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Archive for the ‘Recent Paintings’ Category

Carry The Weight

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged on May 11, 2010| 4 Comments »

Carry the Weight- GC Myers

I’m off this morning to speak with a group of college students at a local coffeehouse.  Every year,  a class in drawing or painting from our local community college meets at the end of the semester with professor Dave Higgins to discuss what their next step might be: what opportunities are there in the art field, how they should proceed, if they can make a living, etc.  The things that lay beyond the nuts and bolts instruction of the class.   Dave likes to have me come in to serve as an example of a local guy who was once much like them, attending the same school with the same concerns and self-doubts, but was now living as a professional artist.

Whenever I speak with students, I try to speak less about technical aspects of painting and more about building up the belief that they have a unique point of view.  They have to understand that there will always be someone more talented than themselves out there, someone with greater technical skills and more education.  This is unavoidable but they can’t let it deter them.  Because success in the field of art, and other fields as well, is not necessarily about who is the most talented or who has the most letters behind their name.  Success comes from making the most of your talents.
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I know that’s an old chestnut but it’s true nonetheless.  Art is about  gathering  and refining whatever talent you might have and using it to communicate your vision of the world to others.  It’s this belief, that your view of the world is as important and viable as any other,  that transcends other limitations.  Once they have this belief, the hard work and the sacrifices needed to succeed don’t seem so daunting. 
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So that’s what I try to accomplish with this talk.  Make them think about their view of the world. Let them know that their feelings and thoughts are no different nor less important than anyone else’s.   Their voice can be heard if they so wish.
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That’s a newer piece at the top of the page, a small painting on paper that I call Carry the Weight.  I thought it fit well with this post even though I’m not sure what is in the red bag.  I have painted this fellow a number of times and he remains a mystery to me.  Maybe that’s his purpose.
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Who knows?

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Light Work

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged on May 9, 2010| 1 Comment »

This is a piece that I finished in the last few days.  It’s a real throwback to my first forays into painting, done in a very watercolor way on untreated paper.  It’s 13″ by 23″ and is very transparent.  I’ve tried to maintain a certain complexity of color and strength of line yet the colors are lightly saturated, almost delicate.  I’m not sure how well this will translate on a computer screen. 

I’ve started doing a handful of paintings in this manner in order to focus on subtlety of the color and to allow the forms of the landscape and sky to carry the weight of meaning in the the piece.  It’s a tricky proposition to pull back from deep colors and texture yet still maintain strong edges.  I find that this type of painting works best with simplified forms that seemingly act as abstractions, giving the work an almost organic feel, if that’s the right word.  This feel plays well with the red tree which maintains its role as the focal point and inviting presence in the piece.

I like this work .  While it has a slightly different  appearance based on technique, it fits easily into my body of work.  There is an ethereal feel, something I strive for in much of my work,  that is enhanced by the transparency of the paint. 

Okay.  Back to the paints…

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Excitement and Evolution

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , on May 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Blue Vigil- GC Myers

I’m about a month away from my annual show at the Principle Gallery and my studio is a mess.  There are paintings scattered about in varying degrees of completion.  Some are done and many need little touches here and there.  Some are still in early stages of development, still having many different potentials.  Some are still in my head, the result of ideas that blossom in this chaotic time of my year.

It’s hectic and I always seem to be behind my time schedule.  So much to do.  But it still remains one of my favorite times of my painting year if only for those new paintings in my head.  The intensity of the painting that comes with a looming deadline always seems to inspire new concepts and ambitions for my work which keeps me excited in the studio which makes my time spent alone there very easy to bear. 

This new excitement may come from working with a simple color or form or from a slight tweaking of  my technique.  It may come from revisiting concepts from the past that I haven’t used recently.  Or by a change in the materials I use.  A different canvas, paper or gesso often spurs me on.

This need to feel excitement in my own work is very important for me.  The main reason is simple.  If I cannot be stimulated by my own work, how can I expect others to be excited by it?  I’ve always believed that you can usually tell when a painter is inspired by their work.  There’s a confidence and surety in the rhythm of these pieces.  Perhaps this excitement is that which gives their work a signature “look”.

The other reason for this need to excite is that it fosters growth and change in the body of my work.  The changes may be small and imperceptible to many but they mark subtle expansion for me.  I see it when I scan back through the work over the last decade. Each year brings something new which changes the overall face on my body of work.  It may often seem much the same but it is actually an evolving continuum.  And I find excitement in this evolution…

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The Past Returns

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , on May 1, 2010| 4 Comments »

GC Myers - The Past Returns

 

It’s the first day of May and I’m entering the stretch run in my preparations for my upcoming June show at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  The body of work is starting to take real shape and I’m getting a feel for how it will hang together during the show.  Themes emerge.

This year, I am devoting part of the show to work that is a return to my earlier work, painted in more transparent layers and more subdued tones of color. 

The piece shown here is indicative of this work.  I call this piece The Past Returns and it is 18″ by 18″ on treated cotton rag paper.  This piece to me is very much an homage to the first Red Tree paintings in color and form. 

This piece even has the visible spew line at the upper left corner where the liquid paint sometimes breaks free as I’m working it and rushes out of the picture plane.  I remember an older gentleman approaching me at an early show and pointing out this feature on my painting.  He told me how much he liked the spew lines, a term I had never heard.  He explained that he had worked in a foundry and that was their term for the excess metal that broke free of the mold.  I liked that and have called them spew lines since then.  I haven’t shown spew lines for some time, choosing to scrub and paint them out.  But seeing this one brought back the feeling of those earlier pieces and gave it an organic feel, exposing more of the process.  It had to stay.

