection led to this piece, a classical guitar performance of a composition, Oblivion, from the late Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla. It is performed by contemporary Ukrainian guitarist Nadja Kossinskaja and it just seemed to fit the feeling of the morning at this point in time.

It finally got me back in rhythm and back on track, regardless of how I got to it.

Give a listen. It’s good stuff and a good way to kick off a Sunday whether it’s wet and gray, as it is here, or sunny and warm. Have a good day.

Read Full Post »

Otto Dix/ Chaos

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Quote, tagged , , on April 30, 2019| 2 Comments »

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

All art is exorcism. I paint dreams and visions too; the dreams and visions of my time. Painting is the effort to produce order; order in yourself. There is much chaos in me, much chaos in our time.

–Otto Dix

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

The German artist Otto Dix (1891-1969) certainly saw much chaos in his time. He fought and was wounded in his neck in the chaos of World War I. He then lived through the turbulence of the Weimar Republic of post-war Germany, his paintings often reflecting its sense of despair and fatalism.

At that time, he also painted anti-war paintings that showed the horrors of combat. His paintings earned him a place of the list of Degenerate Artists when the Nazis came to power and he was removed from his teaching position at the Dresden Academy  and over 250 of his paintings were confiscated.

Several of what were considered his greatest paintings were destroyed or lost during this time. One of these, The Trench, which depicted the horror of trench warfare in grim details, was considered perhaps the greatest post-war European painting. It is shown below in a black and white photo from the time along with another lost painting, War Cripples. Another, the painting at the top The War, painted from 1929-1932, survived only because Dix separated the four panels and distributed them among friends so that they might hide them.

During the final months of World War II, many Germans who were considered too young, too old or unfit for combat were conscripted into the German army. Dix was among this group. He was captured in the chaos of combat and held by the French until 1946.

Dix knew a lot about chaos. I feel fortunate to have not been exposed to that degree of upheaval in my world.  But I can agree, even though much of the chaos I know lives inside of me, that art is an effort to produce order in oneself.

For example, the other morning I came into the studio very early with a high degree of anxiety. I had slept restlessly, tossing and turning and wide awake with my mind racing for most of the night. I was really out of sorts and seemed ready to burst. I got to work as soon as I could and began painting. I didn’t care what it was. I just knew I had to make marks, put something down on a surface on which I could put my focus.

An hour or so later, I stepped back from a finished underpainting of red oxide paint. It was not a complete painting but it conveyed the order and essence of what it would be. I could feel then that my anxiety had lifted and a calmness had replaced it. The tightness in my chest was gone and, looking at the piece, I could see that a sense of rightness, of order, had pushed away the chaos that had crept into my  mind.

I felt tears in my eyes. I am embarrassed to say that but I think it has to be said. Finding a bit of order in a world that seems filled with chaos is an emotional moment for me. It is that thing that makes art such an invaluable thing.

Dix painted scenes of chaos in order to clarify and bring to light those things that haunted him. My work is about just finding a small slice of order in the work so that it might still my own inner chaos.

It takes all kinds, I guess.

Otto Dix- “War Cripples” 1920

 

Otto Dix- “The Trench”

Otto Dix- “Skat Players”

Otto Dix- “Three Prostitutes on the Street”

 

Otto Dix- “Metropolis”

 

Read Full Post »

All My Sons

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Quote, Theater, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2019| 4 Comments »

Tracy Letts , Benjamin Walker and Annette Bening in “All My Sons”


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

“Mother: What more can we be?

Chris: You can be better! Once and for all you can know there’s a universe of people outside and you’re responsible to it and, unless you know that, you threw away your son because that’s how he died.” 

― Arthur Miller, All My Sons

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

I had the good fortune to take in the current Broadway production of the Arthur Miller play All My Sons yesterday. A powerful, beautifully crafted  play with memorable  performances made it one of those moments when I truly appreciate the shared experience of live theater. There’s something hopeful, even with a darkly set play that bares our faults and inadequacies, in sitting in a theater filled with people who you can feel being moved by the material and the performances. I woke up this morning thinking about this play which is a pretty indicator of how well it hit the mark for me.

Written in 1947 and set in the aftermath of World War II, it’s a drama that maintains its impact and relevance. Times may have changed some things, but the unbrave new world it presented then are recognizable in these times as well. The conflict between those who fail to accept responsibility for their actions in the name of self-preservation and those willing to sacrifice and hold themselves accountable is as cogent now as it was then.

There were lines, such as the exchange between the mother, Kate and her remaining son, Chris, (played masterfully by Annette Bening and Benjamin Walker) that leapt off the stage for me. But the moment that I felt was the most memorable came without words. It was at the pivotal point where the father, Joe (in a tremendous performance from Tracy Letts), silently reads the letter from his MIA son that sets the course for the final act. I don’t know how long he read in silence. It might have only fifteen seconds or so but it felt like it a minute or more. The silence of the theater was absolute as though everyone there was holding their breath in anticipation of his response.

It was a great moment from what I feel was great performance. Glad to have taken a short break to have experienced it. Makes me want to do better, be better.

So, this Sunday musical selection came about as we were waiting for our car to be brought around. Sitting in the lobby and  Sly and the Family Stone’s Sing a Simple Song was playing in the background. I felt my head boobing to the beat and I look across the lobby and see another guy sand wife both reflexively moving up and down on the balls of their feet to the beat. Thought that maybe the world would be a better place with Sly being played more. Give a listen and have a good day.

