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Posts Tagged ‘Native Voice’

Quote of the Week/ To Dare

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on May 27, 2015| 3 Comments »

GC Myers Time to Reflect smIt is very dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities which one has oneself prevented from becoming realities.  A possibility is a hint from God.  One must follow it.  In every man there is latent the highest possibility, one must follow it.  If God does not wish it then let him prevent it, but one must not hinder oneself.  Trusting to God I have dared, but I was not successful; in that is to be found peace, calm and confidence in God.  I have not dared: that is a woeful thought, a torment in eternity.

–Søren Kierkegaard

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There is nothing I can add, except to point out that the image at the top is another new painting, a smaller 9″ by 12″ canvas called Time to Reflect, that is part of my Native Voice exhibit which opens on June 5 at the Principle Gallery.

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Eureka

Posted in Influences, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , on May 26, 2015| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- EurekaI am in the final days of prep work for my upcoming show, Native Voice, at the Principle Gallery, which opens next Friday, June 5.  This will be my 16th show at the Alexandria gallery so my routine in finishing up in these few last days is pretty set.  Even so, it’s a hectic rush to get everything done.  For instance, even as I am framing I am still finishing up my final photography of the work.

For instance, just this morning I shot the 24″ by 30″ painting on canvas shown at the top.  I had photographed it before but the lighting  coupled with the blue tones made it a less than desirable photo, not really representative of the actual painting. But this one seems to hit the mark, capturing the blues in their actuality.

I call this painting Eureka.  The word is from the Greek, meaning “I have found it ” and was most famously attributed to Archimedes who upon sitting in a hot bath noticed that his body displaced an equal volume of water which meant that the volume of irregular objects could then be accurately measured.  That was not an easy thing to do around 250 BC.

But over the years, the word eureka has come to signify any great moment of discovery.  California uses it as their state motto after its use in the gold strikes of the mid 19th century.

In this painting, the bursting light which forms a corona around the Red Tree signifies a moment of  great recognition of some heretofore hidden truth, a discovery that forever alters one’s perspective of the world and their place in it.  It was not painted with this intent but the fact that the light is bursting from out of the blue of the sky is no small coincidence.  That is how these eureka moments normally reveal themselves– unannounced with little forewarning.

I’ve been fortunate to have one or two of these moments.  Well, one for sure.  And in that instance, I certainly felt like I was suddenly standing ablaze in the darkness that had surrounded me.  This piece really captures that instance for me.

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“Native Voice” Preview

Posted in Motivation, Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on May 19, 2015| 4 Comments »

American Art Collector GCM Article May 2015 sIn the new June issue of American Art Collector, there’s a nice preview of my upcoming solo show, Native Voice, which is opening June 5 at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.

It’s a brief overview of the show and my career as well as the significance of the show’s title to me.  Most pleasing to me is the fact that the three paintings they chose to display in the article show themselves very well , giving what I think is a good indicator of the look and feel of this show.

Another pleasing aspect is a short paragraph, written by a couple from the Bay Area of California who collect my paintings, which describes their views on the work. As an artist, it’s always interesting to get a view of how people honestly react to what you’re doing.  And for myself, it’s great to  get  affirmation that the belief I have in the reality of the internal world I am trying to express in my work has translated successfully and is coming across as a similar reality to others.  That’s very heartening and inspiring to me in the studio.

That being said, it’s time I get back to work.  There’s still much work to be done before the show is complete.

 

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Breakthrough

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on May 18, 2015| 3 Comments »

GC Myers Breakthrough smWho in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.

-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

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I think the lines above spoken by Lewis Carroll’s Alice fit this new painting very well.  In the book, she has has just grown to a very great size and frightened away the White Rabbit which has her suddenly realizing that Wonderland is a very puzzling place.  But even more puzzling is how the changing perspectives of herself she encounters in Wonderland have left her questioning her own identity, her own sense of self.  The solution to navigating her way through Wonderland is in finding out her own identity.

And that is a truth for almost anybody, anywhere.

And that’s what I see is this painting, a 30″ by 30″ canvas that I call Breakthrough.

