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Again ( and Again and Again)

October 3, 2017 by redtreetimes

Let me apologize to those of you who come here for a little break from the outer world, to see some art and hear some music. I know that is why I write this blog, to help myself better formulate and share a world that seems far removed from the worries and horrors of reality. But I am not immune to the intrusions of the world and because these events affect me, they affect my work. So I feel compelled to comment, to vent, to bellow…

I don’t want to write anything about the mass shooting that took place in Las Vegas. Like the shooting itself,  it seems senseless. Why not just rerun one of the many other posts I have written in the aftermath of other mass shootings that have taken place in America?

It’s the same old crap.

There are lawmakers who send out thoughts and prayers to the victims and families. Yeah, a lot of good those thoughts and prayers have done in the past. But I guess they’re easier to produce than the resolve and action required to do something that might prevent the need for future thoughts and prayers.

Then there are the politicians and talking heads on the cable news channels who will say that this is not the time to talk about gun control, to address the problem. Where did that defense come from? I might be wrong here but it seems to me that this might be the very best time to discuss a problem, before fatigue and memory fades. And we do get tired from seeing these things and our recollection of these events do fade.  But let’s not talk about it now. We are governed by lawmakers who are much more loyal and dedicated to their donors rather than their constituents and the country as whole. Statesmanship and compromise are seemingly something from a past era.

As is normal in these events, the NRA and the lawmakers who help themselves to their ample funds will suddenly be nowhere to be seen for awhile. Crickets…

Then, of course, gun company stocks shoot ever higher because of the fear that this time there might be real change in gun control. So investors know that the American public will rush to gun dealers and grab even more guns in the hysterical belief that more guns will somehow protect them. Fear is a great sales tool and yesterday was a very good day for gun companies on the stock market and in the gun shops.

Then there are those who will come out and say this is an act that goes against everything this country stands for. Yesterday, I heard an interview with a popular country music duo and in it they said that this was an attack on America. All I could think  is that this is America now, this is who we are, this is the face we send out to the world. We come across as gun crazy, easily swayed and distracted, afraid, and prone to reactionary violence.

This is America.

And usually there are those twits who will say that if there had been more guns the event could have been lessened somehow, like they would suddenly become some movie action hero who would stand, impervious to a hail of bullets, and calmly plunk the shooter with a single shot. Well, this event is the ultimate disclaimer to that stupidity. Even if every cowboy in the crowd had been packing two guns on their hips and one in their boot, they would have been equally helpless against this onslaught. Unless there were sniper rifles on the ground  ready to go into action, any sidearm would be useless from a shooter located a 1/3 of a mile away and above them.

The new element here is Bill O’Reilly saying yesterday that these shootings are simply the “price of freedom.” That’s a new one on me. I tend to think of them as being the price for stupidity, irresponsibility and delusion.

Maybe that is freedom for O’Reilly. And maybe in America now, that has become the definition of freedom.

I don’t want to believe that.

But until I see some evidence to the contrary, I am beginning to think it’s true.

Tomorrow, back to regularly scheduled programming. I promise.

Posted in Current Events, Opinion | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore

October 1, 2017 by redtreetimes

In the studio I have a big box that is overflowing with small flags that we have picked up at the local cemetery where we often walk. There are probably 300 to 400 of them jammed in this box.

Most are faded, dirty and ripped. Some have just come detached from their dowel from the wind and the rain. And some are shredded by the mowing crews who won’t take a moment to get off their machines to pick them up before running over them. I am sure these same guys are probably having a fit that some NFL players are silently protesting by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem.

I have been thinking over the years about incorporating them into a project but it hasn’t taken shape yet. But we continue to pick them up, often replacing them with new flags. I can’t fully explain why.

I don’t blindly worship the flag, don’t consider myself any more patriotic than the next person. I certainly don’t believe that we are in any way perfect as a nation.

Far from it. We are by definition a work in progress– so long as there is progress to made we are not done evolving as a nation.

There’s just something about seeing it being treated so badly that irks me a bit. But I don’t feel that same way at all when I see NFL players silently protesting in a dignified and respectful manner. In fact, their protests to me align perfectly with the symbol of the flag as I see it.

People have somehow come to believe, in the politicization of it, that it solely represents the troops and first responders. Well, while it does represent them it also flies as symbol for every citizen and their equal status in this nation.  Every single citizen is represented in those stars and bars. City folk, country folk, black, white, hispanic, Asian, etc– it doesn’t matter so far as that symbol is concerned. It represents us all under the defining concept of this country that we all are granted the same rights and opportunities and bear the same responsibilities.

It is not just a flag that reminds us of our past. It is our symbol of an aspiration to be ever better, to move far beyond the flaws of the past. That flag is a symbol that wants us to stand against injustices, to protest wrongs, to help the oppressed and to move us closer to what we hope is a perfect state of being.

It is in many ways a flag of protest. Almost all of the progress that has been made in this country– abolishment of slavery, workers rights, universal suffrage, civil rights and so many other things we take for granted on a day to day basis– came about as a result of citizens standing in protest to what they saw as a wrong. In fact, protest had a hand in saving the lives of troops by forcing the government to end the conflict in Viet Nam.

So, if the players’ protests bother you, ask yourself why you are so offended. Ask yourself what you have done to make this country a better place. Have you helped another American in in distress lately?

There are 3 and a half million American citizens living in Puerto Rico who are fighting for their survival and you are worried that these players in their silent protest are somehow ruining America?

Get over it.

If you love the flag and the country so much, make it better.  Recognize those things that wrong us all or help somebody. There are more US citizens in Puerto Rico than the the combined populations of Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota. Imagine if every citizen in those four states was on the edge of losing everything they held dear, including their lives.  Wouldn’t you want to reach out to them? Wouldn’t you want to give them the same kind of help you would want if such a thing ever came your way?

If you do think there is a difference helping those states than in extending all the assistance we can muster to Puerto Rico, you are most likely bothered by the NFL protests. In which case, maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror and acknowledge what kind of person you really are.

You might wave the flag, you might even worship the goddamn thing, but you are no patriot.

I have said my piece so let’s move on to this week’s Sunday morning music, one that is made to order for this blog entry. It’s John Prine’s classic protest song about flag wavers and their empty patriotism, Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore. It feels as relevant today as it did in 1972.

So have a good day and wrap yourself in the flag while you think about helping the American people of Puerto Rico in some way. It’s the American thing to do…

 

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Dark Crossing Replay

September 29, 2017 by redtreetimes

I am out the studio again today but here’s a post from a few years back that describes what we are working on in the workshop that  am leading today. The first day was fun and today looks to be busy busy.

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GC Myers 2013“A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.”   

-Leonardo Da Vinci

 

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I’ve been working on a number of pieces lately that start on a black base of paint, rising from the darkness as each subsequent layer adds more and more light.  I still think of this additive  process as being a form of sculpture, one that starts with a flat surface and builds out in contours that give it definition and texture.  Each layer of paint is like adding clay to the supporting armature of the sculpture.  It’s a process that is hard to pull away from when I immerse myself in it. There’s something about seeing the colors grow more and more vibrant on the surface that becomes mesmerizing.  I guess that’s why I often refer to this work as obsessionism.

This small experiment, a 10″ by 12″ piece on paper,  is in this vein.   It’s one of those pieces that I’m just not sure about because I like it but I’m not sure if I like it for what it is or for the experience, the obsession of the moment in painting it.  Like a parent looking at something their child has done and wondering if they like it because it is truly good or simply because it was done by their child, their flesh and blood.

Sometimes I can finish a piece and it instantly stands apart and on its own, complete and independent.  Ready to move on like a young person proclaiming their emancipation from their parents.   Other times, there are pieces that cling closer to me, perhaps too attached to yet  stand on their own, at least in my eyes.  Because I am unsure, I become more protective of these pieces because they do feel more personal, more of me.

It’s a hard thing to describe, this uncertainty in a piece, especially when it feels objectively right.  Can a parent ever fully take out their own subjective view of their offspring and see them objectively as they really are?

