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Posts Tagged ‘New Painting’

The Empowering

Posted in Biographical, Quote, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , , on July 17, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- The Empowering smWhat we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

-Plutarch

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I am in the very last day of preparations before delivering my show to the West End Gallery for next Friday’s opening of my show, Layers.  It’s a day that mixes the tense anticipation of how the work will be received at the show with the relief of finishing all the tasks required to make it happen.

Fear and elation from moment to moment.

This is just an accepted part of the process by now.  But it’s all too easy to let the fear part of this little dance grow, to imagine worst-case scenarios where the show is an abysmal flop and the work fails to move a single person on any level.  I can only imagine that  anyone who creates or performs has these fears.  The trick is to not succumb to them, not let them drown out what you know to be true in your work.

That’s where the elation part of the process comes in.  When I am framing and prepping, the work is arranged in stacks so that I can’t see much of it as I go through the process.  I am engrossed in doing these tasks and put the work itself out of my mind as I proceed.  But as I go along, I get to each individual piece, turning it over to reveal an image that had escaped my mind.  It’s exciting, like seeing it for the first time, and I find myself appreciating aspects of the painting that I had overlooked or not even noticed when it was consuming me in its creation.  It’s a moment that wipes away the fears and reinforces my own belief in the work.

That’s what happened yesterday with this piece, an 18″ by 18″ canvas painting that I call The Empowering.  It had slipped from my sight and memory and upon turning it, it just seemed to glow among the other work.  It really bolstered me and had me setting up pieces in my framing space so that I could see it alongside the other paintings in the show.  The fears were washed away and I was left with a great sense of internal satisfaction that this group was already a success, regardless of my fears.

Here’s hoping that Plutarch’s words hold true and this inner belief becomes an outward reality.

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Glimpse and Aspiration

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on July 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence.
–Joseph Conrad
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GC Myers- Glimpse and Aspiration sm
In the next week or so I will be featuring several of the new pieces that will be part of my show, Layers, which opens next Friday, July 25th,  at the West End Gallery.  This painting is titled Glimpse and Aspiration and is 24″ by 48″ on birch panel.  It has been a favorite from the moment that it began to take on its own life, midway through the time I was painting it.  Its size gives it a weightiness that fits well with the mood and  glow of the painting.  I find myself looking at it quite often in the studio with a great deal of internal satisfaction at the completeness of it.  It just does something for me.
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I see the Red Tree here as a symbol of the aspiration for  a life of purpose and meaning, the desire for one’s own place in the world.  It is not always a clearly defined objective, as Conrad points out in the quote at the top.  Our life’s path winds through other places and lives but once in a great while there is clarity and we fleetingly see that thing which we believe to be our purpose.  Our aspiration.  Just glimpsing it and having it take a tangible form in our mind is fortifying, making our footsteps lighter and our path even more defined.
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It is something  which we can hold in our minds to guide and inspire us on the path ahead.
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There’s something in this idea  that fills this piece,  making it a very comforting piece for myself.  I am going to very much  miss this painting in my studio when it has went out on its own.  But it has done what it must for me and is destined to hopefully do the same for someone else.
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Sending it out into the world is simply part of my purpose, my aspiration.  At least that is how it appeared to me in my brief glimpse.

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Layers

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on July 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Layers

I am in the final days of preparations for my annual solo show at the West End Gallery in Corning which opens next Friday, July 25th.  It’s really coming together in all areas and I think it will hang together very, very well.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing it in the gallery.

The title for the show comes from the painting shown here, Layers, a 24″ by 36″ canvas.  I was originally going to call the show Strata after a group of paintings from that series that will be in this show but after looking closer at the work in this show I realized that there were layers of all sorts in my work, not only in the underground portion of the Strata pieces.

I described this a bit more in a statement for the show:

I chose the title for this year’s West End Gallery show, Layers, after a re-examination of my work where I tried to determine what themes might have appeared in it, often without thought or guidance from me, through the years. The thing that struck me was how often the paintings were about layers.

