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Archive for the ‘Recent Paintings’ Category

Work In Progress/Update

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Work In Progress, tagged , , , on February 8, 2013| 9 Comments »

GC Myers WIP 2013This the piece I showed earlier in the week, a 24″ by 48″ canvas started last weekend.  As you can see by the image to the left, the composition of the landscape has filled in and the sky has began to take shape.   I have laid in several layers of brushstrokes in the sky but probably won’t go back into it until I do more on the landscape below.  The landscape will set the final tone and feel for the sky and I need more color in it to fully be able to read it.

I sometimes question whether I need to have as many layers of color in the sky because  often in the final surface you can’t even discern any of these layers.  For example, there is a layer with  numerous strokes of violet in the sky here that you probably can’t make out in the picture above.  When this piece is complete, you may only be able to see a tiny  hint of  violet at any point in the sky.

Could I skip that layer and several other similar layers?

Sure.  It may not make a bit of difference to the casual observer.  But for me, it is an integral part of the process, a  slow development of the depth and complexity of the color that I am seeking, a color that I won’t know until it finally shows itself.  That little touch of violet is necessary for me, an important step that, if skipped, would have me thinking that something was amiss in the picture.

DSC_0011 smLeaving the sky, I begin to lay in preliminary colors for the landscape, a variety of blues and greens for the trees and a brownish  putty color for the houses and a bit of red for the roofs. It’s always exciting at this point because the color begins to bring real shape and life to the landscape.  As  each house comes to life with a little color as I work across the canvas, it is like there is a wave of light moving over it.  The whole surface begins to feel animated.

DSC_0014 smAfter that layer, I begin to lay in the surface of the landscape with a multitude of colors, weighing each block of color  as I place it  to get a sense of how it fits into the rhythm of the whole.  I begin to put on what may or may not be final touches on some of the houses, slashes of white that glows on the canvas.  I really am beginning to feel the direction of the painting at this point and have a sense of where it may finish, starting to think how I will handle the blackness of the lake.

GC Myers WIP DetailI know that this sounds goofy and I can’t really explain in any coherent manner, but there’s a good feeling around this painting at this point.  I like it’s strength and think it will show dynamically in its final state.  I really like it so far and like a few of the details in it that are new to my work.  For example, this scene has a small church graveyard  with a road circling it as it overlooks the lake.   Although I sometimes reference death and the past in my work and have a great personal fondness for graveyards, I have never actually portrayed a cemetery in my work.  But I really wanted to show it as part of the community of this painting.  It somehow tempers the piece for me.

So, while the painting is beginning to take shape, there is still a ways to go before I can sit back.  I am still trying to see what the final focus of the piece will be, what will give me a name that fits it.  Perhaps I should ask you for some help.

Shall we have a Name That Painting Contest?

 

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Keyhole

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2013| 4 Comments »

GC Myers-- Keyhole “Keyholes are the occasions of more sin and wickedness, than all other holes in this world put together.”

–Laurence Sterne

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I had to chuckle when I came across this quote.  It had the timing as though it had been written by a modern comedy writer.  Then I noticed it was from Laurence Sterne who is best known for his comic novel Tristram Shandy from  mid-1700’s Britiain.  I wasn’t surprised at the humor then nor the truth behind it.

The idea of the keyhole being a glimpse into a world that is separated from our own, even if only by a locked door, has been the provenance of voyeurs forever and is the central idea behind this tiny new painting.  Except, I don’t see this as that same sort of voyeurism as the ogler who peeks for some sort of perverse pleasure.  No, this is different.

This 2″ by 4″ canvas, called Keyhole and done for the upcoming Little Gems show at the West End Gallery in Corning, is not about peering in, trying to see that which is secreted  away  in a room behind closed doors.  No, the viewer here is the one locked away in a room behind a closed door and the keyhole is a form of liberation. it reminds me a bit of my Outlaws series from a few years back where I had figures, often with handguns, that were standing by windows.  They appeared at first glance to be predatory but on closer examination show themselves to be the hunted, fearful ones.  They were not on the outside at all but were locked away inside, looking out the window as they cowered in their fear .