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Trust/ A Replay

September 28, 2017 by redtreetimes

I am out of the studio today, leading the workshop I’ve mentioned in recent posts. I wanted to replay a post from several years back that carries thoughts that I want to bear in mind today, as advice to both myself and those in the workshop. As an artist, it’s about listening to advice and learning to trust your own instincts. As a teacher, it’s about giving guidance in a way that allows the student to apply it in a way that still allows them to recognize their own individual voice. 

I am going to try to keep this in mind…

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GC Myers Early Work ca1994I came across this little piece recently.  It’s a small watercolor on paper that was done in 1994, while I was still developing my own voice and before I began showing my work publicly.  It’s not a great piece of work and will always just live its life in my little treasure chest, a box of early work, experiments and other pieces, many of which just aren’t up to snuff.  But this little painting always has meaning for me, providing a lesson in trusting your own instincts as well as weighing the words of guidance given to you.

You see, I had another artist around this time critique my work.  He was a professional artist with years of experience and I trusted his judgement, wanting any feedback that would help me narrow my quest for an individual voice.  On this particular piece he told me that it was sorely lacking, that the figure needed to be more accurate in its depiction, that people would not respond to this kind of rendering.  I  wasn’t positive in his advice but I hesitatingly took it to heart and avoided figures for many years and even to this day hear his words when I consider a figure in my work.

I consider it a huge mistake on my part and wonder what my path might have been had I discounted his advice at that time.  I mistook him for a guide on the creative path to my own voice but what he offered was a route that took me to where he himself was headed.  His guidance was purely subjective, linked to his own vision of how the world looked and should be depicted.

His road was not mine.

Over the years, I have become resistant to listening to others when they begin to tell me what my work should be or where it should be headed.   I also am hesitant in giving advice for the same reason– our destinations may not be the same.

It may not be much but this little piece is a symbol of the trust I now have in my voice and intuition.  It is a constant reminder that it is up to me as to how I use the advice given by those posing as guides on the path.  In this way, this painting is priceless to me.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Isle of Dogs

September 27, 2017 by redtreetimes

I was going to write about the amount of idiocy we have to bear every day. There are so many examples from which to choose. I could write about the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis taking place among our citizens on hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico but it took a silent and respectful protest in the form of kneeling NFL players that triggered a strong response in the form of all sorts of kneejerk, moronic responses from the American public at large.

Or I could write about the fact that the majority of these same fools who are so insulted by a silent protest against racial injustice don’t even know that Puerto Rico is a U. S. Territory and that its people are U.S. citizens who are in a dire situation.

There have been stupid times throughout history, that is a certainty. But to be so enmeshed in a time filled with day after day of idiocy, disinterest, distraction, disinformation, misinformation and pure unadulterated self interest is a little hard to take.

So, when I saw the new trailer for the upcoming Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs, I let out a great sigh of relief.  I loved his other stop-motion film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name. This film seems to have many of the same characteristics as that film– quirky humor, whimsy, pathos, clever dialogue, great stop-motion animation and a lot of joy. It might not seem like joy but it’s there.

So, I have something that will hold my hopes until March of next year when the film comes out. Until then I can bear a little more idiocy. I hope you can as well. Maybe while you’re waiting, you can take a minute and check out how you can donate or somehow assist the efforts to help our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico.

Do something positive for someone else.

Here’s that trailer:

Posted in At the Movies, Current Events, Favorite Things | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Alfred Kubin

September 26, 2017 by redtreetimes

I often stumble across the work of Alfred Kubin, an Austrian printmaker/illustrator/writer who lived from 1877 until 1959.  It’s hard to look away from his imagery as much as it sometimes may make you wish to do so. His work is often associated with the Symbolist  and Expressionist movements but it has an oddness that is distinctly its own.

Macabre and creepy may also describe it.

But it has an appeal that makes the imagery seem as though it is from a dream, familiar yet odd and distant, making you want to know the what and why of what you are seeing. As though it has some personal relevance and meaning for you.

There is not a large amount of info in his bio and his work is yet to claim universal acclaim. He lived his life in Austria, lived through both World Wars and during the second, even though his work was labeled degenerate art by the Nazi regime, was allowed to continue making art in the small 12th century castle that was his home for the last 50+ years of his life.