 

 

Read Full Post »

The Tears of a Clown

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on April 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I know that I featured the art of Georges Rouault just a few weeks back but I am short on time and wanted an image of clowns to accompany a song. But I didn’t want the schlocky Red Skelton clowns. I wanted something else. And it turns out that Rouault, a favorite of mine, painted plenty of clowns. I don’t know how many but it seems like a lot. The clown can be a compelling figure, as the song below proves.

So, here are a few Rouault paintings to go with the classic The Tears of a Clown from the great Smokey Robinson. It has what I think is the greatest intro to any pop song ever. Just hearing this song begin makes me happy.

Got to run. Enjoy some Smokey and have a great day.


Read Full Post »

Fritz Scholder’s Craziness

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Quote, tagged , on April 22, 2019| 1 Comment »

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

I give thanks every day that I’ve been able to take my craziness and make it work for me.

—Fritz Scholder

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

I featured the work of Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) last year, showing a few of the piece that were representative of much of his work, which was in the depiction of the Native American experience in his unique and colorful Modernist/Expressionist style. It’s work that I really enjoy. But today I thought I’d show a few pieces that take the focus off the Native American aspect of his work and talk a bit about his quote above.

When I read these words, I instantly agreed. I often think how fortunate I have been over the past twenty-some years to have found a life that supports me while allowing me to indulge my own quirks and craziness. There aren’t a lot of careers that cater to someone who needs to be alone, that has a need to set and work by their own rules (or lack of rules), that needs to to be free to be introspective and express raw emotion, and that allows me to create and dwell in my own little world. It’s hard to find a job where you set your own standards for what is acceptable.

There are probably a many, many other things that I don’t even see as quirks anymore. They have become ingrained in my day-to-day life. Like Scholder, I give thanks every day to be able to use my craziness as an asset rather than a liability. It’s been long enough now that I can’t imagine doing anything other than this and have a little trouble remembering how it was before this except that I was often deeply unsatisfied with life.

Maybe I was just lucky to find this life. Or maybe it was matter of not giving up along the way and continuing to search for something that I instinctively felt was lacking. Maybe we all end up where we need to be so long as we keep responding to some inner call.

I don’t know. That’s another nice thing about this job, this life– I don’t have to really know anything. I can not know anything all day long. Maybe better than anybody.

But let us set that aside and look at a couple more Fritz Scholder paintings.

Read Full Post »

Nobody Knows…

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on April 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

It’s Easter, again. Since I have never had a religion, Christian or otherwise, even as a child, the holiday probably doesn’t hold the same significance for me than it might for many of you. But I do know and enjoy many of the stories and lesson of the religions.

Among them all, the Resurrection is certainly one of the most potent, even if only in symbolic terms. The idea of rebirth and redemption is a powerful concept, one that many of us who have wronged in the past seek in our own lives.

I am hoping for such a resurrection in this country, one that sees us returning to a code of ethics and a rule of law which finds no one above it. One that places what is best for the most of us over what is best for a chosen few and where we seek to help the neediest rather than the most fortunate among us. One that holds those who hide behind lies and falsehoods responsible for their words and actions. One where those who represent us in our government understand their obligation to serve country rather than party or moneyed interests.

Is that too much to ask?

Maybe. But it sures seems that we, as a nation, are at a point where such a restoration of honor and sanity is sorely needed. Hopefully, the findings revealed this past week will set us on the path to such a thing.

Anyway, for this Easter Sunday, I have selected a song that doesn’t really have anything to do with the day. It’s Nobody Knows (The Trouble I’ve Seen) performed by the great Sam Cooke. It’s a different interpretation of the African-American spiritual that came from the slave era and it soars. I am also sharing the magnificent Mahalia Jackson which has a second gear that is truly uplifting. And that fits this day, doesn’t it?

Hope you have a good day.


Read Full Post »

A Million Miles Away

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , on April 20, 2019| 2 Comments »


I was at the easel even earlier than usual this morning. It was just after 6 AM and there was something I needed to do on a large piece. something that felt like it had to be done immediately or it would blow up my brain. I took care of that pressing issue and thought I would try to write a blogpost.

Turns out that doing that one thing led to another and, even as I sit here, that painting is loudly demanding more attention. Sometimes they are like infants crying out for attention, for nurturing. So, it’s time for to slap some more paint on my baby.

Here’s song that I haven’t heard on many years from Rory Gallagher, the late great Irish guitarist.  You don’t hear much about him anymore–he died in 1995– but he was a big influence on many rock guitarists of a certain age. This is one his songs that is a favorite of mine, A Million Miles Away. Maybe I can use that title for the painting on the easel. It certainly feels like I am a million miles away when I am working in it.

Have a great day.

Read Full Post »

Andre Derain and Fauvism

Posted in Favorite Things, Quote, tagged , , , on April 15, 2019| 1 Comment »

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

Fauvism was our ordeal by fire… colours became charges of dynamite. They were expected to charge light… The great merit of this method was to free the picture from all imitative and conventional contact.

—-Andre Derain (1880-1954)

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

Les Fauves translates from French as the Wild Beasts. Fauvism was an art movement in the early 20th century that focused on color, line and a painterly surface, breaking away from both traditional representational painting and the Impressionist movement of that time that maintained many of the same values as traditional realism. It was a short lived movement, lasting only a few years, but its influence down through the years has been great. It was led primarily by Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, both artists who I greatly admire.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »