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Archive for the ‘Favorite Things’ Category

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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Adios, Fred

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2013| 2 Comments »

Fred at restI am on the road today, delivering the work to the Kada Gallery for my show, Alchemy,  which is opening this coming  Saturday.  While it’s always a relief to deliver a show and be out from under the weight of a deadline, today is a bittersweet trip for me.  You see, today is the day that Fred leaves for his new home.  I didn’t want to be there when he goes so I said my goodbyes before I hit the road this morning and when I return, the studio will be strangely empty without him there.

Young Fred

Young Fred

I wrote about Fred here back in September, a few weeks after we had found him nearly dead in a ditch, barely a few weeks old.  He has prospered beyond our hopes and is now healthy, strong and happy.  Thanks to the carpenters and other workmen who’ve been in the studio for a few weeks now, he is comfortable and outgoing with all sorts of people.  Our vet is amazed at how socialized he seems to be.

But now he moves on to life to be a companion to Lucky,  my brother-in-law’s exceptionally sweet cat.  They have had several meetings to get acquainted and Fred is fascinated by the much larger Lucky, following her constantly as he attempts to get her to play with him.  Lucky is very tolerant of the energetic little guy.  Everything points to them being ideal companions.

I know I will miss the little guy.  I hope he remembers me when he comes back to visit in the future.  Here’s one of my favorite songs from Harry Nilsson, circa 1974 and fittingly from his Pussy Cats album,  that expresses that very sentiment.

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A Night With Elvis

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , on November 8, 2013| 1 Comment »

Elvis CostelloHad the opportunity to take a short break from my show prep and venture up to Ithaca last night where we met a longtime friend to see Elvis Costello at the State Theater  there.  He has been doing a solo tour with just him and his guitars, a wonderful mix of acoustic versions of some hits and some other chestnuts.  Of course, with such a long recording career, there were songs that were omitted from his show because of time limitations.  For me, I missed Almost Blue and a few others.  But the show was so engaging that they weren’t sorely missed as Elvis was in fine form, seeming to really enjoy his performance before a very rapt  audience.

One of my favorite songs of the evening was not one of his own distinctive songs but a classic pop song from the 1930’s, Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.  Here’s a version of him doing this song that I was able to find thanks to YouTube.  Enjoy and have a great weekend!

 

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Dark Work

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2013| 5 Comments »

-GC Myers -Dark Work ca 2002I am pretty excited to include a small group of older paintings in my upcoming show, Alchemy, which opens November 16th at the Kada Gallery.  The group consists of four paintings from 2002, all painted in darker tones and without  the Red Tree that inhabits so much of my other work.  This work, which is often called my “dark work,” was painted in the months of 9/11 and reflected the state of mind of myself and most of our nation at that point, seeming less optimistic  and more foreboding in the context of the time.  To me this felt like important work, at least on a personal level, in that I knew that I was completely emotionally invested in each piece.  As much as I can say about anything I’ve painted, this was work that I felt had to be done.

This body of work sold well but there was a general cooling of the art market  in the aftermath of 9/11 which left me with several of these pieces that came back and have stayed with me in the studio for the past decade.  They have remained favorites of mine through this time, always surprising me with their solidness and presence when I pull them out.   In my opinion, they have aged well and time has washed away a bit of that time  in which they were created.  They have now taken on a much different feel for me.  I don’t get that sense of foreboding from them anymore.  If anything, there is a guarded optimism in this work, the distant glows over their horizons seeming more pronounced than I remember at the time.

While all that has changed is the context of time, I now see them as meditative and serene.  I will be interested to see how this work strikes viewers at this show.

The pieces are show individually below, the first being  Desideratum,  11″ by 15″ on paper:

GC Myers- Desideratum smThe piece below is Night Karma which is 16″ by 20″ on paper.

992-091 Night Karma smNext is Dark Cadence which is 9″ by 19″ on wood panel:

995-323 Dark Cadence sm

And finally, here is Soft Dream of Night which is 14″ by 24″ on paper.  I wrote about this piece here several weeks ago.

995-324 Soft Dream of Night sm

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The Principle Gallery in Charleston

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , , on November 5, 2013| 6 Comments »

Principle Gallery Charleston interior Nov 2013It happened a couple of months back but it’s now official: the Principle Gallery Charleston has opened.  Located on Meeting Street in historic Charleston, SC, the gallery formerly known as the M Gallery of Fine Art made the transformation to its new name under the Principle Gallery banner last week.  They had ran for the first two months with the M Gallery name as the gallery was previously obligated under that name to hold the annual exhibit of the American Impressionist Society, a huge show with around 200 paintings.  But once that show came down, the move to the Principle Gallery name was made.

This expansion is an exciting move for owner Michele Ward.  She brings her keen eye and her principled approach ( that’s where the name originated) to business to the Low Country and I think the residents of  the Charleston area will quickly understand why the Principle Gallery has prospered and grown in Alexandria over the past two decades.

Principle Gallery Charleston exterior Nov 2013It’s exciting for me to see the Principle Gallery grow.  I have been with them since they made their initial move to  their present King Street location in early 1997.  They were a great gallery even in those earliest days with a wonderful roster of artists.  But  the gallery never remained static  in its approach and has continually strove to expand the quality and reach of the work it represents  As a result, the Principle Gallery name has become nationally known and is a destination gallery for many artists.  By that,  I mean  it is a gallery that most artists would place on their wish list if they could choose where they could exhibit their work.

That being said, it makes me appreciate so  much the nearly 17 years I have exhibited with Michele and her gallery.  Without the encouragement and opportunities I have received from the Principle Gallery and Michele, I am sure my career and my life would be very much different at this point.   I owe much of any success I might have now to this gallery and it is gratifying to see it rise to new heights in a beautiful new space in a great city.

I am sure they will be a big hit in Charleston.   Congratulations and all the best wishes for you , Michele!  

 

  

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I Will Dare

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , on November 3, 2013| 5 Comments »

GC Myers-The Song We Carry smAs I have noted way too many times lately, I am in the midst of getting work ready for a solo show, Alchemy,  at the Kada Gallery in Erie that opens in two weeks, on November 16th.  With just a week to go before I deliver the work to the gallery there is still a lot to do.  I am finishing up photography on the paintings, matting the pieces on paper, varnishing those on canvas and staining frames.

It’s tedious and takes me away from painting so it’s one part of my job that I don’t really enjoy too much, outside of that moment when I see a painting for the first time fully presented.  Especially those pieces on paper.  There’s something quite magical about the transformation from the image itself on a bare sheet of watercolor paper to seeing it in its mat and frame.  It’s the difference between seeing a gem stone on a tray or in a beautiful setting.  The gem is still lovely outside of the setting but the setting focuses it, holds it up for the world to see.

So, tedious as it may be, it has to be done and I am off to stain and varnish this morning.  By the way, the painting at the top is The Song We Carry and is headed to this show as well.

I thought this would be a good day to hear from one of my favorites from back in the day,  The Replacements from the early 80’s.  This Minneapolis band was tremendously influential on the music of the 90’s, especially the sounds that came to be known as grunge or alternative rock.  This song, I Will Dare, is from their 1984 album, Let It Be.  Good sounds to start a working Sunday…

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Led to Gold

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , on October 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Michael Mattice hand and strings from videoI’ve written several times here over the summer about my friend Michael Mattice‘s  debut album,  Comin’ Home.  It has been really well received here and abroad,  drawing great reviews from a number of different venues. Below is the first video from the album of the song, Led to Gold, a favorite of mine from the album as it really highlights his abilities on the guitar.  The video has a few DC landmarks recognizable to most as well as the lesser known but  no less spectacular Great Falls, just above DC on the Potomac.  It’s a really well done video to a strong song.

It’s been interesting watching Mike’s creative arc over the past several months.  In September, we spoke at length about the ebb and flow that comes with creativity, especially in how the public reacts to it–overnight success is seldom as quickly gained as it appears on the surface,  I advised that he not be too swept up in this waxing and waning in the short-term and we both agreed that  patience and trust in your own abilities and vision are key to maintaining your course.  If you stay true to your vision, people will come around eventually.   And in Mike’s case, I believe this absolutely true.

Hope you’ll enjoy this!

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Lon Chaney

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , on October 29, 2013| 2 Comments »

Lon Chaney- Phantom of the Opera 1925We went to see the classic silent film , The Phantom of the Opera, on Sunday at the Clemens Center, a beautifully renovated  theater in my hometown of Elmira.  The film featured accompaniment from organist David Peckham playing the theater’s newly restored Marr and Colton pipe organ.  It was pretty special when the Peckham and the organ rose from the orchestra pit before the film began , Peckham playing  the familiar theme from the theatrical play of the same name.

The organ’s grand sound really added  a wonderful dimension to the film, bringing life to the sometimes exaggerated  pantomime of the actors.  If you’ve seen many silent films, you’re familiar with this style of acting though I believe this film is a little over the top  with its frantic gestures and grasping of the neck in fear.  As you can probably detect, this is not one of my favorite films from the great Lon Chaney who starred as the Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, although he delivers a strong and compelling performance here.  I found myself identifying more with his character than the wooden stiffs who played the so-called good guys in the film.  So much so that at the end when the mob captures the Phantom,  beating  and throwing him into the Seine as the audience cheered their approval, I felt a real twinge of sympathy for his character.

Lon Chaney made some of the most interesting and powerful films of the silent era before dying at the relatively young age of 47, after a throat hemorrhage  from an infection caused by inhaling painted corn flakes that served as snow on one of his last films.  His ability to transform himself is legendary and made him one of the first mega-stars of film.  I have a hard time watching some of what I consider his best films as they are often grim and filled with base emotion, a quality that is pretty common for the best silent films of the era.

A few years back I wrote here about a couple of his dark movies that featured Chaney as tragic clowns.  Here is what I wrote at the time:

Lon ChaneyI don’t know what made me think of this movie so early this morning.  Something made me think of clowns and how even though their aim is to be comedic and entertaining, they often come across as scary or tragic.

I saw a couple of Lon Chaney silent films a few years back that really reinforce this image.  He Who Gets Slapped and Laugh, Clown, Laugh are anything but laughfests.  Both are grim in nature and filled with tragic circumstances, like many of the films in the post-WW I early 1920’s.

Lon Chaney was a huge star of early films and is pretty much unfamiliar to modern movie fans.  He was known for his ability to transform himself into a wide variety of characters, often contorting his body and altering his face for grotesque effect.  This transformative ability won him the nickname The Man of a Thousand Faces which was also the title of a great film biography of him starring Jimmy Cagney as Chaney.  I recommend this film for those who wishing to learn a little more about an incredible talent.

lon-chaney-laugh-clown-laughChaney is probably best remembered for his classic roles as The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but for me it’s these roles as clowns that define Chaney for me.  They are dark films filled with grim  melodrama and tragedy.  They’re sometimes hard to watch.  But they are filled with real human emotion and complexity, so dark that it’s hard to believe that these were popular successes of the time.  Hollywood had yet to perfect the happy ending.

Again, I’m not sure why these came to mind today.

Maybe I’ll be painting clowns today.  Brightly painted sad faces.  Like Red Skelton.  That’s probably another too obscure reference.

Anyway, if you get a chance, and don’t really want to have your spirits lifted, check out these classics from the great Lon Chaney or his film biography, The Man of a Thousand Faces.

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Long Live Lou

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Music, Video, tagged , , , on October 28, 2013| 2 Comments »

lou-reed-transformer-imageLou Reed died yesterday at the age of 71.

Lou always found his way into my listening life.  I wrote about Lou a few years back on this blog, recounting how I played his album Rock N Roll Animal all day one Christmas when I was an early teen, filling the house with the strains of Heroin and Sweet Jane.  A few years later, one of my prize finds from scouring the bargain bins at the local Newberrys store were a couple of early Velvet Underground recordings– on eight-track tapes.  I still chuckle at the idea of Lou and the Velvets  on one of those big clunky tapes.  I remember driving with a shoe box filled with tapes to play in the car.  I think there were maybe ten tapes.

But Lou was there, on one of those huge dinosaur cartridges.  It was as unpolished as anything I had heard.  Bad recordings and Lou’s flat vocals which sounded even more strained on these recordings.  But there was something there that transcended the sound quality or even Lou’s voice.  It was real expression.  Not raw emotion, but  restrained expressions of deeper feelings.  The sensation I got is similar to that which I get now from looking at great Outsider art.  It is  work that somewhat takes the form of more traditional art  but is less concerned with the technical aspects and more centered on getting across the feeling and the individual voice of the artist behind the picture.  They can appear crude but sometimes there is a pure beauty in them, one that speaks across the wider range.  Real art.

That’s what I heard in Lou’s songs for many years.  Sorry to see him go.

There are many songs from Lou that I could play here but I want to hear Perfect Day.  It’s a song that I forget at times but when I come across it, find it sticking in my mind for weeks. Hope yours is a perfect day…

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Stranger in a Strange Land

Posted in Biographical, Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Influences, Music, Personal Mythology, Video, tagged , , , , , , , on October 20, 2013| 3 Comments »

GC Myers Stranger (In a Strange Land) -I featured an older piece here on the blog last month, a painting that was considered my Dark Work from around 2002.   The piece shown above is another of these paintings and is one that I have always considered solely mine.  I very seldom consider a painting being for myself only but this one has always felt as though it should stay with me.  It is titled  Stranger (In a Strange Land) which is derived from the title of Robert Heinlein’s famous sci-fi novel which in turn  was derived from the words of Moses in Exodus 2:22.

The landscape in this piece has an eerie, alien feel to it under that ominous sky.  When I look at it I am instantly reminded of the feeling of that sense of not belonging that I have often felt throughout my life, as though I was that stranger in that strange land.  The rolling field rows in the foreground remind me just a bit of the Levite cloth that adorned Moses when he was discovered in the Nile as an infant, a symbol of origin and heritage that acts as a comforting element here, almost like a swaddling blanket for the stranger as he views the landscape before him.

As I said, it is one of those rare pieces that I feel is for me alone, that has only personal meaning, even though I am sure there are others who will recognize that same feeling in this .  For me  this painting symbolizes so much that feeling of alienation that I have experienced for much of my life, that same feeling  from which my other more optimistic and hopeful work sprung as a reaction to it.  Perhaps this is where I found myself and the more hopeful work was where I aspired to be.

Anyway, that’s enough for my five-cent psychology  lesson for today.  In short, this is a piece that I see as elemental to who I am and where I am going.  This one stays put .

Here’s a little of the great ( and I think underappreciated) Leon Russell  from way back in 1971 singing, appropriately,  Stranger in a Stranger Land…

 

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