The West End Gallery show has come down and next up on the list is my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria. ThIs Gallery Talk, my 16th there, begins at 1 PM on Saturday, September 15. There are a bunch of neat things on deck for this talk so keep your eyes peeled for details in the next two weeks and pencil it in on your calendar. Hope to see you there!
Posts Tagged ‘Principle Gallery’
Next Up
Posted in Event, tagged gallery talk, GC Myers, Principle Gallery on August 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Star Navigator
Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Opinion, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged Principle Gallery, Quotes, The Rising, The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton, West End Gallery on August 28, 2018| 1 Comment »
I was not sure where I was going, and I could not see what I would do when I got there. But you saw further and clearer than I, and you opened the seas before my ship, whose track led me across the waters to a place I had never dreamed of, and which you were even then preparing to be my rescue and my shelter and my home.
― Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain
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Well, my annual show at the West End Gallery comes down in just a few days. This year’s edition is called The Rising and Thursday is the last day to see the show.
It is a show in which I feel a real sense of pride. When I am prepping for a show, my goals for it are often vague and undefined. I feel that I want certain things for it and from it but when I try to verbalize these goals, the words evade me. I find myself like the sailor in the Thomas Merton quote above: I was not sure where I was going, and I could not see what I would do when I got there.
I knew it was going somewhere. I just didn’t know where. I let intuition and reaction guide me and it often worked out fine.
But this show, much like my June show at the Principle Gallery, felt more preordained and focused and less haphazard in it’s final edited version, the one that hit the walls of the galleries. I still allowed for the role of intuition and the unconscious in the process of painting each piece. That is a necessity.
But where I could make conscious decisions, I did just that. I chose to simplify forms and chop out the fussiness of detail. Deepened colors. As much as I like them and appreciate their popularity, I reduced the number of small paintings and went with works that were a bit larger. It streamlined the look of the show on the wall, made it feel less cluttered, and gave each piece a bit more room in which to expand.
They weren’t big things but enough to make the work in the exhibit to be presented with fuller impact. I felt like this and the Principle Gallery show were my most mature and complete exhibits to date.
The response to the show has been great which is gratifying on many levels. A number of the original paintings from the show have flown the coop to their new homes but there are a few replacements that I feel fill the void they leave behind. One new piece is shown above. It’s Star Navigator, a 24″ by 8″ canvas that feels very much like it jibes with the words of Merton at the top.
I hope you can make it out to the West End Gallery in the next few days, if you haven’t had a chance to see The Rising.
Coming Up
Posted in Event, tagged Alexandria, Alexandria King Street Art Festival, gallery talk, GC Myers, Principle Gallery on August 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Next on the agenda is my Gallery Talk ( they call it an Artist Talk– tomato,tamato) at the Principle Galleryon Saturday, September 15, beginning at 1 PM. This will be the 16th year I have given a talk at the gallery. It coincides with the annual Alexandria King Street Art Festival which has evolved into a pretty large showcase for many talented, working artists.
So, what could be better than a day in historic and beautiful Alexandria along with some art, good talk and more?
Split the Darkness
Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged Buddhism, Daisaku Ikeda, Principle Gallery on June 12, 2018| 3 Comments »
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“Life is painful. It has thorns, like the stem of a rose. Culture and art are the roses that bloom on the stem. The flower is yourself, your humanity. Art is the liberation of the humanity inside yourself.”
― Daisaku Ikeda
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I was going to write more about this painting– Split the Darkness, which is part of my current show at the Principle Gallery–and the thought behind it but the words above from Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda pretty much sums up what I was thinking. And in a much more concise way. In short, to fully experience life we must endure the pain that is part of it, the suffering and loss that comes to us all. The art we create is a reflection of our experience, our humanity.
What and How
Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Quote, tagged GC Myers, Painting, Principle Gallery, Quote, William McElcheran on June 9, 2018| 2 Comments »
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For the mystic what is how. For the craftsman how is what. For the artist what and how are one.
–William McElcheran, Canadian Sculptor 1927-1999
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This morning I came across the quote above from the great Canadian sculptor William McElcheran that I featured here a few years back. Its wordplay and meaning both still ring a bell for me, even though I am not sure of McElcheran’s definitions of what and how. I have searched several times trying to find the origin of this quote to see the context in which it was first said but it seems to simply stand alone.
And I guess that’s okay because it says a lot and is complete in its meaning, at least in the way I perceive it.
I guess I fall in the artist category here. I am definitely searching for the what in my work regardless of the how that is required to get there. I will gladly alter my how to get to the what. My how is not based on tradition, is not absolute in any way and changes as needed. Yet, it is still crucial that it remains my how because if I feel that if I defer to another how exclusively it ceases to be my how and fails to express my individual voice.
It is when the how and the what merge that I feel most satisfied in my work.
Now, if you can follow that– and I am not really sure that I can myself– you must obviously fall into the mystic category.
I used the painting at the top, Spirit of Silence, which is part of my current Principle Gallery show, because it feels to me like it falls in that area where the how and what come together. It is a simply built painting where the how of it seems to roll perfectly into the what that it conveys. I immediately thought of this piece when I read the words at the top earlier.
Xaipe- It’s Pronounced “Zape”
Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Poetry, Recent Paintings, tagged e e cummings, GC Myers, Poetry, Principle Gallery, Red Tree, Xaipe on June 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »
I had written before about this painting that is showing in my current show at the Principle Gallery. It’s a favorite of mine and I thought I’d share the thought behind it again.
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i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
e e cummings
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I struggled coming up with a title for this painting. It is a piece that really resonates with me and I wanted to have a title for it that captured what I was seeing in it. At first, I wanted the title to point out what I perceived to be the richness of the land and its colors. At first, I called it The New Cornucopia but it just didn’t sit right. There was more to what I was seeing in the painting than that particular title captured.
I went seeking for something that better expressed what I saw in it and came across a poem that I had read long ago from the late poet e e cummings. Shown above, i thank you God for most this amazing is more prayer of thanks than poem with an emphasis on seeing the yes in all things surrounding us. It has a lovely transcendental feel to it that, for me, jibed with what I was seeing in this painting.
This poem was originally included in cummings’ 1950 collection of poems, Xaipe. That title intrigued me. It wasn’t anything I had seen before and I wanted to know how it might connect to the poem above. I found that it is a Greek word, pronounced zape, and translates as rejoice or be happy.
That was perfect for what I was sensing in this painting- the joy in just being alive and recognizing, with the opened eyes of my eyes, the wonder of the natural world around us. The yes of everything.
Meditatio
Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Quote, tagged GC Myers, Osho, Principle Gallery, Quote, Red Tree on June 6, 2018| 2 Comments »
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“Touch your inner space, which is nothingness, as silent and empty as the sky; it is your inner sky. Once you settle down in your inner sky, you have come home, and a great maturity arises in your actions, in your behavior. Then whatever you do has grace in it. Then whatever you do is a poetry in itself. You live poetry; your walking becomes dancing, your silence becomes music.”
~Osho
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The Navigator
Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged Christiaan Huygens, Principle Gallery, Quote on June 4, 2018| 1 Comment »
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“How vast those Orbs must be, and how inconsiderable this Earth, the Theatre upon which all our mighty Designs, all our Navigations, and all our Wars are transacted, is when compared to them. A very fit consideration, and matter of Reflection, for those Kings and Princes who sacrifice the Lives of so many People, only to flatter their Ambition in being Masters of some pitiful corner of this small Spot.”
― Christiaan Huygens, Cosmotheoros: or, conjectures concerning the inhabitants of the planets (ca 1695)
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I am a bit slow getting around this morning so I thought I’d share one more painting from the Principle Gallery show. This is titled The Navigator and is 24″ by 24″ on canvas.
