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Posts Tagged ‘Principle Gallery’

Rooted

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on May 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- RootedIn this new painting, a 10″ by 30″ canvas that I am calling Rooted, the Red Tree steps aside and allows the Red Chair to take centerstage.

The title is an obvious reference to the Red Chair’s most frequent interpretation as a symbol of family and ancestry, with the dark tree that holding them looking in a way like a pedigree chart with branches coming off the main root and branching out.  The path that disappears in the distance could be  referring to the journey that the family tree took at an earlier time, perhaps emigrating from a distant land.

But for all its symbolism, I feel the strength of this piece is more from a visual fulfillment in the way the tree’s trunk and branches break up the picture plane into little islands of light, as though I am looking down on it from above and the tree transforms into a river with the branches becoming smaller streams feeding into it.  Thus, the Red Chairs are not growing away from the earth but are flowing back toward it.

There are a lot of things happening in this modest piece. Even now, looking up at it as it rests on the fireplace here in the studio, I find myself taking in different aspects of it that send my mind in new directions. And I like the fact that it can be simply what it is or can move me into a completely different realm of thought.

Rooted will be part of my show, Native Voice, opening June 5 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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Conquest

Posted in Motivation, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on April 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers Conquest smConquest is one of those words that have grand connotations, often thought of it in terms of strength and domination, of empires and battles between nations and ideologies.But it can have a much smaller, more personal meaning as well, one where it is all about overcoming those things that keep us from becoming the person we ourselves as being.

Fear, for instance.

And that’s the meaning I see for myself in this new 24″ by 30″ painting, Conquest, part of my June show at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.

It feels as though the Red Tree is in a moment of personal conquest, perhaps even epiphany.  It has overcome the struggles of the journey, symbolized by the path and fallen tree as well as the worked rows of the field, to reach a point where it can reflect back on it all, seeing in the clear bright light the realization of earlier, distant hopes.

These moments of conquest may not appear as epic moments for all to see. Personally, the times when I have most felt this feeling have not been grand moments of statement at all. There are few of those moments in most lives. Rather, they are often small and personal- a quiet and sudden recognition that I am at some point that seemed out of reach earlier in the journey.

In that moment, there is instant reflection on what led to this point.  The earlier fears that seemed like shackles now appear as harmless boogeymen, mere figments of imagination hidden in the dark.  But in the bright light the darkness recedes, revealing new horizons to move toward.

One person’s triumph over their fears is perhaps as large a conquest as that of any empire.

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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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Inner Perceptions

Posted in Biographical, Painting, Personal Mythology, tagged , , , , , , on September 22, 2014| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- Inner Perception smallThis is a painting from a few years back that has toured around a bit and found its way back to me. Called Inner Perception, it has been one of my favorites right from the moment it came off my painting table.  Maybe the inclusion of the the paint brush (even though it is a house painter’s brush) with red paint in the bristles makes it feel more biographical, more directly connected to my own self.   Or maybe it was the self-referential Red Tree painting on the wall behind the Red Chair.

I don’t know for sure.  But whatever the case, it is a piece that immediately makes me reflective, as though it is a shortcut to some sort of inner thought.  Looking at it this morning, the question I was asked at the Principle Gallery talk a week or so ago re-emerged, the one that asked what advice I might give my fifth-grade self if I had the opportunity.  I had answered that I would tell myself to believe in my own unique voice, to believe in the validity of what I had to say to the world.

I do believe that but I think I might add a bit to that answer, saying that I would tell my younger self to be patient and not worry about how the world perceives you.  That if you believed that your work was reflecting something genuine from within, others would come to see it eventually.

I would also add to never put your work above the work of anyone else and, conversely, never put your work beneath that of anyone else.  I would tell myself to always ask , “Why not me?”

This realization came to me a couple of years ago at my exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum.  When it first went up it was in a gallery next to one that held the work of the great American Impressionists along with a Monet.  I was initially intimidated, worrying that my work would not stand the muster of being in such close proximity to those painters who I had so revered over the years.

But over the course of the exhibit, I began to ask myself that question: Why not me?

If my work was genuine, if it was true expression of my inner self and inner perceptions, was it any less valid than the work of these other painters?  Did they have some greater insight of which I was not aware, something that made their work deeper and more connected to some common human theme?  If, as I believe, everyone has something unique to share with the world, why would my expression of self not be able to stand along their own?

The answer to my question was in my own belief in the work and by the exhibit’s end I was no longer doubting my right to be there.  So to my fifth-grade self and to anyone who faces self-doubt about the path they have chosen, I say that if you know you have given it your all, shown your own unique self,  then you must ask that question: Why not me?

