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Posts Tagged ‘gallery talk’

Drift Away

Posted in Biographical, Music, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on August 2, 2017| 4 Comments »

I am busy getting ready for this Saturday’s Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery.  You wouldn’t think it would take much preparation, would you? I show up and talk for a while. End of prep. And from a few of the many talks I’ve given over the years, that would appear to be the extent of my preparation.

But I really do try to have an idea of some ideas I want to get across in these talks. Sometimes, it focuses on an anecdote or two or a thought that has been floating around with me for some time. So, I try to collect these ideas and commit them to memory so that I can go to them when the time arises.

But the main preparation comes in continually telling myself to allow myself to be absolutely transparent and honest when I am up there in front of the group. That can mean admitting to my shortcomings and flaws to people that I’ve sometimes never seen before. I know that sounds awful when taken at face value, something no one really wants to face. Who wants to confess anything to strangers?

But, as an artist, there is great value in those moments. There is catharsis in the act of  confession, revelation in the exposing of one’s vulnerabilities. It’s like wiping off layers of dust from a mirror — what may have been obscured is now evident. And for me, that is a vital part of my creative process. Without it, I may as well be a chimp with fingerpaints.

So, my prep consists of readying my willingness to reveal vulnerability. Believe me when I say that it takes some doing.

Another part is choosing a painting to give away at the end of the talk. I spend a lot of time, going back and forth on what to give away. As I have said in the past, I want it to be a meaningful piece, something that actually hurts me a little bit to give away. I am really struggling to choose a piece for this talk. I have a couple in mind but keep changing my mind because part of me doesn’t want to give them away. And that little pang of regret makes me think I am close to choosing.

I will let you know in the next day or so.

So, to sum up: Gallery Talk this Saturday, August 5, at the West End Gallery in Corning. There will be refreshments, a drawing for one of my paintings, maybe a few other assorted giveaways and, if my preparations work out as planned, a darn good conversation.  

There is also a small group of new paintings that are coming with me including the little piece shown above. It’s petite in size only. I call it Drift Away. Here’s the song from Dobie Gray from many years back. If you are of a certain age, you have no doubt heard this song a thousand times and have the chorus permanently etched in your brain tissue. But it’s still a good listen.

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Coming Up: Gallery Talks and a Workshop

Posted in Painting, tagged , , , , on July 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Here’s an update for upcoming events on my schedule for the next couple of months:

First, on August 5, I will be giving a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in conjunction with my show, Self Determination, that is currently hanging there. The talk begins at 1 PM and generally runs about an hour, give or take. As is now tradition, one of my paintings will be given away to one of those in attendance, along with several other surprises that are currently in the works. This is normally a brisk hour of questions and answers with some laughs along with some serious moments. If you have questions about the whats, whys and hows of my work, this is a great way to have them answered. Plus, you might cart off a piece for yourself!

Then the following month, on Saturday, September 16th, I take the Gallery Talk on the road down to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA. This is the 15th year for this annual talk and, like the West End talks, features a drawing for one of my paintings along with some other surprises. There is generally some fun and a few revelations. I am always surprised at how much I learn from these talks myself from the input and insight provided by the audience. This talk starts at 1 PM and goes to around to 2 with the drawing at the end of the talk.

Sunny Point on Keuka Lake

And in late September, I will again be leading a painting workshop at Red Barn at the lovely Sunny Point location on beautiful and tranquil Keuka Lake in NY’s beautiful Finger Lakes region for the Yates County Arts Council. The past two years doing this have been an unexpected pleasure for me and I think this year’s edition will be a couple of days of fun, good conversation and, hopefully, some useful instruction. The dates should be finalized this week and details will be forthcoming. Most likely, this two day workshop will take place in the last week of September. Enrollment is limited to 8 or 9 attendees so, if you are interested, don’t hesitate in getting in touch with Kris at YCAC  to get your name on the list.

Hope you make it to one of the talks or to the workshop. I think it could be a lot of fun.

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Thanks…

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , on September 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

gc-myers-gallery-talk-2016-smMany, many thanks to everyone who came out to the Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery on Saturday.  While I wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked, everything (including the giveaways at the talk’s end!) went off really well and it was great to speak with so many folks that I only get to see once in a great while.

I don’t know if I can really ever fully explain how important these talks have been for me.  It’s not only for the wonderful feedback I receive about the work which helps me see the paintings in the way others do but in the way it allows me to express my gratitude for the life that their appreciation of my work has given me.  These talks allow me to see how fortunate I was to have fallen into this life.

So,  a deep thank you to everyone there, including my good friends at the Principle Gallery– Michele, Clint, Pam, Haley and Pierre— who allow me to feel at home in their space with their warm friendship.  You have all given me more than you will ever know, more than I can ever repay in gifts or words.

Since I was out of the studio yesterday and missed my Sunday morning music, I thought I’d fill that void today with a selection that gallery director Clint reminded me of this past week in a posting on Facebook where he played this song and invited his friend to identify it.  It’s a song from guitarist Bill Frisell , called Ghost Town/ Poem For Eva. I couldn’t identify the song at first without a clue from Clint even though I knew that I knew the song.  I have used music from this particular Bill Frisell album in an earlier video of my Outlaw series.

So, give a listen and have a good week…

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Studio Favorites

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , on September 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Geometry 1999

GC Myers- Geometry, 1999

I have mentioned that I will be bringing a group of older paintings from my studio with me when I head to the Principle Gallery for my Gallery Talk there tomorrow, Saturday.  These pieces will be there for only a short time and most have become favorites of mine as they have spent more time with me here in the studio.

One is a 1999 painting, shown here on the right, called Geometry.  This vintage piece that is very typical of my pre-2000 work: the Red Tree had yet to make an appearance and the composition is basically comprised of two blocks of color separated by a thin line of white.  There’s a lot that I like about this simple painting.  It has a mature quality, one of completeness, that was coming into my work at that time.  It reinforces my confidence to see that it holds up well after seventeen years.

GC Myers- In the Window: The Searcher

GC Myers- In the Window: The Searcher

Another included painting is called In the Window: The Searcher from 2005.  It is one of my favorites from the Window series which was a fairly short lived series.  The concept of my landscapes being placed in windows in the way a jewel is placed in a setting was a fun concept and exciting to work in.  It got a lot of interest from collectors at the time but it felt limited to me as a long term series, one that I would work in throughout the years.  But it remains a series that still captures my fancy and I think that this piece really exemplifies what I was trying for in it.

There are several other paintings from different years in this group, many shown below, that all have similar backgrounds.  These are all pieces that have somehow found their way back to me without finding a true home.  It’s interesting to see them in the context of the current work, to see both the consistency in the work as well as where they diverge.

 

Defiant Heart! Win this Painting!

Defiant Heart! Win this Painting!

You’ll be able to see the whole group  together tomorrow on the gallery walls along with a selection of new works.  So, I hope you’ll stop in this Saturday at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  My Gallery Talk there will be starting at 1 PM and will feature a free drawing for the painting shown here, Defiant Heart, along with a few other goodies.  These talks are generally a lively conversation with a lot of Q & A.  It has usually been a good time in the past and I see no reason this shouldn’t be a lot of fun as well.  Hope you can make it!

GC Myers- Room to Breathe

GC Myers- Room to Breathe

GC Myers- Through Time

GC Myers- Through Time

GC Myers- Call to Waking

GC Myers- Call to Waking

GC Myers- In the Clearing

 

 

 

 

 

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Watchman

Posted in Influences, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- WatchmanFor thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

—Isaiah 21:6

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The biblical verse above is of course the one which was the basis for the title for Harper Lee‘s sequel, to her classic To Kill A Mockingbird.  In the books, Scout regarded her father, Atticus Finch, as such a watchman, a moral and righteous sentinel looking out for injustice and evil.

And that is kind of how I see the central figure of this new painting, the lone Red Tree set high on rocky outcropping in what seems to be an endless sea.  Maybe it is the red of the sky that sets such a tone.  I don’t know.

I’ve been fascinated by small islands in my work lately.  The isolation of them gives these pieces a brooding quality and reminds me a bit of working as an artist.  I’ve often felt that the job of an artist is to act as a sort of watchman.

It is very much a job of isolation, one that is often formed in the solitariness of youth when one always felt like an outsider, observing the world quietly and mostly unseen from the edges of life.  The work itself is done and grows in isolation but is very much influenced by one’s observations of the world around them.  And much of the work, if it reaches the level of art, is based on a sensitivity to what that artist has observed and felt.

And maybe that is the real purpose of artists, to act as a watcher, looking to warn us of our own straying from reason and to keep our humanity intact.  Maybe that is what I see in this painting.

gc-myers-defiant-heart-smThis painting is 8″ by 24″ on canvas and is titled, of course, Watchman.  It is coming with me to the Principle Gallery this Saturday, September 17, when I give my Gallery Talk there beginning at 1 PM.  There will be a group of new paintings including this piece as well as a group of selected pieces from my studio that will only be available for that day.  And there is, of course, the drawing at the end of the talk for the painting, Defiant Heart.

Should be a good time and I hope you can make it to the Principle Gallery this Saturday!

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Doubt the Darkness

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , on September 9, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Doubt the DarknessIf you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.

— Rene Descartes

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As it neared completion, this new painting felt like it was about a questioning of some sort.  The Red Tree here seems to be casting doubt over the reality that is before it and even its own reality.  The question might be: Shall I hide in the darkness or stand in the light?

I call this 12″ by 12″ canvas Doubt the Darkness and I think it speaks to this question.  Darkness often obscures our perception of things and raises doubts in us as to what is and is not real.  Darkness is an agent of doubt and fear.  But by casting our own doubt and light upon that darkness we come to understand that it only hides that which was already there and does not bring anything more with it.

Its only power over us is our own doubting of what we know is there.

Okay, maybe that’s too much for me to try to make sense of so early in the morning.  But even if it seems like gibberish when you read this, I hope you’ll at least take a look at the painting and try to to find something for yourself in it that makes sense.  Maybe you’ll even see what I was babbling about.

This is a new painting that will be accompanying me to next Saturday’s Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  It runs on September 17th from one until about 2 PM.  There will be some new work along with a select group of older pieces from the studio at this talk and, as has been tradition over the past several years, there will be a drawing at the end of the talk where one of the folks in attendance will win an original painting.  I will be sharing more details in the next few days.

It’s usually a lot of fun and I hope you’ll try to make it to this year’s talk.

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Coming Up After August

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- At the End of the Day smI have written here several times about my dislike for the month of August, most recently in a post from last year called Cruel August.  This year’s events have not changed my mind one bit.  But today mercifully ends August and there is the somewhat more soothing feel of September and October on the way.

Here’s what is on my calendar for the next month or so:

There are only a couple of days left before my show, Contact, comes off the walls at the West End Gallery in Corning.  The show ends this Friday, September 2, so if you want to take a look at this year’s show, please get into the West End in the next day or so.

On September 17, I will be giving my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This is my 14th talk at the Principle and it is always a pretty good time.   It’s a simple matter of combining some good folks, good conversation, a few confessions and the chance to win one of my paintings at the end of it all.  And a little more.  There are more details that will be revealed in the next week or so.  As I said, it’s Saturday, September 17, beginning at 1 PM.

Then then following week, I head up to beautiful Keuka Lake where I will again lead a two-day workshop for the Arts Center of Yates County.  Last year’s workshop was my first foray into teaching and, despite the initial apprehension that I wrote about here on the blog, was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.  I was amazed at the amount of info the attendees absorbed and the great progress they made in two days.  It was very satisfying and I am excited to be at it again this year.  The workshop runs on Thursday and Friday, September 22 and 23 from 9-4 each day.  For more info click here.  You can also call them at  315-536-8226.