 And that’s kind of how I see this  piece although the viewer here is not looking out in fear but,  rather, in a longing glance for freedom for whatever keeps them trapped inside.  It could be as simple as a prisoner longing  to walk free in the sun.  Or it could be someone trapped in self-made prison who wishes that things could be different but can only see the possibility from within their captivity.  There are so many possibilities in such a small piece!

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In the Clearing

Posted in Influences, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on January 11, 2013| 10 Comments »

GC Myers- The ClearingThis new piece,  a 16″ by 16″ image on paper,  has been a long time in the making.  I started it when we got back from California at the beginning of December and have went at it in dribs and drabs over the last several weeks, finally putting on what I feel are the last touches yesterday.  It’s an odd piece for me, darker in theme and feel, but one that makes me want to continue looking at it.

The idea came from the trip, from someone I met at the Just Looking Gallery.  He has some of my work and told me that he had an idea for what he thought would make an interesting painting for me.  I usually don’t get much inner response to those type of solicitations but I immediately had an image in mind as he described a simple clearing where a path comes to an end.  It was  an intriguing concept that was a new variation on the path that often winds through my paintings .

Does that path ever come to an end?   What if it did end?  How would that place look and feel?  All of these thoughts ran through my mind in a flash.  It was such an existential question with great symbolic potential.  The idea and the image ran through my mind for the rest of the trip.

This is the first incarnation of that thought.  I used the Red Chair as the central character here.  I felt that there needed to be a character of some sort in this space and didn’t want it to be a figure.  The chair also creates a new set of questions.  Why was it there?  Who put it there and who sits in it?  As the path in this piece comes to its conclusion , the wider clearing at its end gives it the appearance of an old keyhole.  Perhaps this is a symbol for the unlocking of some barrier behind which lay the answers to our greatest questions or  to some grand mystery?

It’s a piece that keeps asking questions and I don’t know if it will ever yield answers.  But it makes me want to keep looking. and perhaps that is its purpose here.

I don’t know– it’s a mystery to me as well.

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The Decisive Moment

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on January 7, 2013| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- The Decisive Moment“There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment.”

–Cardinal de Retz  (1613-1679)

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This is a new painting, an 18″ square canvas that carries the title  The Decisive Moment.  Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson , a favorite of mine, took that phrase from the quote above and used it to describe that moment in searching for a image when the photographer makes the creative decision to snap the photo.  But I see the term at play in everything we do, everything we are.  We are all the result of moments of decision.  Every day offers us new choices for moving ahead and very seldom do we ponder where these often simple and mundane decisions might ultimately lead our lives.

I think about this all the time when I consider the course my life and career has taken.  Several of the galleries in which I show came about as the result of a series of random decisions and if any of those choices leading up to the final result had differed in any way, my entire life might be completely different.  Even the beginning of my painting  career might not have occurred if I had decided that working off a ladder on that September day twenty years ago was not a great idea.  I would not have fallen and would not have found the time or inspiration to begin painting.  Maybe it would have come anyway at some other point but who knows?  And would that decision to follow painting at that later date yield the same results?

I see it in genealogy as well.  When  I look at the charts that show one’s whole ancestry laid out in an ever widening mesh of connections all I can think is how we are all built on a huge set of random choices and pure chance.  If any single one  of those thousands of connections had not been made the whole mesh that brought us here would fall away and our very existence would not have occurred.  If one ancestor had not returned from the many wars, if one ancestor had not been the lucky child that survived the many diseases that took so many children in the earlier days of our country, if one ancestor had turned left instead of right and not met that person who became their other half— it’s a  delicate dance of moments that leads us all to the here and now.