 

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Red Chair 2002

Posted in Early Paintings, Painting, Technique/History, tagged , , , , on September 17, 2014| 3 Comments »

GC Myers- A Journey Begins

GC Myers- A Journey Begins

One of the interesting things about doing Gallery Talks, especially when there are a number of people who have followed your work for a while, is the feedback I get about the direction of my work or what has come or gone in it in recent times.  I hadn’t even noticed until someone asked that my Red Chair was lacking from the walls of the Principle Gallery and upon thinking about it I realized  that it had not appeared often in recent times.  I wasn’t surprised.  After doing this for a while, I’ve come to understand that themes and imagery cycle in and out of my work, attaching for a while to my psyche then falling to the back, only to resurface at a later time.

GC Myers- Night Watch

GC Myers- Night Watch

But having someone raise that point prodded me a bit and that Red Chair is in my mind again.  I have a few images swirling that will soon be out, I am sure.  But it also made me go back through my files looking for that Red Chair.  2002 was the high water mark for its appearance, especially in interior scenes painted in that style I refer to as my Dark Work— dark blues and greens over a black base.  Several of them remain with me and are among that work with which I will not part.

But I thought it would be interesting to show how a series of specific imagery, in this case the Red Chair,  goes through a specific time period, how certain elements are added or highlighted or fall away.  The one constant is the weight that the Red Chair brings to each image.  There is a tangible sense of  presence in each, as though the Red Chair alive and contemplating in the moment.  I think that is the appeal for me in these pieces– they don’t feel like still lifes but more like portraits.

Anyway, here is how the Red Chair moved through 2002:

GC Myers- Galvanic Memory

GC Myers- Galvanic Memory

GC Myers- Little Red Riding Chair

GC Myers- Little Red Riding Chair

GC Myers- Inner Sanctum

GC Myers- Inner Sanctum

GC Myers- An Inward Look

GC Myers- An Inward Look

GC Myers- Small Piece pf the World

GC Myers- Small Piece pf the World

GC Myers- Reason to Believe

GC Myers- Reason to Believe

GC Myers- Introspection

GC Myers- Introspection

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Afterwords

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged , , , , on September 14, 2014| 2 Comments »

Photo Courtesy of Jessica Braun

Photo Courtesy of Jessica Braun

It was a really nice time in Alexandria yesterday, doing my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery, an event we started doing in conjunction with the King Street Arts Festival twelve years ago.   Got to spend some time with Jessica, Pam and Clint at the gallery which is always a treat.  The actual talk, despite my normal pre-talk trepidations, went really well.  At least that’s what people tell me– I never trust my own judgement on those things.  But it was a full house with many familiar faces mixed with many new, a great group that made my job fairly easy, allowing me to be myself and be open and forthcoming.  Of course, in the aftermath, I  realized that I had missed several points and questions of my own  that I had wanted to address but that’s okay as the voids were filled with their questions.

Sometimes, these questions from the audience are the best part for me and probably for them, as well.  It is often the moist revealing part of the talk.  After talking about how my fifth-grade art teacher had been a big influence on my work, especially the Archaeology series,  a question came forward asking what advice I would now give to my fifth-grade self.  My response was that I would tell myself to believe that I had a voice that was unique, that I had something to say to the world.  I went on to talk about what finding this voice in art has meant to me, about how it empowered me and made me feel as though I had a role, a purpose in this world.

There’s more I could have added but that will have to wait until the next time.

The talk ended with the drawing for the painting and for several other gifts.  That is always a lot of fun for me and for the audience.  Well, at least the ones who win.  I tried to tell them how much this giving meant to me, how I was actually the one who was walking away with more than I came with.  That is absolutely true and for that I thank every one of those folks who chose to spend part of their Saturday with me at the Principle.  The inspiration you provide is worth more than I can ever give in return.

And, of course, to Michele and the crew at the Principle, so many thanks for everything they have given me through the years– friendship, encouragement and a place to let my voice speak freely.  It is more than appreciated.  So, for some  music, as is the norm on a Sunday morning here, I am sending out La Vie En Rose from Madeleine Peyroux.

Have a great Sunday…

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New Dimension

Posted in Opinion, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on September 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The task is…not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.

― Erwin Schrödinger

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GC Myers- New Dimension smI was looking for something to say about this new painting, New Dimension,  when I came across this quote from  physicist Erwin Schrodinger that deals with dimensional perception.

I have to admit to not knowing much about the  quantum physics to which he refers with these words but the sentiment behind it could be describing the driving force behind this painting and much of what I attempt to do as an artist.  I have maintained for some time that art is not about clever ideas or extraordinary subjects but in changing our perceptions of the ordinary, in trying to illuminate those dimensions of the world that remain unseen to us.

