Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Long John

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Long John Baldry It Aint Easy Cover 1971I remember my brother bringing home this album from some guy I had never heard of before  back in the early 70’s.  I also remember putting it on the turntable and being instantly hooked.  The guy was Long John Baldry and the album was It Ain’t Easy.  Baldry was a 6’7″ ( hence the nickname) British blues singer who was one of the first Brits to sing American blues in the English clubs of the late 50’s and early 60’s which led to the blues explosion there that re-ignited the dwindling careers of many American bluesmen, such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and many others.  Elton John and Rod Stewart and many others had started their careers in Baldry’s early bands and went on to greater acclaim than Baldry when they moved away from the blues and American folk that he so embraced.  Baldry was content playing this music for most of his career, outside of a short foray into lushly orchestrated Big Band crooning that gave him a #1 hit in the UK with Let the Heartaches Begin.

Baldry lived in Canada from the  late 70’s on and passed away in 2005 at the age of 64.  He did a lot of voiceover work late in his life with one  of his best known roles in voice acting was as Dr Robotnik in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.  This was news to me when I read it in his Wikipedia biography but it doesn’t take away from a really unique performer.

I dug up the a vinyl version of this album several years back when I wasn’t able to find it on CD or digitally.  I was so glad when I listened to it and found that it is still a really solid group of work, not just some idealized remembrance of a 14  year old mind.   Others must think so as well as it  is now widely available .  This was the first thing I ever heard from him, Don’t Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie ( On the King of Rock and Roll) which is introduced by an entertaining little tale from his early days called Conditional Discharge.

 

Read Full Post »

Last Days of “Islander”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on August 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Islander SheetFriday, August 30,  marks the last day that my current show, Islander,  at the West End Gallery will be hanging.  Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the gallery during the run of the show, who made it yet another successful show for the West End.  It has been both an honor and a pleasure for me to have an annual show at the gallery and it is always satisfying when a show does well, especially in your home area.  It provides great inspiration in moving forward and serves as a validation for the decisions made concerning the work over the years.

Though many of the pieces from the original group of work for this show are gone, there is still a good show hanging on the gallery walls.  I hope you will make it in this week for one last viewing.

Have a great week!

Read Full Post »

West End Gallery Talk Today

Posted in Uncategorized on August 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Embraced I am giving a Gallery Talk at noon today, Thursday, August 1, at the West End Gallery in Corning.  The talk starts at noon and,  from past experience, usually lasts until around 1 PM , although I am normally on hand for another hour for those who have follow up questions or comments and want a less public response or just aren’t comfortable speaking in front of a group.

I try to keep the atmosphere light in these talks so that those on hand feel comfortable to begin a two-sided conversation  because it’s this back-and-forth  that ultimately determines how well the talk goes.  That and honest, direct answers that give real information that is not clouded in artspeak.  With a lively conversation with real information,  the best talks go by in a flash and everyone leaves feeling good about how they have spent their time.  That’s always my primary goal for these events.

We are also having an added attraction for this year’s talk at the West End:  I will giving away an original painting of mine to one lucky winner drawn from those  in attendance today.  So, if you’re in the Corning area today at noon, please stop in and you may go home with a piece of my work.

Hope to see you there!

[Note: the painting shown here, Embraced,  is part of the current exhibit and is not the prize for today’s drawing!]

Read Full Post »

A Few Pieces From “Islander”

Posted in Uncategorized on July 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As I have written often recently, my show, Islander,  at the West End Gallery in Corning opens tomorrow night with a reception that runs from 5-7:30 PM.  The show itself hangs in the gallery from July 26 until August 30.  I thought today that I would simply show a few of the paintings from the show that haven’t been featured on this blog as of yet.  Less writing for me, less reading for you…

The Observer’s Road- 12″ X 24″ Canvas

GC Myers -Zephyr

Zephyr- 10″ x 34″ Paper

GC Myers- Temple of Ball

Temple of Ball- 8″ x 16″ Canvas

GC Myers- Sea Call

Sea Call- 24″ x 24″ Canvas

GC Myers- Step Forward

Step Forward- 24″ x 36″ Canvas

GC Myers- Regal One

Regal One- 4″ x 18″ Paper

GC Myers- Passing Clouds

Passing Clouds- 12″ x 12″ Canvas

Read Full Post »

Just Over A Week to See “Observers”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- In Clarity While I am busy at work in the studio preparing for my show which opens in a month at the West End Gallery in Corning, I wanted to remind everyone that my show, Observers, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria will still be hanging there for the a little more than another week, until July 7.  If you haven’t had a chance and would like to see this show, I suggest you make your way to beautiful Old Town Alexandria and take a peek before it comes down.

The painting shown above, In Clarity, a 10″ by 20″ canvas, is part of the Observers show along with the title piece, shown below.GC Myers- Observers frm sm

Read Full Post »

Windowpane/ Michael Mattice

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on June 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Earlier, while writing about the release yesterday of his album, Comin’ Home, I showed a video of some earlier work of Michael Mattice.  I didn’t t realize then  that there was a link that took you to one of the songs from the new CD, Windowpane. Here it is:

 

Read Full Post »

Getting Out There

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 20, 2013| 3 Comments »

AACThis week I have a couple of things happening in the media concerning my work.  First, is the release of the June issue of American Art Collector magazine which has a preview of my upcoming show, Observers, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA, which  opens on June 7 and runs until July 5.