Layers in the literal sense, as in the Archaeology and Strata series where the actual underground layers’ patterns become integral rhythmic parts of the painting.

Layers of depth into the picture plane, represented often by a path passing through layers of rolling landscape. Usually to a distant horizon and a sun/moon beyond.

Layers of texture, often chaotic, in the surface of the paintings which add depth and meaning, catching and darkening colors in the depths and lightening them at the highest points.

Layers of color as in the skies of much of my work that require dozens and dozens of layers of color, to the point that only a tiny bit of most of the layers show through. But without each layer, even those that barely show, the painting would lack its fullness.

Layers of meaning. Most of these works have an easy accessibility and a simplicity that can be understood and enjoyed with a casual observation but beyond that there is a layer, even layers, of emotion that are often only revealed by a deeper examination, allowing the color, the forms and the textures to fully fill in the blanks.

Perhaps these layers represent those layers in our world, our emotional and spiritual spheres that, while unseen, move us forward in our lives.

I don’t know the why’s or the what’s of them. I only know that for me these layers add something to the work that I never could have imagined.

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Seeking Uncertainty

Posted in Opinion, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on June 25, 2014| 2 Comments »

Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.

–Voltaire

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GC Myers- Twilight WandererMuch of my work has a journey or a quest as its central theme and the odd thing is that I don’t have a solid idea of what the object is that I am seeking in this work.  I have thought it was many things over the years, things like wisdom and knowledge and inner peace and so on.  But it comes down to a more fundamental level or at least I think so this morning.  It may change by this afternoon.  I think the search is for an end to doubt or at least coming to an acceptance of my own lack of answers for the questions  that have often hung over us all.

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I would say the search is for certainty but as Voltaire points out above, certainty is an absurd condition.  That has been my view for some time as well.  Whenever I feel certainty coming on in me in anything I am filled with an overriding  anxiety.  I do not trust certainty.  I look at it as fool’s gold and when I see someone speak of anything with absolute certainty–particularly politicians and televangelists– I react with a certain degree of mistrust, probably because I see this absolutism leading to an extremism that has been the basis for many of the worst misdeeds throughout history.  Wars and holocausts, slavery and genocide, they all arose from some the beliefs held by one party in absolute certainty.

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So maybe the real quest is for a time and place where uncertainty is the order of the day, where certainty is vanquished.  A place where no person can say with any authority that they are above anyone else, that anyone else can be subjugated to their certainty.

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To say that we might be better off in a time with no certainty sounds absurd but perhaps to live in a time of certainty is even more so.

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The painting at the top is called, fittingly, Seeking Uncertainty, and is a new 10″ by 20 painting on canvas that will be part of my upcoming solo show, Layers,  at the West End Gallery in Corning which opens July 25.

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Quester’s Path

Posted in Influences, Opinion, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers-Quester's Path smIn the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

-Mahatma Gandhi

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      I write a lot about the search for something and in reality I have no idea what that thing is.  Gandhi says that  it is Truth that we seek.  His Truth may be the same as the wisdom that others claim to be seeking.  Others say that life is a search for self or love or to shatter loneliness.

      As for me, I just don’t know.  I have thought it was many things over the years– truth, self, wisdom and a place to fit in.  But none of those ever truly fit for me.  I am not sure I am equipped with the wisdom to handle the truth and, as far as fitting in, I gave up on that some time back.  And I have the self too elusive a thing to seek for too long. It sometime feels like looking for a Bigfoot– you think you may have found it but it always ends up not being what you hoped.

      So I am left filled with even more uncertainty.  And I think this uncertainty is a good thing because it makes me believe that the real quest is for a reason, a purpose for our existence.  And maybe that makes the quest the  real purpose– to be aware of our world, our lives.  To hold up each day, to examine each moment.  Maybe in each moment there is that truth, that wisdom. that sense of self and inclusion, if only we look with some uncertainty, not knowing why we do so.