The example I often cite is of Van Gogh‘s painting of a vase of irises.  It is an painting of an extremely ordinary subject, a vase filled with flowers,  A common floral painting that has been the subject of perhaps a million or two painters over the ages.  Yet seeing it, one feels that unseen animating energy of nature and the force of Van Gogh’s perceptions of it.  It vibrates with energy.  It is no longer a simple vase of irises but has become a conduit to a new and deeper dimension, one that delivers us closer to the essence our being.  It is now the sacred ordinary.

This piece attempts to go there and does so for me.  But I am too close to it to  judge whether it hits it mark for others.  It is as ordinary as it gets- a horizon, a sky, a sun, a field and a tree.  Yet I am hoping that there is something in it that takes you beyond the mundane, something that sparks and allows your inner self to detect the essential forces at work in this simple scene.  To find the extraordinary in the ordinary, to feel more connected to our essence.  To find a new dimension in our selves.

This painting, New Dimension, is a 12″ by 36″ canvas and will be going with me to the Principle Gallery for my Gallery Talk there on Saturday, September 13th.

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Re-Presenting

Posted in Early Paintings, Painting, Technique/History, tagged , , , , on September 11, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Blue Night Discovery

GC Myers- Blue Night Discovery

I have a small group of new work accompanying me to the Principle Gallery this Saturday for my 1 PM Gallery Talk there.  There are also two older paintings, one a piece that I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago, The Elusive Path.  It is from 1990 and is one of the first Red Tree paintings but was trapped in a bad frame that sapped away much of its potency.  A new and more fitting frame has allowed its true self to shine through.

Another older painting that will be coming with me is shown above, Blue Night Discovery.  Unlike The Elusive Path which had a horrible dull green-blue frame, this painting had a decent looking frame.  The problem was that the mat surrounding this painting on paper was extra wide and the frame was massive.  It was huge and cumbersome, much too weighty for this work.  The framed piece felt like a slab of rock when I would pick it up and I seldom looked at it because it was such a chore to drag it out.

It was buried in the very thing that was supposed to set it forward and present it in its best light.

GC Myers- The Elusive Path

GC Myers- The Elusive Path

I had went through a period of these large, heavy frames and extra wide mats and over the years I have changed most of these paintings back to smaller, more reasonable frames that don’t overwhelm the painting.  So many so that I have a huge stack of these massive frames in a basement room.  There’s enough wood there to build an addition on my studio. Looking at these frames,  I can now safely say that the idea of these wide mats and heavy frames was a misjudgement on my part.

But there is a bright side to this realization.  For all of these frames, the  paintings that had been held captive have almost all found new homes soon after being re-presented in a manner that allows them to show what they really are, to let them exhibit their own qualities.  Seeing Blue Night Discovery out of that huge frame let me see it with cleared eyes not distracted by a setting that had little to do with the piece itself.  I had discounted this painting in my mind for years because of this distraction but now saw the strong forms and saturated colors, the contrasts of the dark of the  blues against the light light of the moon.  It made me remember the time when I had painted it and those positive feelings to which it had given rise.

It seemed new again in my eyes.  All because it was in a new position, a gem in its proper setting.

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Battling Selfishness

Posted in Biographical, Quote, tagged , , , , on September 10, 2014| 2 Comments »

They who give have all things; they who withhold have nothing.

–Hindu Proverb

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"Brilliant Determination"

“Brilliant Determination”

I have given away or will be giving away several paintings recently at talks at the galleries that represent my work, including the painting shown here on the left at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria this coming Saturday.  I have described this as an act of gratitude towards the folks who have supported me so well through the years, buying my work and following its growth in the galleries and here online.  This is true, it is an act of gratitude but it also has more meaning than that for me.

It is a small act of giving that is part of a larger battle against the selfishness and meanness of spirit so evident in the world.  I am not exempt here.  I have been a selfish person in my life, probably more so than I would ever admit or know.  And I will probably be selfish in the future even though I try to avoid this pitfall.  But with each small act of giving, of parting with something that I could easily hold onto covetously, there is a lightening of my burden and my spirit.

Generosity forces down many of the meaner parts of myself and creates space within for those better parts to expand and show themselves.  It is an exhilarating feeling, a feeling of liberation from my baser self.  So much so that these events where I give away paintings have become the highlight of my working life.

I think that is why I take so much time and effort in choosing the painting to be given away.  I have to find that piece that I could easily hang onto for myself.  It has to make me twinge a bit, make me a little uncomfortable to give it away.  But once that decision has been made, the lightening begins and I am eager to see where the painting will find a new home.

So, if you can come to the talk on Saturday, know that if you win you are helping fight my battle against selfishness and bringing me great joy.  Even more so if the painting brings you some joy of your own.

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