I have to admit that at earlier points in my career having my work featured in such a magazine, a beautifully produced national  publication featuring some of the country’s finest galleries and representational artists , that I would have felt a huge level of anxiety. Most of the work in this magazine is at the highest level of traditional representation and very little  that looks anything like my work is normally seen in its pages.  Early in my career this idea of not being in step with the accepted norm would have had me in a tizzy.  The confidence to stand alone was just not developed enough at that point and I always felt that if my work was to be judged against other work, what it was not would count more than what it was.

But time has taught me that it is actually the other way around and I have found  real confidence in my voice.  I now see that it is that very uniqueness, what the work is rather than what it is not,  that differentiates my work.  I am now pleased, not anxious or intimidated,  that my work stands alone in its look among these extraordinarily talented artists.   The article looks great  (shown at the bottom here) and the work definitely maintains its uniqueness among a lot of beautiful work.

The June  issue should be hitting the mailboxes and  newsstands this week.

Also, this coming Sunday, May 26th at 5:30 PM,will be the first airing of my segment on WSKG’s Artist Cafe.  I wrote earlier here about them coming to my studio for filming  and it’s finally going to air.  It’s a short segment, four or five minutes in length, that will be available on YouTube within a day or two after the broadcast for those of you living outside the WSKG broadcast area who want to view it.  I will let you know here when it goes online.

AAC June 2013 Complete Spread sm

Read Full Post »

Auction Ends at Noon

Posted in Uncategorized on May 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Sending OutIn my earlier post, I inadvertently listed the closing time of the auction as midnight when in fact it is at NOON today.  Sorry!  So if you are interested, don’t hesitate.

Read Full Post »

The Start of Something/ Redux

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 26, 2013| 4 Comments »

GC Myers Archaeology-sketch

I did a presentation last night for a local arts group, the Elmira Regional Art Society.  I’m not sure how well I did in meeting their expectations, or my own for that matter, but I stumbled through.  Not my smoothest talk but they were a very gracious group and I thank them for having me in to speak with them.  One of the stories that I related was about how the Archaeology series evolved, one that I related here back in April of 2010.  I thought that I would revisit it today:

There’s new exhibit that opens at the West End Gallery in Corning next week [May, 2010]. It’s titled The Process- Start to Finish and features the gallery’s roster of artists showing sketches and studies for finished pieces of work. The idea is to give the viewer a better understanding of how a piece of art evolves through the process.

Now, I never really do studies and very little sketching for my paintings so this didn’t really seem like a show fitted to my process. But I remembered that a couple of years ago, at a point when I was floundering a bit and somewhat lost direction, I did a series of sketches (actually, I call them doodles) that eventually evolved into my Archaeology series.

GC Myers Archaeology-new-day

Archaeology: New Day

These were done on 12″ by 24″ sheets of watercolor paper with a finepoint Sharpie marker, which I liked to use because it forced bold lines and better simulated the way I used a brush as a drawing device when I painted. They were basically exercises where I would start at any given point on the sheet with a mark and simply fill the space with shapes and lines. Kind of a stream of consciousness thing. There was no intent . I was just trying to find something that would fire my then faltering imagination.

I did this for about a week, filling a number of these sheets until I began to realize that this sketching process could lend itself well to a different type of painting for me. One that combined my typical landscapes and iconography with areas of this intuitive doodling. Thus came the Archaeology series.

So I guess I do have a sketch of sorts for this show. The piece shown here, Archaeology: New Day, was one of the first in the series. You can see this by way the underground elements are formed in the same marker-like manner as the sketches as opposed to later pieces in the series where each element is painted as though it is almost floating in an underground basin. This piece, which remains a personal favorite, will be at the West End for the show.

Read Full Post »

RedTree in Gdansk

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 16, 2013| 1 Comment »

RedTree Near Gdansk PolandI have often said that one of my favorite benefits from my job as an artist is hearing from people from all over the world who have seen my work.  It’s always gratifying to know that my work translates across boundaries and cultures, that it is not isolated in its appeal.  I was reminded of this as I was cleaning out my spam file this morning and came across an email there that didn’t seem to fit.

It was from Gdansk in Poland, from an architect/town planner named Joanna M. She had seen my blogpost on the works of Hans Memling and invited me to Gdansk to see  his The Last Judgment, his spectacular triptych which is in the National Museum there.

She then went on to tell me about her work as a town planner, saying that a current plan for a housing area there in Gdansk resembles  my paintings with the hills and paths and structures.  She also pointed out that they even had a red tree there.  as seen in the photo above which she included.  She said she is planning a pedestrian path that leads up this hill to the Red Tree.

I was tired this morning coming into the studio but finding this email brightened my day and reinvigorated me.  I have talked before about the idea that there are other eyes looking over my shoulder in the studio, urging me on.  It gives me inspiration and a sense of purpose, taking me away from my own selfish needs.   Those eyes make me believe that my work is part of a bigger community.   Thank you, Joanna, for lending me your eyes this morning all the way from Gdansk.  It is most appreciated.

 Dziękuję bardzo.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »