Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Television’ Category

Mornings in Corning

Posted in Event, Painting, Recent Paintings, Television, tagged , , , , on July 3, 2021| 4 Comments »

9921075 Hope Ascendant sm

“Hope Ascendant“- Part of my upcoming show at the West End Gallery, Corning, NY

Well, that’s out of the way! I was up even a little earlier yesterday than normal to head out to Corning for an appearance on the WETM morning show. It was a segment that focuses on artists and artisans from this region hosted by the amiable Grant Chungo. It seemed like a good opportunity to promote my upcoming solo show, Through the Trees, at the West End Gallery, opening Friday, July 16.

Throughout the hour from 6 to 7 AM, we would discuss various things about my work and my upcoming show in a series of short hits — hey, I know TV lingo!– interwoven with the news ,weather and sports. These hits last 1 and 2 minutes long so there is not a lot of time to get out a lot of info, especially for someone not adept at short snappy soundbites. My inability to do so actually kept me off a nationally broadcast show several years ago but we wont’t get into that now.

But I tried. And Grant Chungo was gracious and friendly, which helped immensely. He also constantly explained the process as we chatted and waited in between the hits, which I found informative.

All in all, I guess it went okay. I would change or omit one or two things that I said but there were no earthshaking gaffes. I didn’t drop an F-bomb or anything like that.

Even so, I still cringed while watching it, always feeling a bit uncomfortable by my sound and appearance. Wanting a change of some sort, I had recently shaved my beard for the first time in decades and cut my hair shorter than it’s been since I was about 6 years old. It was a bit of a shock seeing myself in that way onscreen. 

But, like all things in life, you work with what you got and try to make the best of it. Using that as a guideline, I guess it went pretty well. No humans or animals were hurt during the filming. 

One of the paintings shown on the segment was the new one shown here at the top, Hope Ascendant. I think it showed pretty well onscreen, though I still contend that my work shows up far better in person. Hope you can come out to the West End Gallery to see for yourself.

If you’re interested in seeing the compiled segments, click the link below. 

Mornings in Corning highlights contemporary painter GC Myers

Read Full Post »

In Rhapsody

Posted in Event, Favorite Things, Influences, Music, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, Television, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 1, 2021| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- In Rhapsody 2021

My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.

― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

The idea of a union between music and painting has long been a theme in my work. I think my new solo show, Between Here and There, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria probably explores that idea more than most of my prior shows.

The painting above might be the best example of this. It is titled In Rhapsody and is 24″ by 30″ on canvas. I see all sorts of musical equivalencies or analogies in it. I see the Red Tree here as a conductor of sorts, standing in a sort of spotlight of brightness amidst an orchestra composed of the landscape and the skies and the mountains as he pushes them to a loud crescendo. Something very Beethoven-like or Wagnerian to that, probably due to the influence of Bugs Bunny cartoons in my childhood. I most likely know more about Warner Brothers’ cartoons than I do about classical music but that doesn’t dampen my appreciation for either.

Or I see whole painting as a musical score, the layers of the landscape moving back into the picture plane as movements in a musical piece, each with their own emotional content and inflection that leads to the next, with which it blends and meshes into a building harmony. It builds more and more as the layers move deeper culminating in the movement from land and water up into the red-violet of the sky. The sky here feels like the crescendo here for me.

Everything builds to the drama contained in the color and clouds of that sky.

For me, it has an ethereal, timeless quality that reminds me of a fine piece of music, one that moves people in any time in which it is played. Music and art are emotion-based and while everything in this world is forever changing and the circumstances might be completely different for generations of listeners or viewers, our emotional responses remain very much the same. We coo in love and rage in hate, we laugh in joy, we cry in despair, and so on.

Our emotions are fields of constancy and music and art work their magic in those fields. I hope this piece does that, as well. Of course, this is simply how I personally see and feel the piece and that doesn’t amount to much more than small hill of beans when you get right down to it. How this painting or any other piece of mine works it way into the future is well beyond my control. It has to prove itself.