Sometimes the past returns and it is a good thing…

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Strange Affair

Posted in Influences, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , on April 27, 2010| 2 Comments »

I’m not sure if Strange Affair is going to be the title of this piece.  I’ve had this painting, an 8″ by 18″  image on paper, done for several weeks now and I’ve been waiting for a title to come.  Something that speaks of it’s starkness of detail and stillness.

Then I heard a version of a Richard Thompson song, Strange Affair, sung by June Tabor accompanied by Martin Simpson on the guitar, and this piece came to mind.  It was as though the character in the painting might very well be playing this very song.  Really evocative.

You be the judge…

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I Am Not Alone

Posted in Influences, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on April 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I Am Not Alone

The night, it is deserted
from the mountains to the sea.
But I, the one who rocks you,
I am not alone!

The sky, it is deserted
for the moon falls to the sea.
But I, the one who holds you,
I am not alone !

The world, it is deserted.
All flesh is sad you see.
But I, the one who hugs you,
I am not alone!

     –Gabriela Mistral

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Another newer piece.  This smaller painting, a little over 5″ by 10″ on paper, is painted in the style of my earlier work.  More subtle. More restrained.  Simpler compositions and more space creating a greater coolness and airiness. 

To me, the feeling of solitude.

I came across this poem by the great Chilean poetess and Nobel Prize winner, Gabriela Mistral,  and felt it fit this piece, and many others of mine, very well.  The sense of being alone yet not lonely is an important element in the way I look at my work and one that I sometimes struggle with for fear that it may alienate some who see being alone as only loneliness and not solitude. An important distinction and one that is often misunderstood. 

But we who relish our solitary time understand.

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Update: Name That Painting Contest!

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged on April 22, 2010| 6 Comments »

Yesterday kicked off this year’s Name That Painting Contest and the first day brought many great entries, several via e-mail,  and even a short poem.  Gotta love the creativity out there.  Keep up the good work!

I was remiss in mentioning a couple of things yesterday when I first listed the contest. 

First, how the winning entry is selected: I make the final decision.  I go through the entries and look for a title that has an interesting interpretation of the painting, hopefully adding a dimension that I hadn’t seen myself.  I had considered putting selected titles up for a vote but I’m not quite ready to give up that much control over a part of my work. 

I also failed to mention that all entries will be listed on the back of the painting and will therefore be a part of this piece for so long as it lasts on this earth. 

So, hopefully, that clears up the last of the details.  So, give it a shot and send in your titles. The contest ends Midnight EST on May 16, 2010.

For the rest of the details, check out yesterday’s post.

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NEW! Name That Painting Contest!

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on April 21, 2010| 38 Comments »

It’s time for the annual (yes, I’m calling it an annual event) Name That Painting Contest!

The rules are simple.  Take a gander at the painting shown here, come up with a title that you feel fits it, and either submit your title through the comment section or e-mail it to info@gcmyers.com  no later than Midnight EST  on Sunday, May 16, 2010.  Feel free to enter as many titles as you wish.

The prize for submitting the winning title is…

A set of 2 extremely limited edition prints.  These are very high quality giclee artist proofs from a project that I tentatively started a few years back.  Very eye-catching, they are signed and numbered.  Plus, I will be including a signed copy of my book, In Quiet Places.

The painting is a fairly large 30″ by 40″ canvas and is a central piece for my upcoming solo show at the Principle Gallery in June.  I’m going to let the viewers choose their title without any prompting from me so I’ll leave it at that. 

 So break out your thinking beanies and give it a shot.  What do you have to lose?

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Redtree Redux

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged on April 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

I’ve started working on a series of paintings that are a return to my earlier work, back when the Redtree was first coming into view,  in the way they are painted.  Done on gessoed paper, I am using thinner, more transparent paints that allow the gesso base to show through, creating its own light and glow.

It’s a much different mindset than the one I’ve been employing in much of my recent work.  There is more restraint.  While it is still very much about color and texture, like the newer work, there is more delicacy and subtlety.  The colors are less saturated.  The transparency of the colors have a different effect even on a heavily textured base.  The linework is finer and the whole piece is really about how the blocks of color come together and interact. 

The feeling of the work, as a result, has a slightly more ethereal feel.  A lightness and coolness.  More atmospheric and less earthy than some of the newer work.  This being said, I don’t feel either style is superior to the other in that both reflect the same underlying emotions.  To me, they say the say the same things, only in different manners.   

This piece is a little over 5″ by 21″.  It’s still too new to have developed a title yet.  That will come soon enough…

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I Think I’m Going to Kathmandu…

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on April 18, 2010| 7 Comments »

GC Myers- The Dark Blue Above

Well, I’m not going to Kathmandu.

This painting  is, however.

Titled The Dark Blue Above, it was chosen by the  newly appointed US Ambassador to Nepal, Scott DeLisi, to adorn the his offices at the US Embassy in Kathmandu.  The Principle Gallery in Alexandria was approached by Ambassador DeLisi’s office concerning this piece and, as a result, it will hang in Nepal for the next three years as part of the US State Department’s Art in Embassies Program, which arranges American art for its diplomatic locations worldwide.

I feel honored to have a piece of mine chosen to be a representative piece of American art in another country and I’m particularly pleased that this painting was the choice to go to Nepal.  If you had asked me to choose a painting of mine to send there, this would have jumped to mind.  I can’t say this with any knowledge but I get the sense this piece will translate very well there.  Perhaps it’s the rich, bright blue in that sky or the the feeling of atmosphere.

I don’t know.  Just a feeling.

I wonder if I can visit it?

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