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Posts Tagged ‘Alexandria’

Principle Gallery Talk Sunday

Posted in Favorite Things, Motivation, tagged , , , , , on September 16, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Living Flame smI give my annual Gallery Talk this Sunday, September 20, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  These talks generally are pretty loosely formed and easy flowing conversations between the audience and myself, with a lot of audience participation.  That’s a big part of keeping these talks fresh.  Usually something new or different reveals itself in these conversations.

Over the past several years, an added part of these talks has been the drawing for one of my paintings.  It’s not something I take lightly.  As I’ve said in the past, I want to give away paintings where I feel a pang of loss in giving them away, want them to have some sort of meaning for me so that this is not just an empty gesture.

And it is a real gesture of gratitude.  I am nothing but thankful for all that the people who enjoy my work have provided me both through their buying of my work and in the inspiration which they provide away from the galleries.  Their willingness to examine and respond to my work makes it so much easier to share those things that often stem from places deep inside.  As a result, I try to carefully choose the works that I give away, not wanting to just go the far corner of the closet where I hide those early experiments that make me grimace to look at them now.

I want the selection to matter.  This year’s selection is definitely in this vein.  Shown above, it is titled Living Flame and is a 10″ by 18″ painting on paper.  It is under glass inside an 18″ by 26″ frame so it has some size.  It is painted very much in the style on which my body of work was formed with transparent washes and organic shapes, all surrounding the central figure of the Red Tree.  It is airy and quiet but contemplative, a piece that in many ways could sum up much of my work.

So, I am pleased with this year’s selection and hope you can make it into Old Town for this year’s Gallery Talk which starts at 1 PM.  There are always a few other surprises so I hope you’re there.

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Sunday on a Mastodon

Posted in Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , , on September 13, 2015| 1 Comment »

Heidevolk Sunday on a Mastodon Vulgaris MagistralisIt’s a pretty busy Sunday morning as I am in the midst of prepping for a two day workshop I’m giving this week in Penn Yan followed by my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria next Sunday.  More details on that in the next few days.

So while I am a little tight on time this week I wanted to keep up with my habit of playing some Sunday music.  This week is a bit of an oddity and is nowhere near where I thought the song might end up.  I stumbled across this video from a a Dutch group called Heidevolk which  translates as  “heather folk.”  They consider themselves to be a pagan folk metal band and base their music on Germanic mythology and ancient pagan themes.

Yikes!

Not what I envisioned for this morning but this song and video made me laugh and I found myself myself kind of half singing along by the end.  It’s called Vulgaris Magistralis and is about some sort of mythic figure  who hides from sight like a Yeti  but comes out to ride around on his mammoth.

And on Sunday he rides a mastodon.  So if you’re out there today and get cut off in traffic by a guy on a hairy elephant, be careful– it might be Vulgaris Magistralis.  And his road rage is epic.

Have a great day!

 

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Back in the Saddle Again –Actually, the Studio

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , , , on June 7, 2015| 5 Comments »

GC Myers- Twixt Home and the Horizon smSunday morning and I’m back in the studio after a couple days down in the Alexandria/DC area.  And even though it was a very enjoyable time and a great opening for the Native Voice show, it is, as always, truly wonderful to be back in the studio this morning.  Back to my center.

I thought the work for this show looked very good on the walls of the Principle Gallery.  There’s more warmth in the wall color than the photos that have been posted show and the work seemed to really stand out against it.  This show consisted mainly of works on canvas because I wanted those solid blocks of color to dominate and push out into the space rather than have matting around the image soften the impact and put distance between the viewer and the painting.  I think this was the right decision based on the very enthusiastic response to the work.

2015 PG Show GC Myers-The Next Generation

The Next Generation

Of course, the best part of the evening is seeing friends, old and new, and catching up a bit.  The theme this year seemed to be the next generation, with a number of new additions to families making their first visits to an opening.  I love hearing how small children respond to the colors and forms in the paintings. Plus I like the idea that these paintings will in some small way be a part of the environment that influences their lives in the years to come.  Hopefully, they will prove to be positive influences.

Thank you to everyone who came out on Friday evening.  Some traveled some distance and for that I cannot be more appreciative.  It is that sort of enthusiasm that inspires me and makes my job so much easier.

And of course, very warm thanks to Michele, Clint, Jessica and Pamela at the Principle Gallery for  both your tremendous professionalism and your friendship.  Both equally mean the world to Cheri and me.

So, as I settle back into my treasured routine on a Sunday morning, it is once again that time when I play a little music here on the blog.  Today I am in the mood for something mellow and nothing is better at that than the voice of the great and ever elegant Nat King Cole.  Here is his beautiful version of Hoagy Carmichael‘s classic Stardust.

Thanks once more and have a good Sunday…

 

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After “Traveler”

Posted in Biographical, Music, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers-Peerless sm

“Peerless” – Included in the “Traveler ” Show

I am back in the studio this morning  after returning from Friday night’s opening of Traveler at the Principle Gallery.  There is  a sense of relief in the aftermath, a deep exhalation at having mostly completed my obligations for the show.  But there is often a letdown as well,  a combination of having passed the endpoint  you’ve been working towards for months and  natural self-doubts about things you might have done differently in this show.  Fortunately, this show left me with only the mildest of letdowns.  I am already focused on my next projects and as far as doubts, while there may be just a few minor ones, I am sure that I have done all that was in my power for this show and the work in it.