That’s kind of what I see in this painting.  I wanted it to be a simple composition that had a sense of  the drama of the moment and the realization of  all of the decisions that led to that moment.  This piece was done for a couple, Claire and Richard,  that Cheri and I met while we at Yosemite, one rainy afternoon when we happened to sit with them over tea at the Ahwahnee Lodge.  We spent a pleasant hour in conversation and learned a lot about their lives  and how they came together.  I won’t share that info here out of respect for their privacy outside of saying that Richard is a Brit and Claire a California girl who chanced across each other a number of years back and maintained a long distance romance.  They were married and celebrating their anniversary at the lodge.  Their story  made me think about how many random decisions had to be made for them to come together at all.  When you think about where we are and how things could easily be different it makes every moment, every decision, take on greater weight.

So, savor and enjoy the moment.  It may seem innocuous now but it may change your life in ways you could never see coming.

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Clouds of Joy

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged on December 18, 2012| 7 Comments »

GC Myers- Clouds of Joy I have always maintained that my work acts as a sort of pacifier for me, a soothing respite from the outer world.  It gives me focus and brings me calm when I most need it.  And in light of the tragic events of the past week, I   found myself  in need.   I turned inward from the confusion of the outer world and centered on a new painting, one that was filled with color and light and a more optimistic outlook.

I call this 16″ by 20″ piece  on canvas Clouds of Joy.  There’s a forward looking sense  in this painting that is warm and  hopeful  while being, at the same time,  aware of the reality that is this world.  The clouds here, which for me represent an ethereal passing of time, are bright and beaming but are darkly edged with red peeking through their whiteness.  From their vantage point, they have seen   the world for what it really is.   Yet they still  reflect the light down to us in a hopeful way while absorbing the darkness of what they have witnessed.

Maybe that’s cock-eyed optimism.  If so, it’s no matter to me because I need that hope for what might be ahead,  need to believe that there is light on this earth.  There’s enough evidence of our darkness all around at this point.  I need evidence that we can shed this darkness and embrace the better parts of ourselves and our world.  Empathy.  Compassion.  Generosity of self and spirit.

And that’s what I see here.  A little hope that calms my inner whirlings.

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Elysian Moment

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , on November 23, 2012| 4 Comments »

Another painting that is part of my upcoming show at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo is this is a new piece called Elysian Moment,   16″ by 26″ on paper.  The title is derived from the name for the Greek concept, Elysium,  of  the afterlife reserved for heroes and those related to the gods.  In other cultures it takes on the name of paradise or heaven, among other terms.  It is often described as being a rich and lush landscape.

Now I don’t think this is meant to be an actual depiction of Elysium.  Rather, I think this is a moment that anyone might have when they feel they are at a point in time that approaches paradise for them on this earth.  When the world seems good and the winds blow cool so that the sun’s warmth is just so and its light is bright and illuminating but not harsh.  When time seems to slow to a crawl so that the world appears frozen as they survey the beauty and the bounty of the landscape that surrounds them.  They feel themselves strong and in rhythm with that world around them, as though their very existences are both bound together.  They need the world and world needs them.  They have become elemental.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a moment.  I’m sure I would remember.  But I certainly hope to experience one, desire the unity of that single moment.  Maybe that desire is enough to carry one through the more difficult times of this life, enough to provide the needed idea of possibility that gives hope.

We shall see…

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Mellowing Way

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on November 18, 2012| 4 Comments »

This is another painting, measuring 12″ by 18″ on paper,  that has made its way to San Luis Obispo for my upcoming show, The Waking Moment.  The show is at the Just Looking Gallery and opens on Saturday, December 1.  The title of this piece is The Mellowing Way.  There’s a subtlety in the color of the sky and a suppleness in the rolls of the fields here that gives the piece a sense of softness that I find intriguing.  Maybe it’s more a softening of attitude than mere softness, an acceptance of one’s place in this world that allows one to simply just be and let the rest of the world wash over them as it rushes by.

I’ve said before that I wish I were a smooth stone on the bottom of a stream, cool and sleek as the water rushes by.  No resistance.  Maybe that’s what I see here.  We start our existence as a rough-edged piece of this earth, a jagged stone,  and in our life, or lives depending on your views on incarnations, we tumble along, our hard edges slowly eroding as we come to realize how futile is our resistance to the tides of time and change.  Eventually, the water can no longer find an edge to push us along and we settle, finding a place where we are comfortable to watch the world pass by.

