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Archive for the ‘Painting’ Category

The Internal Journey/ Redux

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Poetry, tagged , , on August 24, 2016| 3 Comments »

 

As I noted the other day, we are dealing with a personal issue in our family that has kept me from my work for the past couple of weeks.  It’s just a part of life, something that most families have to deal with at some point, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier.  For me, the hard part has been being away from my work, that one thing that calms and settles me.  This has also kept me from writing much here.  In the interest of continuity, I thought that I’d at least share a blogpost from a few years back that is a personal favorite.

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GC Myers -Abundant Life-smAll day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
And I intend to end up there.

— Rumi, thirteenth-century Persian poet

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The other day, while going over some very early posts from this blog, I came across this short poem from Rumi.  It had been passed on to me by my friend Scott Allen from the Cleveland area after my 2008 show at the Kada Gallery.  It was what he himself had felt in my work.  The poem had, I’m sorry to confess, slipped my mind over the years and coming across it again immediately rekindled my  original reaction to it. Then and now,  I felt as though this little wisp of a poem captured the secret behind what I was doing.

Like Rumi’s voice in this poem, I have spent most of my life in an existential quandary, filled with doubts about who I am and what I should be doing.  I often felt like a stranger in a strange land, ill at ease in my surroundings and feeling, like Rumi, that my soul is from elsewhere.   Initially, I felt as though my uncertainties and doubts could be allayed externally.  I was simply not in the right physical location.  But it was soon apparent that it was not an external problem.  Regardless of the location, I would not be at ease on the outside until I sought and found where I needed to be internally.

That’s where the painting came in and filled the void in my life.  If life were an ocean, painting gave me a hope, an endpoint for which to navigate. Without it, I would still be rudderless in an ocean of doubt.  With it and through it, I feel that my soul is headed in the right direction.

I don’t know exactly why I feel the need to share this intimacy with you this morning.  Perhaps that openness is part of the journey or even the destination.  But for me, seeing this poem again reconnected me to the journey at a point when it felt as though I was going slightly off course.  Sometimes in the process of seeking one forgets why they set out on the journey in the beginning.  And that why, that motivation, sometimes needs to be revisited during the journey.  It gives the destination definition and immediately puts you back on course.

This morning, I feel like I am sailing on smooth seas again, knowing why I am going forward.

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I hope to feel that way again soon…

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Gallery Talk Saturday

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on August 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Private Glow 2016Saturday, August 6, I will be giving a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in conjunction with my show, Contact,  that is currently hanging there.  The talk runs from 1 to 2 PM.

If you’ve never been to one of my talks, they are usually pretty free flowing affairs with a lot of back and forth between the participants and me.  I try to make it as interesting and fast moving as I can to make everybody feel engaged and involved in some way.  The really good talks usually have me talking at the audience less and just responding off the cuff to all sorts of questions in a conversational manner.

I never know exactly what’s going to come out of my mouth during these conversational talks.  I try to be absolutely honest in my responses sometimes surprise myself with what I say so, for good or bad, there is that wild card at play as well.

Of course, if you’re aware of my Gallery Talks, you know that I normally have a drawing for an original painting at the end of the talk.  Unsurprisingly, it has become a very popular part of the talks, both for the audience and myself.  For me, I see it as an expression of gratitude for all that they and others have given me in this life as an artist with their enthusiastic support over these many years.  I get a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction from this part of the talks.

The painting that I have selected to give away at this Gallery Talk is the painting shown at the top, Private Glow.  It is a 12″ by 12″ painting on canvas that has a little story about how it came to this point that I will share at the talk.  It has my favorite Red Tree on an island which very much fits with a current theme in my work.  I think it’s a strong piece in many ways and am pleased to choose it for this talk.

And, of course, there are usually other surprises at the talks.  So if you can take time from a summer Saturday, I invite you to the West End Gallery for this year’s Gallery Talk.

I will do everything I can to make it a good time.  Promise.

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“Contact” Opening Tonight

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on July 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Contact sm

“Contact”- GC Myers

GC Myers- The Empowering sm

“The Empowering”- GC Myers

Well, Friday’s finally here which means that my show, Contact, opens this evening at the West End Gallery in Corning.  I think it’s a very strong group of work with an emphasis on color, texture, rhythm and pattern.

Definitely color.

If you know my work in any way you know that color is vital to my work.   Like words to a writer, it is the real conveyor for everything I am trying to express.  It can carry emotion, thought and a sense of time and space.  Color unconsciously speaks to us and puts us in contact with those unseen forces I so often speak of here.  I think you’ll see that in this show at the West End.

So, if you’re in the area this evening, please stop in at the West End Gallery.  The reception today, Friday, July 22,  runs from 5-7:30 PM and is free and open to everyone.  I will be there for the duration and would be happy to spend some time with you there, answering any questions you might have or discussing your feelings on the work.

I hope to see you on Market Street tonight!

"Unrestrained" -GC Myers

“Unrestrained” -GC Myers

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Linked

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on July 21, 2016| 4 Comments »

GC Myers- Linked smThis new painting, titled Linked, is a 12″ by 36″ canvas.  It is one of the works from my new show, Contact, that is now hanging at the West End Gallery.  The show officially opens tomorrow, Friday, July 22, with an opening reception at the gallery that runs from 5-7:30 PM.  As always, the opening is free and everyone is welcome.

Even though the narrative of this painting is about the rope bridge that connects these two islands and their resident Red Trees, the weight of it is carried by its vivid colors that seem to pop off the canvas.  The mixture of blues in the sky above and the water below  contrast and appear to intensify the redness of the trees, giving them a true sense of being alive.

The strength of the colors really draws in my eyes and makes the narrative of the linking of these two islands seem even more compelling.  The term linked is often used in the cyberworld when sites are digitally connected but here it relates to our own bonds that we build in life between friends and family.  Even though some of us would like to say that we can thrive as solitary islands, we are strengthened and nurtured by these bonds, these connections.  We as humans are creatures of community.  We need those links.

Well, that’s what I see here.  Maybe it’s just a bright and colorful picture.  It’s all in how you choose to see it isn’t it?

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Energizing Light

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on July 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Energizing Light smThere are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

–Edith Wharton

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As a rule I don’t have favorites when it comes to my work.  I have always felt that I can see something in each completed painting that somehow resonates within me, something that calls out and connects to me.

In some pieces I see traces of myself as I am and as I have been in the past, reflecting moments of emotion that I have experienced at some point in the distant or recent past.  In other pieces I see them as aspiring to a form of consciousness that seems in the future, at a point well beyond me in the present.

It is one that appears to be rooted in a placid state of mind, one that is connected to a greater source of light and becomes, as Edith Wharton so aptly put it, the mirror that reflects it.

That is how I saw this painting, a 36″ by 24″ canvas titled Energizing Light, from the minute it took form on the easel.  It has a harmony and depth that gives it that aspirational aspect that so appeals to me.  It makes me hopeful in my possibilities as a human as well as an artist.  And that hopefulness makes pieces such as Energizing Light feel special for me.

This painting is part of my show, Contact, which opens Friday, July 22, at the West End Gallery.  There is an opening reception from 5-7:30 PM which is open to all.  Stop on in, have a glass of wine and take a look around.  I’ll be glad to see you there.

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An Inner Warmth

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , , , , , on July 17, 2016| 4 Comments »

GC Myers- An Inner Warmth smIt’s been a warm summer.  I guess for some of us that’s an understatement.  The mowed lawns are burned to the color of Shredded Wheat and ponds show more and more of their banks as the water levels slowly descend.  There’s a dustiness in the air from the driveway that coats everything and the thickness of the heat has me dreaming of hopefully cooler days ahead in the fall and winter.

In that vein, I thought I’d show another piece from my show that opens this coming Friday, July 22, at the West End Gallery in Corning.  Titled An Inner Warmth, it’s 10″ by 16″ on paper and feature cooler color tones yet has a warmth to it that is pleasant to me.  It’s a painting that points very much back to my earlier work in the way it is composed of distinct upper and lower blocks of color divided by an unpainted line.

The interplay of those blocks of colors is what carries the weight of the painting for me, carrying its message and meaning.  The details of the trees and the path in the foreground add a narrative element but the colors tell the story here.  The red of the tree seems even warmer here set against the cooler tones.

For this Sunday Morning Music, I thought I’d play a version of one of the songs from the great American songbook, Summertime from George and Ira Gershwin, taken from their opera Porgy and Bess.  It has been covered by so many people and there are so many wonderful versions out there from which to choose.  You’ve got the operatic versions from the likes of Kathleen Battle and Renee Fleming,  jazzier versions from Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn,  rockier versions from Janis Joplin and Sting and countrified ones from Doc Watson and Willie Nelson.  And that is only a tiny sampling.  And almost all of them are absolutely outstanding which I thinks speaks to the strength of the composition.

I chose this version from Norah Jones just because I like it’s coolness.  This is a duet between her and the late jazz piano legend Marian McPartland.  It’s a lovely version and gives a cooler feel to these hot days.

Have a great day…

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That Rare Moment

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , , , on July 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- That Rare Moment smPictures must be miraculous: the instant one is completed, the intimacy between the creation and the creator is ended.

—Mark Rothko

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I came across the words above from the late painter Mark Rothko and found myself relating very much to their meaning.  The process of creating a picture is ideally a period of intimacy, one where the maker  ideally opens their self and exposes their totality to the surface.  There is a transference of energy and knowledge in that moment that forms the new life taking place on that surface.

Each move, each change to the surface pulls bits from the inner stores of the creator and alters the new reality being formed.  For a rare moment, the two entities– the maker and the surface–are are locked together.  They are one.

But as the picture takes shape and form, beginning to express its own life force, it moves away from the maker.  It is its own being at that point, beyond the reach and influence of the maker.

As a maker of pictures, I can say that this moment is both wistfully sad and exhilarating.  When that moment of completion is at hand I immediately miss that time of transference, so full of possibility.  But seeing the new picture, self-contained and speaking for itself, brings a kind of parental pride.  I know that I will never be as close to that picture as I was in that moment.  But that moment binds us forever, even if it will be always as a faint memory when I glimpse its image in the future.

I chose the piece at the top for this post- fittingly titled That Rare Moment– because what I could have been writing solely about this piece.  This painting, an 8″ by 24″ canvas, was very much created with in the process that I described.

There was a definite moment of transference when this painting made the leap from being me to being it.  In the days after it was complete, I would look at it and sigh with that mix of sadness and pride.  It is beyond me now and speaks with its own voice, its own meaning that will no doubt soon express itself to someone other than me.

And they will hopefully experience their own rare moment….

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This painting is part of my solo show, Contact, at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.  The show opens Friday, July 22, 2016 with an opening reception that runs from 5-7:30 PM.  There is also an accompanying Gallery Talk that takes place on August 6.  More details on that later.

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The Old Man

Posted in Motivation, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on July 7, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- The Old Man smNone are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
–Henry David Thoreau

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This is a new painting that measures 12″ by 6″ on panel and is part of my show at the West End Gallery that opens in about two weeks, on July 22.

I  call it The Old Man.

For me it symbolizes someone in their final years and days of life who has lost enthusiasm for this world, who sees it as a place that has changed beyond all recognition or comprehension.  It is no longer their world, which feels like an alien landscape in which they are stranded.

They feel detached from the lifeblood of the now and of the future, clinging to what remains of the past in their memories and connections, both which grow smaller and smaller with the passing of time.  After a time, even pulling from that field of memory brings no joy.

It becomes a painful waiting game beneath an unblinking sun.

That sounds sad, I know.  But there is something positive in it as well.  I see this as a cautionary piece, one that warns against disengaging from the world even as it changes from that which we have known and accepted.  The world keeps on moving and we must remain enthusiastic and find new joy in this ever changing world.

That’s my take on this painting, most likely formed from some personal observations. Perhaps you will see something other than this when you look at this image, something that jibes with your view of the world.

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The Pause

Posted in Advice, Motivation, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on July 5, 2016| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- The PauseThe right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
—Mark Twain

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The painting shown here is titled The Pause and is 16″ by 16″ on paper.  It is included in my upcoming show, Contact, at the West End Gallery which opens on July 22.

I am a big believer in the pause as a form of communication.  That brief moment of silence between words said and words not yet spoken, that small period of inaction between actions, is often filled with a great and ponderous anticipation of what might come next.  In that tiny span of emptiness there is both a look backward at all that has come before and ahead at all that the future might bring.  The pause allows for contemplation of both.

Okay, now that may be putting the importance of a pause in larger than life terms.  Not every pause holds all the past and all the future.  But every pause allows consideration and thought of the immediate past and future, giving that moment a certain degree of importance.

I learned the lesson of pausing from the many gallery talks I have given over the years.  Halting for just a moment to ponder the question asked or the statement made is far more effective than simply beginning to speak.  That was a difficult thing to do at first when it sometimes seemed like every moment needs to be filled with sound and content to cover my insecurity.  But I learned that that moment of silence was not a bad thing at all.  It showed an appreciation of the question or statement, showed that I heard what was being said and showed that I wanted really consider how I would answer.

Moving back to larger terms, the pause works in much the same way.  The pause takes the past and brings it into the present and makes it part of the decision for the future.  The pause consoles us as to what has failed us in the past and what has succeeded.  It cautions us against rash and impetuous actions.

The pause is a deep breath that freshens us, allowing us to take in the world around us and to refocus, to reconsider our words and actions.  The pause allows us to see other paths leading forward.

The pause can be a potent force, if only we choose to use it.

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Point of Contact

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2016| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- sm

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

–Eden Phillpotts, A Shadow Passes (1919)

These handful of words from the British author Eden Phillpotts succinctly sums up the idea behind my current show at the Principle Gallery as well as that of my next West End Gallery show, Contact, which opens July 22.  And that is that there is a world of wonder within our grasp if only we make the effort to recognize the patterns and forces of which they are comprised.

I have said before that we are part of a greater pattern.  I believe that it can be found in two simple ways– either looking inward or looking outward.  Since we are are formed from this pattern we can find parts of by examining our own inner world, our thoughts and dreams.  Or we can examine the world immediately around us for the hints of the pattern that are everywhere if only we can identify them.

Unfortunately, in this busy modern world we too often  find ourselves doing neither.  We live in a sort of limbo where we are mesmerized by the glossy lure of technologies that occupy our every moment.  It’s hard to look inward or outward when our eyes and thoughts are fixed on the screen in our hands.

Don’t get me wrong– I’m no technology-resisting Luddite.  I embrace the wonders of this technology when it serves a real purpose, when it expands our knowledge and sends it to the far corners of the world.  The possibilities for good things are seemingly endless.

But none of it matters if we lose contact with the greater powers and wonders that surround us every day, forces and patterns that patiently wait for us to unravel the magic that makes them invisible to us.

I know to some, this sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo.  Maybe the idea of great forces and patterns surrounding us seems a bit loony to some.  I get that.  But set that aside, if you must, and  simply consider the benefits of looking away from your smartphone or laptop for a short time each day to examine the inner and outer world outside of that screen.  Maybe if we do this on a regular basis our wits will sharpen to the point that we will better see that world of magical things as Bertrand Russell pointed out.

The painting above is 11″ by 16″ on paper and is called Point of Contact.  Part of the upcoming July show at the West End Gallery, I believe this piece very much mirrors the thoughts above.

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