Redtree Times

There is a group of new work along with a select group of older pieces heading to the Principle Gallery with me on Saturday when I head there for my annual Gallery Talk.  The piece shown here is a new painting, an 8″ by 16″ canvas that I call A Time to Rest.

The rows of the fields have represented the idea of work to me for some time in my paintings.  I have always considered myself more of a worker than an artist, feeling that my work ethic kind of defines me in my painting.  I like being in the studio, like the work that I do and would rather be alone in my studio than almost anywhere else most of the time.

In fact, I find the work itself restful.  Sometimes for me, it is the time away from the work that seems labored and difficult.

And maybe that’s the point of this painting: the Red Tree finds itself resting in the midst of the worked fields, looking at the work that has been done thus far.  It reminds me of being in the studio and seeing work in varying stages — some newly started with the beginnings of what they will one day be fresh on their surfaces, some prepared canvasses waiting for that first dash of paint and finished work hanging on the walls around me.

This piece surprised me.  It seemed to be blah through the initial stages.  I wasn’t sure if I would even finish it but then it suddenly popped near the end of the process and I find myself now really drawn to it.  Maybe that’s why I see myself and my own world in it so clearly.

Again, the Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria is this Saturday, September 17, beginning at 1 PM.  The highlight is the drawing for my original painting , Defiant Heart, that will be held at the end of the talk.  That and a little more… 

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I haven’t shown this piece here in quite a number of years.  It is from back in 1995, part of my Exiles series from that time.

This piece is perhaps the painting from that series that means the most to me in so manys ways.  It is titled A Prayer For Light and in the same way it filled an emotional need then, it does so for me now.

It may not be something that speaks to you or has any meaning at all.  That’s okay because for me it symbolizes things that I couldn’t possibly express here at this point.

And that’s enough for now…

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THIS PAINTING TO BE GIVEN AWAY TODAY!!

A last reminder that I will be giving a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in Corning today beginning at 1 PM.  There will be a drawing at the end of the talk where one of the attendees will be awarded the painting shown here on the right, Private Glow.  Plus, there are some other surprises in store so try to make it into the gallery on Market Street in the Gaffer District of historic Corning.

Icon: Martin / GC Myers

One thing I will be talking a bit about is my Icon series from earlier this year.  They are, as you may remember, idealized pieces based on ancestral details that I have dug up through the years.  I will be bringing some of them in their raw state and will give a few details about this group which has never been shown in public.

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We were notified just a short time ago by the folks at Crowdrise that they had chosen the winner of the painting, Enraptured, that was the prize in the inaugural fundraising event for Artists Engaging Nepal which benefits the Soarway Foundation and its partnership with charitable groups in Nepal.  The winner was randomly chosen by their computer from a group of people who were entered into the drawing as a result of their donations to the Soarway Foundation.

And the winner is…

Paul and Wanda Kingsbury

Paul and Wanda are from my hometown of Elmira, NY, though Wanda originally hails from the state of Maine.  Paul has run Kingbury’s Cyclery in Elmira for what seems like forever.  It seems like there is some good karma involved here for Paul.  I asked him to share this contest with his followers on Facebook and in doing so he shared a bit of his experiences in Nepal, a trip he describes as life-changing.

Here’s what Paul wrote:

Nepal
I went trekking in Nepal about ten years ago. I wanted to see the other side of the world. I expected to see big, snow capped mountains, to see fuzzy yaks, maybe even see a snow leopard. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with the people of Nepal. They are without a doubt the nicest, friendliest, most peaceful people I’ve ever met. I could share story after story for hours and hours about kindnesses that came my way, but I’ll save that for another day. What I will tell you is that now they need our help after a devastating earthquake rocked their tiny country.
Here’s an easy way to help, and you might become owner of a beautiful GCMyers painting. Click, read, send a few bucks to help the Nepali people. A few bucks for us, living large in the US of A is nothing, but to the sweet people of Nepal it can go a long, long way. Click, help, and be a winner

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has reached out during this event.  I cannot express the gratitude I feel for those of you who made the effort to help those in need so far from here.  I wish I had a painting for each of you.

Please keep an eye out for the Soarway Foundation’s upcoming Artists Engaging Nepal which will feature some gallery events as well as online auctions of beautiful art from many artists including those from Nepal and Uganda.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Memorial Day weekend.  It’s become the symbolic starting point for summer, a time of barbecues and partying.  In those rare instances when  we do take the time to consider the day, many of us tend to think of it in terms of patriotism and nationalism.

But it was created from the loss and sorrow of a civil war that ripped this country and many families apart.  It was meant to alleviate the grief of the many families who suffered the ultimate loss, to let them know that the nation shared their sorrow in the memory of fallen family members.

In the nearby Woodlawn National Cemetery, where my mother is buried, there is a section that contains the nearly 3000 graves of Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War in the Elmira, NY prison camp.  Whenever I look at those stones and think of those men of the south, I always think about their families who may not have even known that their sons were suffering in a cold Northern prison.  They were mothers, wives or children who would never see or hug their sons and husbands and fathers again.

And this sacrifice was for what?  An idea, the preservation of an ideology that probably didn’t affect their day to day lives in the first place?

Why are we so easily stirred to war, so willing to sacrifice our own kin and their futures?

There are no easy answers.  Maybe that’s why the holiday has transformed into what it is today– it’s too terrible an image to bear when we look in that mirror and ask those questions.

So for this Sunday’s music on a Memorial Day weekend, I thought I’d play a song that asks for peace on earth with the hope that fewer families in the future will have to see the earth absorb the blood of their sons and daughters.  I know that sounds like a pipedream, a world without war.  But I have to ask  myself: Why not peace?

Here’s U2 and Peace on Earth.  Have a great Sunday and a great holiday.

NOTE: The image here on the left is a new painting, In the Time of Memory, that is part of my show that opens this coming Friday, June 3, at the Principle Gallery.  I think this piece deals with some of the same issues raised above.

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