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Archive for the ‘Recent Paintings’ Category

Majesty

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on January 8, 2015| 4 Comments »

GC Myers Majesty smAfter a short break, I am finally finding a rhythm in the studio, the first of the new year.  It brought me this new piece, a 24″ by 24″ painting on linen that I am calling Majesty, settling on that because some form of that word came up whenever I would try to determine what the painting was saying to me.

At first I thought of Mountain King.  Then King’s Road.  Then Mountain Majesty, especially once the color of the mountains began to come about.  It reminded me of the verse from America the Beautiful—  O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!

It just seemed to fit.

For me, the strength of this piece is in its simplicity and lack of detail and in the purple bands of the mountains’ profiles and the manner in which they bisect  the warm colors of the sky and plains.  I see it as being almost abstract in the way it shows itself while still maintaining a representative feel, which is what I want for my work.

For the first step into the new year, it feels good.  Hopefully, a precursor of a good year ahead.

We shall see…

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Rigel

Posted in Influences, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on January 5, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Rigel smMy show, Into the Common Ground, hangs for one more week, until January 12th,  at the Kada Gallery in Erie.  One of the paintings that I was asked about quite often at the opening back in early December was this piece, a 20″ by 24″ canvas titled Rigel.  What was that blue orb?  The sun?

Well, when I was painting this piece there just seemed to be something a bit different in the feel of it before I had even opted for the blue ball in the sky.  Maybe it was the ultra warmth of the red and yellows that made me want to counter it somehow or maybe that odd feeling made me want to accentuate it even more.  I am not really sure.

But the blue orb appeared and all that came to mind was the star Rigel which appears in the night sky as the foot of the constellation Orion.  Rigel is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and is a blue giant star, extremely hot and large but short-lived due due to the intensity with which it burns.  It’s a star that I always look for in the winter sky when I make my way home in the walk from my studio.

It’s brightness and location in Orion make it jump from the dark sky.  In those moments the light from it seems so cold and distant which seems like a paradox given the great heat with which it burns.  And it’s that paradox that I saw in the blue orb in this painting.

A rightness in its wrongness.

It’s a painting that I always linger over for a few moments when I run through this show as it makes me think about so many other things than what seems obvious on the surface.

And I like that in a painting…

 

 

 

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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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The Red Chair in the Tree

Posted in Biographical, Influences, Personal Mythology, Recent Paintings, tagged , on December 9, 2014| 7 Comments »

GC Myers- Family Lines smDuring the openings for most of my shows, such as this past week’s opening at the Kada Gallery,   I inevitably get a number of questions about the meaning of the Red Chair especially when it’s suspended in a tree such as in the painting shown here from the show, Family Lines.  The empty chair itself is a simple and powerful symbol in many cultures of past ancestors or someone who is absent.  I have personally attached the concept of one’s own inner memory to it as well, seeing the chair as a distinct memory or myself in the narrative of that memory.  It is not always the same thing in each different circumstance.

But how it came to be aloft in the tree is a story that began when I was a kid.  I’ve told it innumerable times over the years but here it is:

Wilawana Road BarnGrowing up, we lived in the country in an isolated old farmhouse with an old barn across the road.  I happened to drive by the old place yesterday and snapped this photo of the old barn, now in a much more advanced stage of decay than when I was running around there.  It was pretty solid and complete at that earlier time.   In front of the barn, to the left of it here and out of the shot, is a large and old stone chimney, all that remains from the home of an early settler to the area, a stage coach driver who was killed there in an Indian raid in the late 18th century.  A small cemetery with old slate stones was nestled in the edge of the forest nearby. For a kid, it was a place filled with memory, a great place to play and let your imagination run wild.

One summer when I was 8 or 9 years old,  I came across a dead woodchuck laying next to the barn.  I don’t know how he died– he was just there.  Dead.  As the summer progressed and he dried out, a vine passed through his body and by summer’s end was suspended a couple of feet in the air.  To the eyes of a child this was something magical.  I was struck by the power of the earth to reclaim its creatures.  Everything seemed very ephemeral after that…

The idea of a tree growing through an object such as a chair, which is very representative of human existence, is a continuation of that early fascination.  It wasn’t until I had painted several pieces with the hanging chair that I began to also see the symbolism of the empty chair, which in some cultures represents the recently deceased.  That is what I see now– the family members who have passed on.  Again, this is my interpretation of this work.  I enjoy hearing what other people see in the work because many times it’s completely different from what I see but just as valid.  I often look at some pieces in a whole new light after hearing a new view.

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Show Night at the Kada

Posted in Favorite Things, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on December 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Blessed in Blue smallI’ve been extraordinarily fortunate in my career to have had long and lasting relationships with several galleries that represent my work.  This coming February will mark 20 years at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY as well as 18 years with the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  It also marks my 19th year with the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA.  Tonight’s show marks the 35th solo shows at these 3 galleries since the year 2000.

Each of these galleries is ran by people who I genuinely like and respect on a personal level which I think is the reason for the longevity of the relationships.  As a result, I always feel a responsibility to deliver the best possible show to each of these galleries.  A friend would do no less.

I hope that I have met that responsibility with the work for Into the Common Ground which opens tonight at the Kada Gallery.  Owners Kathy and Joe DeAngelo are two of the most decent and hard working people I have encountered in this or any other business.  Kathy has a tremendous enthusiasm for the work she displays, treating each piece with great care and respect.  She takes the time to really get to know the work, asking questions about the story behind each piece, and speaks authoritatively about it– all an artist can ask for in someone who shows their work.

Her enthusiasm is infectious.  When she calls me in the studio and I might be feeling a little worn down, I always hang up feeling upbeat and eager to get back at the paint.  Even after nearly 19 years of seeing my work she always seems excited by new pieces and that is a magical elixir for all artists.

So you can see why I desire my best for this show.  I know that this is a purely subjective opinion but I feel that I have done so this year.  It’s a show that clicks a lot of button for me but, again, that is not for me to say.  You will to just come out and judge for yourself.

The piece at the top, Blessed in Blue, is a 16″ by 20″ canvas, from the show.

 

 

 

 

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Expansion

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , on December 4, 2014| 6 Comments »

GC Myers- Expansion smMan’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

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This another new painting,  a 16″ by 20″ canvas titled Expansion, that is part of my show, Into the Common Ground, that opens tomorrow in Erie, PA at the Kada Gallery.

For me, this is a painting whose theme is centered on the expansion of one’s mind and vision, about moving to a higher plateau of feeling and taking a wider view of the world.  This involves leaving the mind open to new ideas with the hope that these new ideas bring some form of enlightenment and that the negatives– hatred, greed, anger and envy just to name a few–that we have held on to for so long will be replaced by more positive qualities–love, generosity and kindness.

I see this expansion in the way the Red Tree seems to be facing the far horizon with arms open, unashamed and willing to submit itself to change.  It stands among the alternating rows of the field which represent in this piece being trapped in the entrenched patterns of habit.  By that, I mean we all too often live without thought, going with the prevailing movement of the crowd and never taking the time to stop and consider why and what we are doing.  We accept things as they are without trying to contemplate the possibility of things being somehow different, never consider opening ourselves to a different way of seeing the world.

A different way of simply being.

And I see this possibility, this expansiveness,  in this simply composed piece.  It is a feeling that is calm and kind and embracing– ideas that we all will hopefully allow to stretch our own minds.

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“Into the Common Ground” Preview

Posted in Music, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , on December 2, 2014| 5 Comments »

Into the Common Ground/ GC MyersAs I have been mentioning here, my solo show, Into the Common Ground, is now at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA with an opening reception scheduled for this Friday, December 5.  Although it’s hard for me to be completely objective, I’m pleased with this show and think it’s a very strong show.  It clicks a lot of my boxes.

But again, that is my own biased opinion.  You can form your own opinion by taking a look at the video preview of the work in the show below.

Hope you’ll enjoy and if you’re in Erie this Friday, please stop in at the Kada Gallery and say hello.

 

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Delicate Balance

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on December 1, 2014| 4 Comments »

GC Myers- Delicate Balance smMy solo exhibit, Into the Common Ground, opens at the Kada Gallery in Erie this Friday, December 5th.  While much of my work centers on the unique voice of the individual, the theme of this show is about finding those common bonds and experiences that we share with others.

Actually, I’ve always thought that my work succeeds when it communicates as a mix of those two things– individual expression of a common theme or emotion.  Art for me is communication, about reaching out and finding validation in my own humanity through contact with others.  I  feel that art should be expansive, not exclusive or reserved for wealthy insiders.  While art is often an inward search, it should always be reaching out to engage the world.

And maybe that is what I see here in this new painting, Delicate Balance.  Creating work that reaches out and finds common ground is a sometimes delicate balance.  It comes down to identifying what is really at the base of what you are or hope to be as a human and pushing aside those negative feelings– envy, greed and hate among many other negatives– that cloud your judgement.

Its not always an easy thing to accomplish.  That bridge across to others can be sometime wobbly.  But when it does happen, that simple crossing seems like the 8th wonder of the world. A miracle.

 

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Refuge of the Heart

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on November 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers-Refuge of the Heart smMy solo show, Into the Common Ground, has been delivered and is now at the Kada Gallery in advance of its opening next Friday, December 5th.  This painting, Refuge of the Heart, a 10″ by 30″ canvas, is one of the last pieces to be completed for this show and has the same sort of warmth in its color that runs through the entire show, a warmth that permeates the scene with a feeling of confidence and security.

And that is the feeling that I think we all desire for ourselves and our own hearts.  We want to be safe and sure in our lives, to be needed and vital to other lives.

And there is something in this piece that holds that feeling for me.  It could be the color.  Or maybe it’s the light over the horizon or the rolling field rows or some other aspect that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Maybe its the shape of the small island on which the Red Tree grows that looks like a semi-submerged heart.  It was seeing this shape that triggered the title, after all.

It could be any number of things but whatever the case, it is a piece that feels like a perfect place in which to let my own heart dwell.

 

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Blaze

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on November 25, 2014| 4 Comments »

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

–Albert Schweitzer

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GC Myers- Blaze smMy show, Into the Common Ground, has been delivered to the Kada Gallery, well in advance of the December 5th opening.  While it is a relief to complete the task and have the work out into the world, there are always those pieces that I wish I could spend a bit more time with.  This is especially true of the paintings that were completed in the final weeks.

These pieces usually are done in the midst of  a deep groove that has developed over the months leading up to the show and often feel effortless in their creation, a culmination of purpose and effort coming together.  But they are done and suddenly gone before I have fully taken in their fullness for an extended period of time.  And I am left wishing I could have spent more time absorbing their essence a bit more.

Such is the case with this painting, Blaze, a 20″ by 24″ canvas.  It was one of the last pieces completed and made quite an impression before it left soon after.

It is a simple piece, one that relies on its color , lines and texture to carry the weight of it.  For me, the Red Tree here is an example of the the inner fire coming forth and displaying itself to the world.  I felt that the quote at the top from Schweitzer was very fitting.  Most people have something inside that inspires passion, sets them ablaze.  It often goes untended, sputtering with that person left feeling that there is no one with which to share it — no one to take in the warmth of the fire.

I know this is true for my work, that thing which is an emanation of my own inner fire.  Without sharing it, without feeling that it is tended by others, it would likely sputter and go out.  Without the eyes of those fire-tenders my work, my fire,  would not exist.

So in this week of giving thanks, I send out a sincere thank you to those who have kept my fire alive through the years.  To my family and friends, to those who work with me at the galleries, to the collectors and the readers of this blog, I extend my deepest thanks for kindling this fire.  I have enjoyed the warmth and hope it has warmed you as well.

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