He also wrote a few things including a book, The Other Side, which seems to be the literary equivalent of his visual work. It is considered dark and prophetic, as it was written in 1909, of the coming World War and turmoil that would embroil Europe. It was said to be greatly admired by writer Franz Kafka, whose own work the book is often compared. I can see that comparison just in the visual images.

But like many from the past, Alfred Kubin is an artist you may not know. Nor may you like seeing his work. But it is compelling in many ways and I think you will want to at least take a look. Here’s a video of his work along with some of his images. Judge for yourself.
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Posted in Favorite Things, Video | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Sweet Little Angel

September 24, 2017 by redtreetimes

Don’t have much of a chance this morning to write a proper post. Busy in a good way. But I came across this image above from the late painter Romare Bearden who lived from 1911 until 1988. I was going to say African-American painter as it does in most of his biographies but that kind of bugged me in the same way that bios often point out that an artist is a woman. Seems like they are creating a distinction and putting them into a sub-category for no reason at all, especially when the person in question is creating great work.

So I am just calling Mr. Bearden a painter.

And a fine one at that, one whose work always jumps into my eyes. Just plain good stuff.

Anyway this image has been sticking in my mind for about a week now and I thought it would be a great companion to some music for this Sunday Music by the one and only B.B. King. Especially since the central figure in the painting looks a little like B.B. King. I somehow have only played one song by him in all these years on this blog and it is definitely time to correct that oversight.

I came across his Live at the Regal album as a teenager and it just destroyed me. It was a live performance from the Regal Theater in Chicago from 1964 and it is one of the great live recorded performances ever put down on vinyl, regardless of genre. It just reels and rocks and is filled with classic after classic tunes from B.B., Lucille–the only guitar whose name you probably know– and a band that kicks it big time. As with Romare Bearden’s painting, it’s just plain good stuff.

Take a listen to the great Sweet Little Angel and have yourself a good–no, a great– Sunday.

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Windows

September 23, 2017 by redtreetimes

 “A house without books is like a room without windows.” 
― Horace Mann

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For many years now the houses in my paintings have had no doors or windows. People often comment on this and ask why that is. But there was a period of time in the early 2000’s when there were a group of pieces that had houses sporting windows and a few doors.

The houses in these paintings had a different feel than my typical houses. They seem warmer and more human, less anonymous and less inward turned. These houses with windows most likely fit the quote above from the 19th century American educator Horace Mann, appearing to be open to the world, outward looking and conscious of and at peace with their place in the world. Most likely, there are shelves filled with books and inquisitive, reasoning people in those houses.

The presence of these windowed houses often changes the focus of the painting. Take for instance the piece at the top, Riverspirit. The Red Tree perched on a mound above the river would normally be the center of this painting’s attention.  But in this iteration, the windowed cottage takes centerstage. The emotion of the piece is directed from the point of view of the house rather than the Red Tree, strong as it might be.

It was interesting putting together this small group. The similarities in warmth and contentedness is striking. I found myself personally drawn to these pieces and wonder why more windows don’t find their way into my current work.

Maybe they will soon but for now I will enjoy these pieces for bit longer.

Heartland

Where Serenity Dwells

Where Chaos Ends

Streaming Nostalgic

The Strangest Dream

Story’s End

 

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Quote | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Colours

September 22, 2017 by redtreetimes

There are a lot of things swirling around in my mind this morning, most of them well outside my little inner world of color and form. But distant as they are they all have reverberations that shake my safe haven. For instance, there is the pissing match taking place between two spoiled, erratic, impetuous egotists that imperils the safety and stability of the world. I’m talking, of course, about Kim Jong Un of North Korea and that other guy from America.

Or take the impending senate vote on healthcare, the Graham-Cassidy bill. It is a total trainwreck of a bill, one that will strip coverage from those who can least afford to lose it and one that is opposed by literally hundreds of professional groups representing doctors, nurses, patient advocates, insurers and those seeking to fight deadly diseases such as the American Cancer Society. The scoring on it thus far has been atrocious and there is scant evidence of it having any positive effect yet it still somehow has a chance of passing mainly to people (and I use that term lightly here) like Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa who said in a call with the Des Moines Register:

“You know, I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered. But Republicans campaign on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign.That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.”

