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Posts Tagged ‘Old Town Alexandria’

‘Social Distancing’ Opens Today!

Posted in Event, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on June 5, 2020| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- Shelter in Place 2020

My annual solo show of new works opens today at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria. This year’s show, my 21st there, is titled Social Distancing which very well describes the distance between me sitting in my studio this morning and the show hanging in the gallery down in Virginia. Now, that’s real social distancing.

It feels disconnected and strange to not be at an opening tonight and still be writing about it from the studio. But we are in the strangest days of recent times so I guess it’s only fitting that any event, particularly one titled Social Distancing, is not spared.

I think the duality of this idea– work about separation that seeks connection– is right in line with the message of much of my work throughout the years. The work has always focused on the distances of our world while still seeking to find closeness and connection.

Home, as it might be called.

Though I still haven’t yet seen the work on the walls of the gallery, I feel that this is a strong group. Strange times often bring out certain strengths and aspects of people. And art, at its best, reflects humanity. I believe this group is reflective of that.

I think it is authentic and human. Joyfully imperfect.

I hope you get a chance to get into the Principle Gallery to see Social Distancing. For those of you who can’t make it there, below is the catalog for the show. Thanks!

Be safe and have a great day.

 

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You Can Win This Painting!

Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, Painting, tagged , , , , on September 12, 2016| 3 Comments »

gc-myers-defiant-heart-smThis coming Saturday, September 17, is my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria, VA.  This is my 14th Gallery Talk at the Principle and it’s been a lot of fun through the years.  There’s generally a lot of give and take between the audience and myself in the form of questions and comments and something new and unexpected often comes to light.  I almost always find myself saying something I didn’t expect to say or learning something new about my own work from the comments from someone at the talk.

It’s a surprising dynamic and I am always grateful for the folks who turn out at these talks.

But deep down I know they come for what has become a tradition– the giving away of one of my paintings at the end of the talk.  We have a lot of fun with this and I really do struggle in trying  to choose a painting that holds meaning for me,  one that  that I think deserves attention in someone’s home.

And the painting shown here at the top fits that bill nicely.  It is titled Defiant Heart and is about 14″ by 14″ on paper.  It’s one of those paintings that I felt strongly about but seemed to have bad timing in those times in which they hit the galleries, never coming before the eyes of that person to which it would speak some sort of truth.  There is much that I like about this painting and think it has much to say to the person who connects with it.

It will be my pleasure to have it find a home this coming Saturday.  Maybe it will be you.

So this Saturday, September 17, please come on in to the Principle Gallery in beautiful Alexandria.  The talk runs starts at 1 PM and generally runs about an hour. We’ll have a conversation, I’ll tell some of my secrets and maybe a lie or two and at the end of it, someone will take home their own Defiant Heart.  Oh, as always, there will be a few surprises along the way. Hope to see you there.

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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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Show Notes 2013

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2013| 7 Comments »

Principle Gallery 2013 pre-showMy annual show, this year titled Observers,  opened Friday evening at the Principle Gallery in lovely and historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  For those of you who don’t know much about Alexandria, it’s just a few miles from DC, resting along the opposite bank of the Potomac River.  From our hotel room we could look up the river and see the dome of the Capitol Building, always an inspiring sight.

Well, I should say, we could see it when it wasn’t raining.

The tropical storm that swept up the east coast brought a couple of days of solid rain to the area, slicking the roads and causing a few accidents which had traffic snarled on the always crowded beltways around the Capitol.  When I went out from my hotel on Friday morning to take a long stroll and was greeted with a steady downpour, I knew immediately from experience that this could  cut down on the show’s attendance.  My experience has been recent as  my prior two shows had terrific rains on the days of the show which had, in each case, kept the attendance down a bit.

But despite the rain of the day, people did turn out Friday evening.  It was busy and I spoke with numbers of folks and missed speaking with others who made it there but didn’t get a chance to talk with me for a bit.  I always feel bad about not getting to speak with everyone who wants to comment or ask a question, especially when they come out on a wet night.  Hopefully,  just seeing the work together in the gallery is enough.

Kai and the "Mechanical Soil"

Kai and the “Mechanical Soil”

It was great catching up with some old friends that I have met through my time there at the gallery.  Some of my favorite moments are seeing kids who I have had the pleasure of seeing grow up in these yearly glimpses, some from their earliest childhood.  Here on the right is one of these young ones, Kai, who I have known since he was a wee one. Kai coined the phrase Mechanical Soil when he told me that his favorite piece was this Archaeology painting.

Another was Mikey Mattice who I wrote about here a few years ago.  Mikey is certainly not a kid anymore –the Mikey has fallen away to Michael and he is out in the world now, displaying  his immense musical talents.  It was great getting to see him again and see how he has evolved from a gangly kid into a confident man with much to give.  From the first meeting, I have always sensed big things in  his future and it’s such a pleasure to see that feeling come to fruition.  Can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.

So, all in all and weather aside, it was a great night.  My appreciation and thanks go out to Michele, Clint , Jessica and everyone at the Principle Gallery for doing, as always, a bang up job and for making us feel so welcome and at home.  And many, many thanks for all of you who could make it and apologies to those who didn’t get a chance to talk with me for a while or who had our conversations cut off too quickly.  For those who couldn’t make it, hopefully I will see you soon, either at my Gallery Talk in September or at next year’s show.

At least, I think there will be one next year…

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