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Posts Tagged ‘Name This Painting’

And the Winner Is…

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged on October 5, 2012| 3 Comments »

I have went over all of the entries for the Name This Painting! contest that ended on Wednesday.  There were so many that could have easily fit the painting but one, Shedding Daylight, stuck with me from the moment I first saw it.  As I went over the list yesterday, I would compare each title to Shedding Daylight and, though some were very close, none eclipsed it in my estimation.

The winning title was submitted by Linda Leinen , a longtime visitor of the blog, from down  in Texas.  She will be receiving her prize sometime this coming week.  Thanks for the great title , Linda!

And thanks to everyone who took part in the contest.  The titles were  wonderful and well thought out.  As I said, I wish I could send you all prizes.  We’ll do this again next year.

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Contest Ends!

Posted in Favorite Things, Video, tagged , on October 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Well, this year’s Name This Painting! contest has come to an end, as of  several hours ago.  There are so  many worthy titles here.  I’m going to go over the list today and choose the one that I feel fits best.  I will announce the winner tomorrow although it seems hard to say that some of these titles are not winners in some way.  I want to thank everyone who submitted titles.  Your insights and thoughts are really inspirational, believe me.  If I could, I would be sending you all prizes.

So, as I go back to contemplating which title stands out for me, here’s a version of a favorite song of mine, Perfect Day from Lou Reed.  I’ve played his original version before here but this is a bit different.  It’s actually a BBC promo that has multitudes of artists singing lines from the song.  But the power of the song comes through.  Enjoy and come back tiomorrow to see which title wins.

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Last Day to Name This Painting!

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged on October 3, 2012| 4 Comments »

Today is the final day for this year’s Name This Painting! contest so if you haven’t sent in your titles yet, there’s little time to waste.   The winning title gets a  fabulous (well, I think it’s fabulous) prize package but everyone is a winner as every title submitted will be affixed to the back of this painting , forever becoming part of the piece.  The contest ends at midnight tonight so if you have a title, submit it via a comment on this blog or email me at info@gcmyers.com .

So far, the titles have been really good.  There are many contenders at this point and there are several that will end up on later paintings, I am sure.  So, put on your thinking cap and tell me what you think this painting is saying.  Good luck!

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Full Regalia

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on October 1, 2012| 4 Comments »

This new painting, which is part of my upcoming show, Inward Bound, at the Kada Gallery is a 16″ by 20″ canvas that I call Full Regalia.  It’s one of those pieces that I see as portraits with the Red Tree acting as the head and the mound below as the body.  The fields in this piece have a lively, decorated feel as though this personage might be sitting there proudly wearing the colors and emblems, the full regalia,  that denote its accomplishments.  Like a highly decorated soldier or a scholar in their gowns and sashes.  Or a tribal king wearing a multicolored patterned dashiki or other ceremonial robe.

There’s a sense of pride and strength in this depiction as well as an optimism I can’t quite put my finger on.  Maybe it’s the blue of the skies and the white of the clouds. Or maybe the way this figure is imposed on the background.  As I said, I can’t quite determine why I feel this optimism but I do like this mix of cheerfulness and pride here,  a feeling of satisfaction at having reached some plateau through hard work and determination.

As I said, this piece is headed to the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA for the show which opens October 20.  Hope to see you there!

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Name This Painting! Contest Ends Wednesday

Don’t forget to get your titles in for the Name This Painting! Contest which ends at Midnight on Wednesday, October 3.  You can get details from the post of September 25.  Good luck!

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And the Winner Is…

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged on May 17, 2010| 3 Comments »

And The Title Is...

 

Well, the Name This Painting! Contest for this year is over.

Many thanks to everyone who has participated and sent in thoughtful and imaginative monikers for consideration.  There were over 80 titles submitted and they ranged from the humorous (From Chair to Eternity) to the poetic ( Autumn Has Fallen on My Summer Chair) to a combination of both:

Whose chairs these are I think I know
I bought them at IKEA. Though
They looked the same
It’s clear to see that one is lame.

There were many differing interpretations of the painting, all evocative, and I have been torn all morning trying to choose the one that best fits the piece.  I may have to put finalists up for an online vote in the future because I’ve been struggling with this.  So many worthy efforts.

But, in the end, I do have to choose and I have to choose that which falls closest to how I see the painting.  The winner this year is from Michael Harris from down around Philadelphia for his title:

  Persist (All We Know).

This title struck a chord immediately with me and came close to to summing up a theme that I’ve had running through my head lately, about how we endure this world by simply putting our heads down and trudging ahead on our chosen path.  This will to survive and struggle forward, to persist, is part of us.  It’s all we truly know.  

So you can see why I was taken by this title.  Thank you, Michael, for a great title.  And many, many thanks to everyone who made the effort in sending in their titles.  Your titles will continue to be part of this painting, as well, adjoined on the back for all time.  They all contribute something to it.

Thanks again, everyone!

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Interpret This Painting!? Last Day!

Posted in Biographical, tagged on May 16, 2010| 5 Comments »

Name This Painting!