We had a lovely few days in Alexandria, blessed with the best weather we’ve seen in all the years that we have been visiting in early June.  In the past, we have often endured 100° temperatures, torrential rains and excruciating humidity on this weekend.  But this year it was as perfect as the weather could possibly offer with temps in the high 70’s, blue cloudless skies and low humidity .   I am available for other  regional  weather reports, as well!  In short, perfect conditions to wander around the area a bit before the show.

We attended the ceremony  at the World War II Memorial honoring the living veterans on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.  It was a beautiful setting there on the Mall, often moving,  and I felt very honored to be able to spend a short time in the near presence of those vets who survived that day of days.  We also were able to see the Andrew Wyeth show at the National Gallery that I wrote of earlier in the week.  It was wonderful to see so much of his work together, to be able to see the constancy and consistency of his personal vision as well as his ability to capture deep emotion within his scenes.

All in all, it was a great stay.  But the highlight was being to see many of the folks that I have met over the years who opted to spend some time at the gallery instead of out in that perfect weather.  I know that if I were in their shoes, it would have taken a lot to get  me there.  But for the many who did turn out and to Michele and her great staff– Clint, Jessica, Pamela and Chris along with guest bartender, Fernando Ascencio– I  extend a simple and grateful Thank You.  I wouldn’t be here right now writing this if not for you all.  And that I will always remember.

Okay, it is Sunday morning and we need to music.  I was thinking something calming while I decompress.  Here’s a classic Vince Guaraldi composition, Cast Your Fate to the Wind.  It has some of those same elements that you might recognize from his iconic work with the Peanuts gang.

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Pipedream

Posted in Music, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , , on May 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Blow up your TV , throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus on your own

–John Prine, Spanish Pipedream

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GC Myers- Pipedream smThis is a small new painting  that is about 6″ by 11″ on paper.  I call it Pipedream after the old John Prine song, Spanish Pipedream.   I say old but it ‘s one of those songs that never feels old to me despite the fact that it came out back in 1971, forty three years ago.  It is old.  One hint of its age is at the beginning of the song when he says he was a soldier on the way to Montreal, referring to fleeing north to avoid the war and the draft.   But it’s still such an infectious chorus with a message that so hits the point that I still find myself humming this song quite often.

I guess this painting’s simplicity and cheery feel made me think of this song.  There is something very idyllic  and charmingly essential  in this little guy.  It does look a bit like a pipedream, which is one of those words that we often use while not thinking about  its origin or meaning.  This word, pipedream, is from Victorian era Britain and refers to an improbable fantasy dreamt of while smoking opium.  Maybe this is an improbable fantasy?   It does have a fantasy feel about it but lets hope it is not so improbable.

This is, of course, one opf the pieces from my show, Traveler, opening next Friday at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  Now here’s the song  from one of my favorites, John Prine.

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The Beholding Eye

Posted in Music, Quote, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , , , on May 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 GC Myers- The Beholding Eye smI am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. My soul knows that I am part of the human race, my soul is an organic part of the great human soul, as my spirit is part of my nation. In my own very self, I am part of my family. There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the water.

– D.H. Lawrence, Apocalypse, 1930

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The painting above, a 20″ by 24″ canvas,  is another new piece that will be hanging in my upcoming solo show, Traveler,  at the Principle Gallery that opens June 6 at the Alexandria gallery.  There’s a great sense of focus and depth into the surface in this piece that fills me with the same sort of idea that Lawrence expounds above, about how we are all part of the whole of existence.   All things connected and interdependent, existing only to serve the whole, in ways we may never fully understand– There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the water.

Or the rustle of the wind on the grass of the field.

For a little Sunday music in this same vein and to honor those who have fallen in service for this Memorial Day,  I thought that the hymn I Surrender All, written in 1896, would be fitting.  Here’s a wonderful version from guitarist Ulrich Busch.

Have a great Sunday and a great Memorial Day.  Remember those who have sacrificed so much.

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The Empowerment

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on May 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- The EmpowermentThis is the week in which I put the finishing touches on the group of work for my show, Traveler, that opens in a little more than two weeks, on June 6th,  at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This is my fifteenth solo  show there so there I have a sense of routine and rhythm in how these shows come together which takes away some of the anxiety although there is always something out there to add a bit of it back into the mix.  This year had a few glitches along the way, including the cold that has hung on for the last couple of weeks.  But the cold has receded enough to let me work and in the past few days the work has really come together well.  So now I am at the point where is simply a matter of completing a few pieces then moving into the final phase of framing for presentation.

One of the pieces that I will be framing is this new one, an 18″ by 18″ canvas that I am calling The Empowerment.  I get the title from the sun and its relationship with the Red Tree, which draws strength from the rhythmic swirl of the sunlight showering down on it.  We all draw strength from something, be it light of the sun or warmth of our loved ones, that allows us to walk our own paths.  For me, that’s the basic theme of this painting which is strengthened itself by what I perceive as an interesting mix of warmth and coolness, feeling both warmly embracing and airily cool in its openness.

It just feels good to me…

Well, no time to dally.  I have things to get done today.  Have a great day.

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