After that, it’s on to this year’s last solo show, Part of the Plan, which opens October 29th at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA.  It’s been two years since my last show at the Kada, which has represented my work for over 20 years now, and I am eager to show some new work in this show.  There will be more details upcoming on this show but mark your calendar.

 

 

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Blue Fires

Posted in Music, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2016| 5 Comments »

GC Myers- Blue Flame smFirst, too many thanks to send out to everyone who made yesterday’s talk at the West End Gallery such a fun event.  That may well be one of the most enjoyable talks I’ve participated out of the many that I’ve done.  What a wonderful and engaged group of folks!  They were so welcoming and warm that it made me feel very comfortable and free to tell my little stories.  I had a good time and I hope they did as well.

Thank you a hundred times over to those of you who took time on a warm August day to come sit for a bit with me.  I was so honored by your presence and will feed off the memory of yesterday for a long time to come.

I have to add that after the talk ended I found myself completely exhausted–wiped out completely.  More so than I remember from the aftermath of past talks.  I think it’s a combination the built-up anxiety of having to talk in front of a group of people, the actual mental effort expended and the release from having it all go off in a very good way that left me sapped.  But it was a satisfied exhaustion.

For today’s Sunday Morning music I thought I’d couple one of the paintings from the West End Gallery show with a song.  My painting shown here is titled Blue Flame, a thin 2″ by 14″ on paper.  The song I’ve chosen is titled Blue Fires from case/lang/veirs which is a one time grouping for this year of singers Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs.  I’ve been a fan of k.d.lang for over 30 years now and am a huge fan of Neko Case so this was no-brainer for me.  Just a lovely song that I think meshes well with the image here.

So, enjoy and have yourself a pleasant Sunday.

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Talk Reminder

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on August 5, 2016| 3 Comments »

Bearable Vastness -- GC Myers

Bearable Vastness — GC Myers

Just a reminder that if you’re in the Corning area tomorrow, Saturday, that there is a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery beginning at 1 PM.  I will be talking a bit and taking questions about almost anything you want to ask.  Hopefully, most will focus on my current show, Contact, that hangs in the gallery until September 2.  But, as in most of these talks we cover a wide range of subjects.

GC Myers- Private Glow 2016

WIN THIS PAINTING!

If you have never been to one of my talks, you should know that one of the more popular parts comes at the end (I finally shut up!) when I have a drawing for one of my paintings.  I always look forward to these moments and get a real charge from this.  Private Glow shown here is the piece I have selected for this talk.

I hope you’ll be there for the talk– maybe you’ll take home this painting!

Starwatcher

Starwatcher

 

 

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Sprites at the West End

Posted in Current Events, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , , , on August 4, 2016| 4 Comments »

SPEAROW at the West End

SPEAROW at the West End

I am totally out of the loop about the current Pokemon Go craze as well as Pokemon in its original form.  I don’t know what the characters are or what they are called.  Nothing.  I only know about it from the stories I have heard of people so engrossed in playing the game on their phones that they walk into traffic and so on.

But it turns out that the sprites, as I learned they are called, have been spending time in the West End Gallery lately.  The gallery is a PokeStop in Corning and there has been an increase of people coming in with smartphones in hand to the point that owner Jesse Gardner began to worry about their safety on the stairway leading to the upper gallery.  The idea of someone stumbling down the steps in pursuit of an invisible sprite isn’t in her business plan.

Jesse took a few pictures of some that she found hanging around the work.  So if you come to the Gallery Talk this Saturday you might be able to catch sight of NIDORAN, SPEAROW or CATERPIE or whoever else might be there that day.  Hopefully, they won’t cause any problems during the talk.

And don’t worry, they are not eligible to win the painting that will be given away at the end of the talk.  So whether you see the sprites or not, I hope you can make it to the West End Gallery for the Gallery Talk that runs from 1-2 PM.  There will be refreshments, a prize or two, some art and maybe a few laughs.

CATERPIEwithGCMyers

CATERPIE using the Bridge

EEVEEwithGCMyers3

EEVEE Taking in the show.

NIDORANwithGCMyers

NIDORAN at the West End

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