So, he is saying that, despite the fact that he knows how egregiously this bill affects millions of citizens now and in the future or how it is being recklessly rushed through the process, it is more important to just pass something so that he can tell a small group of core supporters that they did something. Even something so damaging and senseless that many of those same supporters will no doubt be hurt deeply by this action.

I don’t think that will go into the textbooks as a prime example of statesmanship.

I didn’t want to write about this crap this morning. It’s too maddening but it can’t be ignored. We have done that for far too long, letting those who have been paying attention take over the writing of the script that we are all forced to play out.

So, while I am angrily paying attention I found myself focusing on the painting above from the late Will Barnet, who died in 2012 at the age of 101. It’s an earlier work of his titled Old Man’s Afternoon from 1947. I just loved the rhythm and color of it. Plus, it immediately took my mind off those things above.

Maybe it will work for you. Plus, to accompany it, here’s the song Colours from Donovan from way back in 1965. It can’t be over 50 years old, can it. Geez…

Have a great day.

 

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Bluemner Recalled

September 21, 2017 by redtreetimes

“When you feel colors, you will understand the why of their forms.”–Oscar Bluemner

I’ve written several times about Oscar Bluemner, an early and relatively obscure Modernist painter. Since stumbling across him a decade or so ago, I have an affinity to his work and much of his outlook on it. He worked mainly with color and shape but didn’t work in pure abstraction, believing that the subject must be based on the real world in order to fully communicate with the viewer. And the subject itself not nearly so important as the color and forms employed and the emotions they depicted. Those are things that ring with me.

I’m replaying below my first post about Bluemner from back in 2011 with the addition of a few other paintings and a nice video of his work. Enjoy.

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I look at the work of a lot of artists and usually see something I can relate to in much of it.  It might be the way a color sings or the way the painting is put together or in the expressiveness of a line.  Or just in simple emotion.  But very seldom do I stumble upon the work of an artist who I immediately feel as though I am sharing the same perspective.

Such is the case with Oscar Bluemner.

I came across his work a few years back.  I saw an ad for a piece of his in an art mag and was captivated.  There was something very familiar to me in it which made me want to know more.  But I could find little about Bluemner.  This was strange because he was in the right circles where one would think he would get some attention even if only by association.  The German-born painter, who was born in 1867 and moved to the US in 1893, was part of the Modernist painters group of the early 20th century represented by Alfred Stieglitz , famed photographer/gallerist and husband of Georgia O’Keefe.   His work hung in solo shows at Stieglitz’s famed NYC gallery and in the fabled Armory Show of 1913.  You would think there would be no shortage of material on him or that his name would raise the image of some piece of his work.

But Oscar Bluemner had a knack for failing.  He was trained as an architect and designed the Bronx Borough Courthouse.  However, he was not paid for his services and the seven year court battle that ensued drove him away from  architecture and into the world of art,  where his paintings never garnered the attention or lasting reputation of his contemporaries.  He sold little and lived in abject poverty, which is said to have attributed to his wife’s early death and ultimately to his suicide in 1938.

But there is something in his work that I immediately identify with when I see it.  It’s as though I am seeing his subjects in exactly the same way as he did and would be making the same decision he made when he was paainting them.  His trees feel like my trees is the way they expressively curve and his colors are bold and bright.  His building are often windowless with a feeling of anonymity.  His suns and moons are solid presences in the sky, the focal points of many of his pieces.   In this piece to the right, Death,  he uses the alternating abnds of color to denote rows in the field as I often do and has his twisted tree rising from a small knoll in the forefront of the picture.

I find myself saying to myself that I could very easily have painted these same pictures.  It’s odd because it’s not a feeling that I’ve experienced before even with the artists whose work I think has most influenced me and with which I feel a real connection.  And it feels even odder because I didn’t become aware of Bluemner’s work until long after I had established my own vocabulary of imagery.

There are finally a few things out there online about Oscar Bluemener.  You can see more of his images now than you could even a few years back.  The Whitney in NYC had a retrospective of his work in 2005 (here’s a review) and that seemed to raise awareness of his work.  So maybe a few more people, a new generation, will finally see what I see in Bluemer’s work.
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Posted in Favorite Things, Influences | Tagged , | 8 Comments »

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