I don’t know.  There’s a sense of tranquility and acceptance here that speaks to me personally.  And that’s enough, I suppose.  All I could ask.

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Brahman

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This is a new painting that is on its way to California for my show, The Waking Moment,which opens December 1 at the the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo.   This   30″ by 40″ canvas has really stood out for me in the studio, catching my eye constantly.  There is just something essential in this piece for me, an indefinable sense of  being, as though there is some inner connection with  a greater power.  Perhaps that is why I call this painting Brahman.

Brahman is a Hindu term that describes the  ultimate goal as well as the Absolute.  It is not really what one might call God in the sense of Western religions.  Brahman is that which makes up the nature of everything, as the Upanishad  states:  Brahman is of the nature of truth, knowledge and infinity.  It is both the cause and effect of  all reality.

It truly is a hard thing to describe, given its scope in all things, in a short post by someone like me, one who is certainly unequipped to define such a power.  But there is something in this piece that, for me, has that nature of truth, knowledge and infinity.  It both humbles me and lifts me yet brings a sense calm over me, as though I am seeing one that has an understanding  and acceptance of this universal power.

This piece will give me pause for some time to come…

 

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The Waking Moment

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , on November 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

Normally at this time of the year I am in a winding down sort of mode, easing back from my easel and painting table to take a deep breath.  It is normally when I reassess the year and begin to put together a new direction in which  I might push the work.  But this has been an unusual year and I find myself busier than ever.  My show, Inward Bound,  at the Kada Gallery runs until December 6 and my exhibition at the Fenimore Art Museum, Internal Landscapes,  hangs until December 31.  That would be a full schedule in itself but this year offers yet another opportunity, one that fills my schedule to the brink and has kept me fully engaged in the studio as of late.  I am talking about a solo show of my work, The Waking Moment,  that will be opening December 1 at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo in California.

Owner Ralph Gorton and Gallery Director Ken McGavin  first contacted me earlier this year and began showing my work  at the gallery, which opened in 1984, in April.  They have done a fabulous job highlighting my work and it has done very well in their gallery, to the point where we agreed that a show was in order.

I wasn’t sure about it at first.  I was fairly new to their market  and I was also thinking that I wouldn’t be able to build a show for them.  But they have introduced me thoroughly to their  clients and the pace of this year in the studio has had me immersed in a deep groove which made it possible for me to work at a high level without much of a period of buildup.  As a result, I find myself  pretty excited about the work I am producing at this time , which includes the piece shown above, The Prospering Light, a 16″ by 26″ painting on paper.

I am nearly finished with the last few pieces for the show which will soon be on their way to the California coast.  Then I will step back for a moment or two.  At least,  I think I will.  This rhythm I have in the studio at this time feels so right that I am a little hesitant to step away for more than a moment, knowing how difficult it can be to recapture that feeling.  But for now, I am riding this wave in the studio and am excited by each new rush that comes in the work.  I will be showing more of this new work in the coming weeks as the Just Looking Gallery show approaches.

 

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Reviews

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on November 1, 2012| 3 Comments »

There is a very good review in today’s Erie Times-News of my Kada Gallery show, Inward Bound, written by Karen Rene Merkle who has reviewed my Erie shows in the past.  Reviews of any kind have become more and more scarce over the years as the influence of the newspaper has waned in most markets, especially in those the size of  Erie, so I am always interested in seeing what an unbiased observer might see in my work.  As an artist, you set up a defense mechanism of sorts by trying not to put too much emphasis on what someone might say or write about your work.  But in the end,  your human nature wins out and you react accordingly.  When someone knocks your work, even in respectful terms, it still bothers you. Conversely, when someone praises your work you are happily satisfied.  This is, as I said, a very good review so I am happily satisfied.  I have written here that I felt  that this show was a very strong group of work and it is gratifying that someone such as Ms. Merkle takes the time and effort to  take a long and  insightful look at it.

Thanks so much for the kind words, Karen.  It is most appreciated.

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