Accompanying it are the words from the 17th century Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens. Shortly before his death in 1695, he had written a book, Cosmotheoros, in which he postulated on the existence of extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe. His lifelong study of the cosmos allowed him to see how tiny and possibly inconsequential our world was in relative terms.
And that is a fitting thought for this painting as the boat skims over a vast sea, guided by the light from huge suns that are so distant that they may not even exist at this moment even though their light still travels to us through the dark of space.
The universe is humbling in its scale and scope.
Aftershow
Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged Anders Miolin, Ermano Chiavi, GC Myers, Guitar, Principle Gallery on June 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Back in the studio this morning after returning yesterday from Alexandria. The show opening went very well with a highly positive response that I will say was most gratifying and affirming. This was where I wanted the work to be from a creative standpoint and to have folks respond so well just feels good, to put it plainly.
I can’t say thank you enough to the many folks who showed up including some old friends who I only get to see once in a great while or only through this site or other social media. There were some there who I unfortunately couldn’t get to at the opening and I hope to be able to speak with these folks at some other point.
I’ve written here before about how fortunate I have been to continue to do this annual show after so many years. I have to say it is these people who continue to show up and respond so well to the work that make it possible. I am so appreciative of their continuing interest in the work and the vast amount of inspiration they provide. Thank you.
And to everyone at the Principle Gallery, I offer a simple thank you. You know how I feel about you all and the gratitude I feel for all you have given me over the years. It has been a great gift.
I am going to cut it short while I recuperate this morning. Want to keep things quiet so for this week’s Sunday morning music I offer a contemplative piece from concert guitarist Anders Miolin. It is a traditional Chinese composition called High Mountain & Flowing Water and is played on his unique 13-stringed guitar, an instrument he designed along with master luthier Ermano Chiavi. Give a listen and relax. It’s the kind of music and feeling I hope for in my own work.
Have a good day…
A Little Preview– “Haven”
Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged GC Myers, Principle Gallery, Red Tree on May 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Lux Vitae- GC Myers
Tomorrow, Friday, June 1, is the opening for my show of new work at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria. Haven is my 19th show with the wonderful folks at the Principle, a mark that still boggles my mind. When I first began painting after being injured in the fall from the ladder at the house we were building back in 1993, I had no idea it would ever amount to anything.
In fact, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t. There was nothing in my past that pointed to any future level of success as an artist.
I just wanted something to call my own.
So from being invited to show my work with the Principle Gallery and onto my first solo show there in 2000– which was called, surprise,surprise, Red Tree— I have felt like I was playing with house money, that anything beyond this was gravy. Sorry for mixing metaphors there.
But in my mind, with that first show, I had already exceeded my expectations. Plus, beyond that, I had achieved my primary goal of creating something that I could call my own, something that would be validated internally by myself and externally by others.
So, each show is a reminder of how fortunate I have been in the past two decades. And knowing that I have been the beneficiary of such good fortune drives me to work a bit harder, to dig a little deeper for every subsequent show. I still believe that I have much to prove and room to grow with my work, as an artist and a person.
These years have given me no sense of entitlement. In fact, I think I feel less entitlement than I did in my earlier years in this field. I didn’t know any better then. Now, I understand that as an artist you are on a constant proving ground which requires real commitment and self-belief in order to stay relevant.
These were some of the thoughts that drove me while working for this show and I think it shows in the paintings. I am personally pleased and excited with this show, mainly because I know that I have done what I hoped to do with this show. It feels like an honest and real expression.
But, hey, that’s just my opinion. You can judge it for yourself. Or not. But if you do want to take a look, Below is a nice short video ( it’s only a minute and a half!) I threw together with some of the pieces from the show.
The painting at the top is Lux Vitae, a 30″ by 40″ canvas that I think is really symbolic of this show.
Hope you’ll come out and see it tomorrow.
Redtree Times 