 

Today is the last day for entries in this year’s Name This Painting! Contest.  The competition ends at midnight tonight and I’ll be announcing the winner within the next day or two.  It may take me a while to choose between some of these titles.

There have been some pretty evocative titles that give me real pause.  Some even disturb me a bit.  It’s just interesting to see how others perceive a painting, to see what they are reading in the work.  I am sometimes startled at how different some of these perceptions are from my own.  Startled but not surprised.  It’s obvious that  we all interpret things we see or hear in different ways.   If not, we would all see things the same way and draw the same conclusions, leaving us with a consensus in everything we did.  This is certainly not the case in anything we attempt as a people.

Art is no different.  I think I may have told of an encounter at an opening where a viewer stood before a painting of mine of two intertwined trees.  To me,  it was about the dependency of the two trees on one another, about how they became one entity, gathering strength from each other.   This person saw it in a completely different light.  In their eyes, it was about domination and subjugation, about violence.  This person was quite disturbed by the painting and I was left standing there, looking at the piece, wondering if it had somehow exposed some hidden corner of my personal psychology that I didn’t realize I was uncovering.   I felt like I was being accused by this person of being a dominator.  A bully.  A rapist.

I realized quickly, after taking a quick inventory of myself, that this interpretation was more about this person’s psychology, about their own personal agenda,  than mine.  I felt better but the episode lingered with me.  This person’s reading of and reaction to a painting that,  to most, would be anything but controversial seemd so out of step with its intent.  It made me better understand how difficult it is to put anything out in the world without creating some adverse reaction to some extent.  As an artist, you hope to create something that translates in a universal manner but it’s a rare event given the way we all see things through lenses tinted with our own personal biases.  But I just keep trying.

So give this painting a look and give me a look at how your mind works by submitting a title……..

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Just A Little Higher

Posted in Opinion, tagged , on April 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

As I walked in semi-darkness down the driveway this morning, I began to think about what I wanted for my work today.  I do that sometimes.  I don’t know if it’s a matter of starting the new week with a new focus or if there’s a part of me that is still surprised at the fact I paint for a living.  Still needs reassurance that my work has meaning in some small way.

But what I decided I wanted to do with my work at this point is to appeal to a better instinct that I believe is common across all human barriers.  That is to say, create work that has universal themes and creates commonality rather than division.  This world is so so pulled apart by divisions in race, religion and ideology that we seem to lose sight of our commonality.

That’s where art, at it’s best, has a part to play.  It can transcend language and cultural differences, can reveal emotions and feelings that are basal to us all as humans. It is then all inclusive and allows anyone from anywhere to sense something intangible yet recognizable as being part of them. 

Is that too much to ask?  Too lofty a goal?  It may be. And perhaps by even acknowledging it, it becomes unobtainable, lost in efforts that become unnatural and forced.  Perhaps.   But why not aim higher?  Why not aspire to have your work reach it’s highest purpose?

Shouldn’t we hope that for everything we attempt?  For every aspect of our lives?

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Reminder-  Name This Painting!  Contest Continues–

 

Just a reminder that the annual Name This Painting! Contest is still open to entries until May 16th.  It’s a simple contest so if you’d like to win a set of limited edition prints, check out the details by clicking on the painting to the right and start thinking of a fitting title. 

Good luck!

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Update: Name That Painting Contest!

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged on April 22, 2010| 6 Comments »

Yesterday kicked off this year’s Name That Painting Contest and the first day brought many great entries, several via e-mail,  and even a short poem.  Gotta love the creativity out there.  Keep up the good work!

I was remiss in mentioning a couple of things yesterday when I first listed the contest. 

First, how the winning entry is selected: I make the final decision.  I go through the entries and look for a title that has an interesting interpretation of the painting, hopefully adding a dimension that I hadn’t seen myself.  I had considered putting selected titles up for a vote but I’m not quite ready to give up that much control over a part of my work. 

I also failed to mention that all entries will be listed on the back of the painting and will therefore be a part of this piece for so long as it lasts on this earth. 

So, hopefully, that clears up the last of the details.  So, give it a shot and send in your titles. The contest ends Midnight EST on May 16, 2010.

For the rest of the details, check out yesterday’s post.

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NEW! Name That Painting Contest!

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on April 21, 2010| 38 Comments »

It’s time for the annual (yes, I’m calling it an annual event) Name That Painting Contest!

The rules are simple.  Take a gander at the painting shown here, come up with a title that you feel fits it, and either submit your title through the comment section or e-mail it to info@gcmyers.com  no later than Midnight EST  on Sunday, May 16, 2010.  Feel free to enter as many titles as you wish.

The prize for submitting the winning title is…

A set of 2 extremely limited edition prints.  These are very high quality giclee artist proofs from a project that I tentatively started a few years back.  Very eye-catching, they are signed and numbered.  Plus, I will be including a signed copy of my book, In Quiet Places.

The painting is a fairly large 30″ by 40″ canvas and is a central piece for my upcoming solo show at the Principle Gallery in June.  I’m going to let the viewers choose their title without any prompting from me so I’ll leave it at that. 

 So break out your thinking beanies and give it a shot.  What do you have to lose?

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