Below, is an example of a piece of music that I think fits well with In Rhapsody. It is a section from Beethoven‘s famous 5th Symphony, one that builds to crescendo beautifully. The video is a composed of a graphical score with multiple colors and forms that is fascinating to watch as it scrolls along with the music. I thought it was also interesting how the colors of its beginning screen match so well with the painting as you can see in the image below the video.

My annual solo show, Between Here and There, opens this Friday, June 4, at the Principle Gallery at their King Street location in Alexandria, VA. Unfortunately, I will not be in attendance this year. We are hoping for some sort of event, a gallery talk, later in the year as circumstances allow. You can see the show catalog here. Thank you!

GC Myers- In Rhapsody Principle Gallery 2021 Catalog page

Read Full Post »

Skating

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Television, tagged , , on December 13, 2020| 1 Comment »

Hey, A Charlie Brown Christmas is on PBS tonight!

I grew up with this seasonal special from Charles Schulz and his beloved band of characters who felt like childhood companions. Its soundtrack from Vince Guaraldi has become part of the genetic makeup of generations of kids and for many such as myself there’s a visceral response upon hearing any of the compositions from it.

One of my favorites is Skating with its bright, cool, and clean lines. It both evokes memory from the past and feeling in the present moment, gliding seamlessly between the two. Maybe that’s the mark of a timeless piece of art?

I don’t know.

So, for this Sunday morning music, let’s give a listen to Skating from Vince Guaraldi. Can’t think of a better way to skim into the day. Have a good one.

Read Full Post »

Half Measures

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Television, tagged , , , on March 23, 2020| 2 Comments »

***********************

The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.

–Winston Churchill

**********************

For many of you Breaking Bad fans out there, the term half measures immediately brings to mind a pivotal episode in the series where Walter White realizes that when you’re dealing with deadly people and things, half measures have no place and will most likely get you killed.

And that is what we have been witnessing in the efforts to combat the coronavirus, so far as the steps taken by the president** and his gang of yes men– half measures.

Even yesterday, with the virus constantly gaining more and more footholds, cases and deaths mounting, the markets plummeting, and the experts warning that the most extreme steps must be taken, he stood before the nation and said that while he had signed the order for the Defense Protection Act, which gives the government tremendous powers to compel private companies to produce materials necessary supplies for this effort, he was not implementing it. He said he wanted to keep it for when we really needed it.

That’s like having a new rope in your hands and there’s a person drowning in the water near you and saying, ” I don’t want to use this now because I might need it later.”

That kind of holding a little back for later is fine under normal circumstance but when someone is in dire need it amounts to a half measure.

Now is not a time for half measures, not a time to let some folks drown while you still have that rope in your hand.

I can’t really explain why he won’t commit to full measures at this point other than to say that by doing so he commits to taking responsibility for those actions. It would assert the powers of the federal government and that would take away his ability to lay off blame on the many governors who have been the real leaders in this effort.

The whole thing would become his baby. And there is no way he can accept that sort of responsibility. Not now. Not ever.

But what he fails to understand is that in this sort of situation, the more he tries to evade his duty and responsibility, the more it becomes solely his baby, whether he likes it or not.

You might think I am being unfair in my criticism of the president** because of my intense dislike of him on almost every level, something I will not deny. You might think I should keep my mouth shut and give him a chance, especially in such a time of crisis.

To that I say, “That’s crazy.”

This has nothing to do with my dislike of this person. I am basing it not on that but on the fact that he is in the driver’s seat and I’m just a passenger in a speeding bus as he steers it toward the edge of steep mountain road. He is distracted (texting furiously as he steers) and doesn’t seem fully committed as we hurtle toward the precipice.

Yeah, I’m going to speak up. The time for patience, of waiting to see how he’s doing is past. I want someone to jerk his ass out of the driver’s seat and start steering this thing in a responsible manner, away from that deadly edge.