The foreground with the cryptic forms of its fields sets the tone for piece with darker tones and tempting colors.  The path runs through these labyrinth-like segments toward a sky that has a burst of light from the sun pushing forward, symbolizing the breakthrough alluded to in the title.  And at the furthest inward point is the Red Tree.  Like Alice, it is attempting to shed the many differing perspectives of itself it has run across to get to this moment, a moment in which it feels it has reached a solution to the puzzle of who or what in the world it truly is.

The path forward is much easier to travel once you have solved that great puzzle, as Alice called it.

This painting is part of my annual solo show, this year titled Native Voice, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria VA which opens on June 5, 2015.

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Solitude and Reverence

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on May 15, 2015| 4 Comments »

Myers- Solitude and ReverenceSilence and solitude seem to be the theme this week on the blog.  Well, most weeks, I guess. Today, I am featuring a new painting that will be part of my Native Voice exhibit opening three weeks from today on June 5  at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  It is a 24″ by 36″ canvas and is titled Solitude and Reverence.

It’s a painting that has really hung with me here in the studio, my gaze often going to it through the day as I work on other things.  There’s a sense of fullness and completeness, a quality I can’t fully describe here,  in it that pleases me, that makes me want to study it and absorb it a bit longer.

Perhaps it is because I feel that this painting is even more personal and self-referential, seeing myself as the Red Tree, isolated in the solitude of my work which is symbolized by the field rows between me and the  houses and road in the foreground.  It is a pleasant isolation, a voluntary withdrawal from the rest of the world.

I suppose I should say the world of man because there is no withdrawal from the world.  In fact, there is a more intimate relationship with the natural world which brings about the reverence referred to in the title.  I see it in this painting in the landscape spreading out in the distance and the radiating light and color of the sky which seems symbolic of the greater power and mystery of the natural world.

I sit here now and there is so much more I could write about this piece but it all seems so futile when I can just look at it, knowing everything in a glance that I could struggle for hours to say so poorly with words.

And maybe that is the message here– that we should simply shut up and take in the world in a reverent quietude.

I will do that now…

 

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Envoy

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on May 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers Envoy small 72Many people have asked me over the years to explain the Red Tree that so often appears in my work, to describe its meaning and purpose.  It’s not always an easy question to answer because the Red Tree has served many purposes for me.

On the most basic level, it has served as a focal point in my paintings, drawing the eye to an area around which everything in the scene revolves.  The flaming red crown of the tree is almost like a small sun with the other elements in the painting swirling in their own revolutions around it.

Or I sometimes describe it as a symbol for the individual being, one with which the viewer, myself included, can hopefully find  common ground so that they can see themselves in the circumstances of the scene.  It is an actor in this definition, performing a part for an audience.

Or it is a world symbol.  The Family Tree.  The Tree of Life.

And sometimes it is just a tree, a simple element in nature that we all see every day but perhaps don’t really notice the significance of the part they play in this world.

But in my mind the most important part that the Red Tree plays for me is as an intermediary between my inner world and the outer world.  It is my ambassador, my envoy, who acts as a welcoming figure inviting the viewer into the world portrayed on and beneath the surface.   It acts as greeter and a guide, an often warm presence that reassures the viewer that it is safe to enter.  I think the new painting at the top is a perfect example of this definition with its welcoming stance, almost like it is opening  a door for one to proceed into the rich golden fields beyond.

Fittingly, I call this new 30″ by 40″ painting Envoy. It will be part of my June show, Native Voice, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.

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Reflecting

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2015| 3 Comments »

GC Myers- ReflectingThis is a new painting that has been grabbing my eye here in the studio lately.  It’s a 16″ by 20″ canvas that I am calling Reflecting for now.  It will be included in my solo show, Native Voice, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria which opens June 5.

The title comes from the light and form of the arc of the foreground that seems to be reflecting the light and form of the moon above.  But it is also refers to the posture of the Red Tree as it seems to be gazing  into the sky.  For me, it has a feeling of  great pondering, of both looking outward and inward.

Reflection is, after all,  the act of turning one’s thought on itself to discover its true reality, like looking in the mirror and wondering who the hell that person is who is looking back at us.  The Red Tree here is a reflection of the moon which itself reflects the greater power of the sun which, in a way, might reflect the ultimate power of the universe. And maybe that is what this is ultimately about–  looking for traces of that universal power in our  earthly self.

I will have to reflect on that for a bit…

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From Out of the Blue

Posted in Influences, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , on April 15, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers From Out of the Blue smIn yesterday’s blogpost, I talked a bit about the influence that stained glass had on my work.  Deep color, the luminosity  and lines defining the forms within are all attributes that have found their way into my work.  It was never a conscious decision, one where I said to myself that I was going to try to emulate the look and effect of stained glass.  It was just one of those things that I took in and integrated into my personal aesthetic. Just something I liked to look at.  And that somehow synthesized into the work.

In fact, I wasn’t even aware of the similarity until a few years into my career when several people pointed it out to me, asking if stained glass was a big influence.  I think I always answered yes to the question.  I mean, I liked it a lot so it had to have been an influence on some basic level.

Looking around the studio at the group of new work that is growing for my upcoming June show, Native Voice,  at the Principle Gallery, there are a number of paintings that you can easily see the influence of stained glass.  The piece shown above, From Out of the Blue, really has that feel for me, with the geometry of its puzzle-like pieces in the foreground and the brightness of its sky.  I see that sky in glass as hundreds of small, sharp shards of varying sizes and colors, all radiating outward.

But maybe it being a painting and not stained glass is the attraction for me.  Each medium has its limitations and being able to borrow attributes from one medium and integrate them into the vocabulary and process of another is exciting in itself.  It is painting’s spontaneity that draws me to it, where instinctual moves can be made within moments that change the whole piece.  I don’t know that I could get that with glass and could easily see a piece like From Out of the Blue becoming a contrivance in stained glass.  Too thought out.  Too worked over.  Too clean.

Definitely not from out of the blue— which is how I like it.

 

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What’s Coming Up

Posted in Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , , , on March 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers -The Refreshing smJust a quick announcement today of my next few events.  First, in just over two weeks, on Saturday, April 11th,  I will be giving a Gallery Talk at the Kada Gallery in Erie, beginning  at 1 PM.  Then, on June 5th, marks the opening of  my annual solo exhibit at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  And after that comes my annual solo exhibit at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY which opens on July 17th.

The  Gallery Talk at the Kada Gallery in April marks the first real talk I have given at the gallery in the 19 years that I have shown my work there.  Actually, it is the second but the first, which was a few years back didn’t feel like one to me and never had the rhythm or flow of my normal talks.  It was held at the beginning of the opening reception for my show there and there was little seating and people were milling about, looking at the new work as they entered the gallery.  There was a lot of distraction and it wasn’t really conducive to creating real interaction with the audience, given my limited skills as a public speaker.  I left feeling as though I had really under-performed  that night.

So I don’t count that as a true Gallery Talk and vow to bring my A game.  Also, this upcoming talk will feature a drawing for those in attendance to win one of my original paintings, along with several other goodies, something that has become a popular feature at talks at my other galleries.  I spend a lot of time deciding which painting to give away at these events because I want it to be something meaningful, not secondary work.  In the past I have given away what I consider to be substantial paintings and I promise those who take the time to come won’t be disappointed in the choice for this drawing. Or in the talk itself, for that matter.  So, if you’re in Erie on Saturday, April 11th, I hope to see you at the Kada Gallery at 1 PM.

This year’s show at the Principle Gallery is titled Native Voice and is the 16th consecutive show, going back to 2000,  at the Alexandria landmark.  It is always one of the highlights of my year, the anchor around which I build my work year.  I am pretty excited about the work that has been coming out for this show thus far and think it will be a very strong exhibit.  But don’t take my word for it– see for yourself.

And then in July, it’s a homecoming of sorts with the opening of my show (still working on the title for this show) at the West End Gallery.  It’s always a pleasure and a thrill to show in your home area.  It’s just a different vibe– more familiar might be the best way of explaining it.  It’s always nice to get to show off a bit for folks who might not see you just as a painter, but know you in other ways.  I see a lot of people from the other phases of my life at these shows and it means a lot that they come out to see this aspect of what I do.  As a result, this show always seems to bring out the best in my work and I suspect that this year will continue that trend.

So, that’s the next several months and, of course, there is more beyond that including a two-day workshop I will be teaching in September at the Yates County Arts Center in the beautiful Finger Lakes.  Not to mention Gallery Talks at the West End in August and the Principle in September.

And with a little surprise I hope to unveil in May, it makes for a very busy year. So stay tuned.

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