      But as I say, I don’t know.

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The painting at the top is Quester’s Path and is 8″ by 14″ on paper.  It is part of the show, Traveler, at the Principle Gallery.

 

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Excelsior

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on May 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

9914-169 Excelsior smI call this new painting Excelsior and I showing it today in honor of  young Sriram Hathwar of nearby Painted Post who last night became this year’s co-champion in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  We have followed Sriram’s quest for the past seven years, half of his young life.  Last year Sriram came coming tantalizingly close to his goal of victory with a third place finish but third place just didn’t satisfy his desire to be the best and over the past year he worked hard to make his dream come true in his final opportunity.  He and co-champion, Ansun Sujoe of Ft. Worth,  Texas, showed incredible composure and grace in a pressure-packed situation that would overwhelm  most adults, let alone quiet, studious 14 year olds.  Sriram even cracked a joke, saying Gesundheit after the reader spoke the word he was to spell at one point.  One cool customer.

I chose this piece to accompany this post because of its title, Excelsior, which means Ever Upward.  I thought it would be a fitting title as well as a fitting image to  illustrate a young man’s quest for excellence.  There’s a quality in this piece of basking in the moment, taking pause to reflect on the journey and all of the hard effort it required to reach this lofty point.  I hope that Sriram takes a moment to  really appreciate his accomplishment before moving on to his next challenge.  But I know that it will be only a moment because the word Excelsior  does mean Ever Upward.

Excelsior, Sriram!

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This painting, Excelsior, is  18″ by 26″ on paper and will be at the Principle Gallery as part of my upcoming solo show there.  The show, Traveler, opens June 6 at the Alexandria, VA gallery.

 

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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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In a Rich Tapestry

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , on May 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers - TapestryI am at the point in preparations for my solo show next Friday, June 6, at the Principle Gallery where everything comes better into focus, each piece now appearing as it will in the gallery, fully framed and finished.  This final step gives some pieces additional life as the frame or mat, in the case of a painting on paper, seems to center and focus its energy.  Even though I can usually envision them in their final, fully presented stage I am sometimes surprised by some of these pieces.  This painting, In a Rich Tapestry, was not one of those.

This was one of those paintings that had a glow and depth from the first few brushstrokes, one that I am not sure is fully captured in the photograph above.   It’s a difficult quality to capture accurately, given my limited skills as a photographer.  So please trust me when I say that this painting shows even more vibrantly in person.   It was painted in two stages, about half of it completed before I set it aside for about four months.  I just didn’t feel that it was ready to finish and needed to be put off until just the right moment.  Last week turned out to be that right moment.

The result was a scene of deeply saturated fields of color that immediately bring to my mind the colors of a rich medieval tapestry.  It also linked in concept to the idea from the last post where we are all part of everything and everything is part of us.  We are all threads in a rich tapestry.  It is the binding together that gives us our brilliance and our strength.

This painting is 20″ by 24″ on canvas and will be part of  the exhibit,  Traveler, opening next Friday, June 6 at the Principle Gallery.

 

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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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Cast Your Shadow

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on May 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won’t do harm – yes, choose a place where you won’t do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine. 

–E.M. Forster, A Room With a View

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GC Myers- Cast Your Shadow smChoose a place where you won’t do harm…

I don’t want to, nor do I think I should, say much more about this new painting, a 24″ by 36″ canvas that carries the title Cast Your Shadow.

I like the idea represented by the quote above from E.M. Forster where one seeks out a place of their own, a place where they can stand without causing harm.  It’s a theme that I’ve always thought of in terms of being a smooth stone on a creek bed, pushed and polished  by the current through the ages until at last coming to rest in a spot where the water flows easily over it.  The stone finds it’s place where it does no harm.  It doesn’t disturb the water and the water simply passes by.

It seems like such a small desire, to find a place where the water flows easily by or where one can stand in the sun without their shadow blocking the light from others. But the simplicity of this wish is deceiving.

It is the work of a lifetime.

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