If you watched his briefing yesterday, I don’t see how you would view it much differently. If you watched him and were not disturbed and a little frightened or you somehow found comfort in his tirades and over the edge rambles, often about his own woes, I fear we are lost. He is a half-step from wearing a uniform with a chestful of medals and ribbons, demanding that the obsequious flunkies around him call him Generalissimo.

The time is now. Not later.

It is time for this person to fully commit to doing everything in the many powers given to him in his position to take this on for the benefit of all the people and not himself, his family or his cronies. It is time to act like there is no tomorrow and throw away the idea of half measures. ‘

As Churchill states in the words at the top: we are entering a period of consequences.

We should pay special attention to his words of warning because, more than ever, they apply at this moment in time.

Now is the time for full measures.

***************

They who have been bred in the school of politics fail now and always to face the facts. Their measures are half measures and makeshifts merely. They put off the day of settlement, and meanwhile the debt accumulates.

–Henry David Thoreau

****************

 

Read Full Post »

To the Siren’s Song

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Television, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2018| 2 Comments »

Well, I made delivery yesterday to the Principle Gallery of the paintings for my show, Haven. This exhibit opens Friday, June 1 at the Alexandria gallery with a reception that runs from 6:30 until 9 PM.

I guess I should say that it feels good to have the work in place but that wouldn’t be completely honest. While there is satisfaction in the simple completion of a large task I know from past experience that I will do little more than worry for the next several days. And the fact that this is my nineteenth solo show at the Principle Gallery and that I feel this may be among the most cohesive and strong group of work of these shows does absolutely nothing to stem the worry I feel.

In fact, this good feeling about the work, sensing that this work is as true to whatever vision and voice I possess, that makes me worry more than ever. To have it not connect with others, to have it feel distant and obscure on the wall, would have me questioning my own judgement about what I do. While I know that to base anything on the results of one show is foolish, it still makes a mark and creates a wound that makes you a little less willing to fully show yourself for fear of opening that wound again.

But hopefully this worry is baseless. For now, I will live with my worry and the belief that the work in this show ranks among the best that I have done. Time, as is always the case, will tell.

One of the paintings in the show is shown at the top. It is titled To the Siren’s Song and is 16″ by 20″ on canvas. It’s a piece I already miss having in the studio, one that constantly pulled my eye toward it in the months leading up to the show. The painting itself became a kind of siren to me and there is a perceptible void in its absence. For me, there is a blending of colors and forms,  of representation and abstraction, that I find compelling.

But that’s just me.

For this Sunday morning music I have chosen a song that I think fits into the blend of this painting. It is from the late singer/songwriter Tim Buckley who passed away at the all too early age of 28 back in 1975. Most of you are more likely to know the work of his son, Jeff Buckley, who also tragically died an early death at age 30 back in 1997. But Tim Buckley was as highly regarded in his time and his work has played a large influence on may other artists. This song is one of his better known and has been covered by a number of artists over the past half century. Fittingly for this painting, it is titled Song of the Siren. This video is from The Monkees TV show in 1968.

Have a good Sunday.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Opening Day!

Posted in Favorite Things, Folk Art, Music, Television, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 3, 2016| 2 Comments »

Ralph Fasanella - Night Game/ 'Tis a Bunt 1981

Ralph Fasanella – Night Game/ ‘Tis a Bunt 1981

GC Myers -Foundation smAh, the dark days of winter are receding.  The trees are budding out and the green of the grass (under the newly fallen four inches of snow!) is pushing aside the dead growth of a long gone last year.  The robins have returned and once again the world makes sense–  the daily metronome that is major league baseball returns today.

It’s opening day.

I am not going to wax poetic today about the game, its history or the place that it holds in the hearts of so many.  It just feels like the real New Year’s Day for me and many other fans, that day on which the year truly begins.

The painting at the top, Night Game/ ‘Tis a Bunt,  is one of my favorite baseball paintings from the great folk painter Ralph Fasanella.  I love this particular piece and the way the baseball diamond feels more like a real diamond in an ornate and wondrous setting.  Great piece.  And this piece on the right is from my own baseball series from a few years back.  I loved doing that series and these pieces remain among my personal favorites.  I haven’t painted one in a while but sometimes think about revisiting that old ballfield.

For this Sunday Morning Music, in honor of the game, I’m going to make it a double-header.  First, there’s Take Me out to Ballpark, as played by Harpo Marx on I Love Lucy in 1955 , which is Cheri’s all-time favorite.  I’ve shown it several times but it’s so darn good, it never gets old.  And after that there’s  bluesy 1976 homage to late great pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter which is called, of course, Catfish.

Have a great Sunday and hopefully you’ll get to hear the umpire call out “Play ball!”

Read Full Post »

Christmas Time Is Here

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Television, Video, tagged , , , , , , , on December 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

Peanuts Gang from A Charlie Brown Christmas - Chas SchulzI’ve been taking a few days off here around Thanksgiving, taking it a bit easier in the days that kick off the first days of the Christmas season here.  I can’t say I’m as big a fan of the holidays as when I was child but I still feel that same warm fuzziness when certain songs of the season come on the radio.  Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song or Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, for example.  One of my all-time favorites are the wondeful compositions from  Vince Guaraldi for  A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Hearing the relaxing tones of Christmas Time Is Here with the children’s chorus is like zen candy to me–it just pushes away all the bad things we,ve come to accept as part of the season and fills the void with a peaceful calm.

I thought I’d share Diana Krall‘s take on this great piece.  It lacks the children’s voices but it is lovely nonetheless and a good way to head back into my work.

Read Full Post »

Tomorrow Never Knows

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Television, Video, tagged , , , , , on October 3, 2013| 3 Comments »

GC Myers--Fausts Guitar Popular music has played a huge part in storytelling in films and television in recent years.  For example, this past weekend saw the end of the television series Breaking Bad with the final scene of the series having the song Baby Blue from Badfinger playing as it panned up from Walt’s body.  It was an effective use of the song, neatly tying up the series’ theme of the obsession that overwhelmed Walt’s life.  Some have felt that it was even too spot on but I’m not here to debate that.   It just reminded me of some other songs that have been used  to great effect in this  ( Crystal Blue Persuasion will  be  forever linked in my mind to a montage of meth production from  this show) and  other series.

In the Sopranos, which almost always was brilliant in its choice of accompanying music, one of my favorite endings came when Tony Soprano was particularly cruel to his sister, leaving her home and walking down the street as I’m Not Like Everybody Else from the Kinks played.  It just perfectly summed up the scene and Tony’s self-justification for his often horrible behavior.  Just a great scene.

But I think my favorite came in Mad Men, when ad man Don Draper could not understand why his clients, in 1967, so wanted the music of the Beatles for their ads.  It was all just music to him and he felt that any musician could easily put together something similar to the Beatles sound.  The episode ended with Don settling in at home with a drink after putting on the Beatles’ Revolver album on his hi-fi.  The song Tomorrow Never Knows comes up and the  eras suddenly converge for Don, a revelation that the world he knew is changing, moving beyond his control.  It is a beautiful summation of generational change.

Here’s the song with a film that Neil Aspinall put together in developing a third Beatles movie in 1967, which never came about.  The film would have made a wonderful juxtaposition to Don in the show.  The painting at the top is an older piece of mine, Faust’s Guitar.  I did a few versions of this image years ago and it remains a favorite of mine.

Read Full Post »

Greener Pastures: 42

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Recent Paintings, Television, tagged , , , , on September 29, 2013| 5 Comments »

GC Myers- "Greener Pastures: 42"It’s kind of a sad Sunday.  For one thing, our favorite ice cream place, Mindy Moo’s,  is closing for the season.  Actually, that’s probably a good thing as we have been indulging way too often but I still hate to see it close.

Secondly, tonight is the finale to what may be the finest show to ever come across a television screen, Breaking Bad.  I have been addicted since it first  exposed us to the moral gymnastics of high school chemistry teacher Walter White as he found his way into the world of meth, hoping to make enough cash to support his family after his imminent death from the cancer that had recently emerged.   His moral dilemma and the subsequent downward spiral has been a wild ride, supported by incredible writing, storylines and performances, often leaving me gasping at the end of an episode.  I will sorely miss it and have a feeling that almost everything else on TV will pale in comparison for some time to come.

Mariano Rivera Entering the FieldAnd finally, today is the end of era in baseball as Mariano Rivera rides off into the sunset, retiring from the New York Yankees as unquestionably the greatest closer ever and perhaps the most respected and beloved player to come around in a long, long time. Even Red Sox fans give Mariano, he of the hated Yanks, a standing ovation.  He has been nothing but class since day one, never pounding his chest or belittling his opponents and always showing the utmost respect for the game that has given a poor, skinny boy from Panama so much over the years .  His stoic demeanor on the mound is almost Zen in its nature and has long comforted Yankee fans when games are in a tight spot, even on those rare occasions when he has failed.

The painting at the top of the post,  a 12″ by 12″ canvas,  is titled Greener Pastures: 42.  The number 42 on the outfield wall is meant to honor both Mariano and the man who wore it most famously before him,  the barrier breaking Jackie Robinson.  Mariano is the last player to wear this hallowed number after it was retired by Major League Baseball to honor Robinson and has done so with  a fitting grace and character.  On the day honoring Mariano at Yankee Stadium last Sunday, one of my favorite moments was when  Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow now aged 91, was on the field and she cupped Mariano’s face in both hands, staring hard into his face with such a wonderful look on her face.  I don’t know what she was thinking or conveying but it looked like she was letting Mo know that Jackie would have approved of the way Mariano has honored his number and his memory.

Hard to believe that after today, there is no more ice cream (well, for a while) or Breaking Bad or Mariano.  Like I said, it’s a sad Sunday with a few glorious endings…

 

Read Full Post »

Coincidence

Posted in Music, Personal Mythology, Television, Video, tagged , , , , , , , on September 24, 2013| 7 Comments »

Triple SpiralThe rational part of my brain always wants to shrug off coincidence as mere matters of probability but I still am excited in a way when I experience it, even when the coincidences are seemingly  mundane, not appearing as some sort of cosmic omen or example of the universe’s synchronicity.

Take this past weekend.  I had one of those weird moments when I was singing a song to myself and just a short time later it pops up on the car radio.  Now, that doesn’t seem like too much of a coincidence.  I mean, I’m sure most of us have had this experience, especially when a song is popular and regularly played on our favorite station.  I know this used to happen to me all the time as a kid, when I would be humming a song and would flip on the radio and there it was, almost synchronized in its timing.  But this recent time was with a song from 1967 that was not a classic song but a novelty hit, Judy in Disguise (With Glasses),   from what was considered a bubblegum band of the time, John Fred and the Playboys.

I shrugged it off with a smile.  It is an infectious song, after all.  Besides, who wants to think that their destiny is somehow entwined with this song?

Then on Sunday evening, we were watching the Martin Scorsese produced Boardwalk Empire on HBO.    A few days before this, I had written a post for this blog that was titled Acres of Diamonds, about the famed inspirational speech from Temple University founder Russell Conwell.  The episode this night was also titled Acres of Diamonds and briefly played  a recording of the speech performed by Conwell.

This coincidence gave me more of a pause than Judy in Disguise.  It just struck me as odd that I had chosen to write about this story on just the weekend that it was also referenced on the TV show.  It was a somewhat famous speech in its time but is pretty obscure today.

Coincidence or omen , a symbol of deeper meaning?  Some view coincidence as evidence of a universal consciousness or of God’s directing hand at work.  I don’t know that we can ever know with any certainty of such things.   I know that I would like to believe that these pop culture coincidences somehow demonstrate that I am closer to the center of the labyrinth that is life, but, as I said, the rational part of me tells me to take it easy– if it’s a symbol, it will reveal itself in due time.  If not, it’s just a fun coincidence.

What do you think this is trying to tell me?  Maybe the message was a warning about buying those pants. Message received…

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

%d bloggers like this: