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Posts Tagged ‘Principle Gallery’

Sunday Morning Jumpin Jive

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , on April 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

jumpin-jive-cab_calloway-fayard_harold_nicholas030It’s another Sunday morning and I find myself in the studio after a quick trip to Alexandria on Friday to show my support for the Principle Gallery and its owner, Michele Ward, as they celebrated their 20th anniversary.  After a truly enjoyable meal with my friend, Mike Mattice and his delightful family, it was on to the show.  It was a great opening with a full house from the start until the end as the many friends of the gallery came out to celebrate.  It was nice to see many old friends without the pressure of it being my own opening, to be able to spend a little more time with them.  Just a fine night, all the way around.

Kudos to Clint, Jessica, Pamela and Kris for putting on a wonderful event and special thanks to Michele for making it all possible through the past two decades.  Thank you for everything.

Since it is Sunday morning, it is time for a bit of music to get the day going and what better way than with the energy and charm of the great Cab Calloway, especially when you combine it with the spectacular dancing of the legendary Nicholas Brothers?  This is Jumpin Jive from the 1943 movie, Stormy Weather.

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The Principle Gallery Turns 20

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 23, 2014| 1 Comment »

Principle Gallery King St AlexandriaThere is an opening that I will be gladly attending this Friday, April 25th, at the Principle Gallery in  Alexandria, Virginia, a celebration of the gallery’s 20th anniversary as an Old Town fixture on  historic King Street.  The gallery first opened in April of 1994 on Cameron Street in a second-story space and moved to their present location in 1997, taking up residence in historic Gilpin House.  Over the years, they have featured some of the finest in contemporary art, focusing on representational realism, and their reputation as a gallery of the highest caliber has grown, nationally and internationally, with each passing year.  In 2013, the Principle Gallery brand expanded with the opening of a Principle Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina.

The rest, as they say, is history.

For me, I first came on board with an invitation from owners Michele Ward ( then Marceau) and the now retired Sue Hogan in early 1997, just as they were about to make their move to their present location.  I had only been showing my work publicly for just two years at that point and had only been painting for a little over three so I was excited to find a spot in their roster.  Little did I know how important my relationship with this gallery would become to my career.

I have written here in the past about the gratitude I have for the galleries with which I have worked over the years.  I have worked with several galleries for the better part of two decades and each has been vital to the growth of my work and my career, providing me with reassurance when I am feeling less than confident  and willing eyes when the work evolves.  Each has provided me with intangibles that I cannot fully describe.  My life would be so different without each of these galleries.  I shouldn’t say galleries because it is truly about the people that operate them.

That certainly has been the case with the Principle Gallery.

Over the years  I have worked with numerous wonderful people there, each of who has  allowed me to let my work grow in many directions, always encouraging me and  treating my work with respect.  They always make me feel welcome as a friend the moment I enter the gallery and I think that is a quality that extends to nearly everyone who comes through their doors.  You see it in the faces of many friends from the area who pop in just to say hello.  That alone says volumes about them as people.  It certainly makes the gallery experience they offer a much different one than most people envision.  It is an experience based on making you feel comfortable and they succeed in every way.

I know that they have made me feel comfortable there over the years and for me that is saying a lot.

I had my first solo exhibit at the Principle Gallery back in 2000.  That was the Redtree show that gave birth to my now trademark image.  This year’s June show, Traveler,  marks the 15th consecutive year I will have had a solo show there.  It has been my pleasure to be able to grow with the gallery, to see it constantly strive to be better, to make itself more.  It inspires me to do the same.  And that, among all the things they have given me over the years in terms of encouragement and friendship, might be the greatest gift of all.

The inspiration to aspire to be more.

So, to Michele and her wonderful staff– Clint, Jessica, Pamela and Kris– I send you a heartfelt thank you and best wishes for many more years of success.  Happy 20th!

See you Friday!

 

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Harvest Moon

Posted in Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2014| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Traveler- 2014I don’t know if this painting is exactly right for the title of this post or this song.  But in the early morning light it has a moonish glow in its center, the gray of the shadows muting the brightness of the color at its edges.  For a moment, it looks like it could be a harvest moon.  At least, what I think of as a harvest moon.

The actual title of this 18″ by 48″  painting is Traveler, which is also the title of my June show at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  It has been above my fireplace in the studio for a couple of months now and is wearing well with me.  I find myself often looking up at it, letting myself be pulled along that winding path toward that beckoning sun.  Or moon, depending on how I see it at any given moment, such as this morning.

I will write more about this painting and the June show at a later date.  For now, its a dreary, snowy  Sunday morning here and I need some music that will change my mood a bit.  Here’s Neil Young with a version of his always lovely Harvest Moon.

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Time & a “Traveller”

Posted in Biographical, tagged , , , on March 8, 2014| 2 Comments »

Steampunk Breathe Pendulum Clock- Erin Keck

Steampunk Breathe Pendulum Clock- Erin Keck

My solo show this year at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, for which I am in the midst of preparations,  is scheduled  for Friday, June 6th.  This show, which I am calling  Traveller,  will be my fifteenth solo show at the Principle, something which sets my mind reeling with all sorts of thoughts.  I  had no idea when that first show, Redtree,  took place back in 2000 that it would continue for so many years.  To be truthful, I had no expectations of any sort.

I just didn’t know then.  Just as I don’t know now.

Thinking of this show makes me wonder at the fact that I am now in my twentieth year as a professional artist.  While I had no real endpoint to which I was aspiring in the beginning, I was nonetheless impatient to get there. The intervening years have taught me a bit about respecting time and patience, about plodding ahead incrementally and setting aside certain anxieties.  Or at least, coming to terms with them so that they don’t paralyze me.

Time is also a great revelator of  who one really is.  You can’t fake who you are through twenty years.  No, you can’t endure twenty years of creating without revealing your own personal truths.

I think my body work over this time is ample display of that.  It is flawed and imperfect. It is rough around the edges at times yet delicate, almost fragile, at other times.   It is sometimes loud when it should be quiet and quiet when it should be loud.  It is confident and bold yet filled with uncertainties and apprehensions.  It tries to be plain-spoken and easily accessible yet not simple or frivolous.

Unapologetically, it is what it is.

I could easily describe myself with all of these.  I am my work and my work is me and together we travel in time.

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The cool timepiece at the top right is from artist Erin Keck of Mechanicsburg, PA.  She does some creative and wonderful steampunk pieces.  Check out her online store  by clicking here.

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The Long Way Home

Posted in Influences, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on December 9, 2013| 3 Comments »

GC Myers- The Long Way Home smHome is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.

  ~Charles Dickens

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This is a newer painting that went to the Principle Gallery recently.  It’s a 12″ by 16″ painting on paper that I call The Long Way Home.  Home, as a concept,  plays a large part in my work as it is the destination for the life journey that is the basis for much of what I do.  I don’t necessarily see home as a physical place but rather that interior space where we are comfortable with who and what we are.  For me, our real journey in life is always internal.

Everything leads inward.

We often set out on treks through the external world trying to find a place, a physical location where we  feel accepted and at home.  But it never happens until we find that inner peace and acceptance in that inner realm that is always with us.  Though we may have traveled a million miles, home is always within reach if we only stop and look inward.  And I think that is what this piece is communicating.  The title reflects on the search that always leads back to that internal place we often overlook in our zeal to find that place we call home.

Home is always with us.

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Happy Plateau.

Posted in Biographical, Music, Painting, Technique/History, Video, tagged , , , , on November 21, 2013| 2 Comments »

Explorer- GC Myers

Explorer- GC Myers

It’s been a busy year.  Actually, it’s been a busy two or three years but the last few months have seemed even more hectic.  There was the preparations for the Kada Gallery show and work being done around the studio by carpenters and masons.  It seemed as though there was little time to really take stock of everything.  But with the Kada show opening this past weekend and my delivering a group of work to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria on Tuesday, yesterday was my first chance to take some time to reflect, to see where I was on my artistic path.

After a short period of examination, it seems to me that I am at a plateau.  Mind you, it’s a happy plateau but I’m not sure this is where I want to stop, not sure that this is my final destination as an artist.  For the past several years, I have been working at what I consider my highest level:  I am painting the paintings that I want to see.  The work is distinctly mine and is consistent in its communicative effect and in the way it satisfies me internally.  The work from my  recent shows have been as personally satisfying as any I have ever  showed.   If I were a miner, I would say that I have been working a rich vein.

But I am increasingly having that nagging feeling that there is an even richer vein for me if I move from this plateau and climb a bit higher.

It’s a scary thought.  This has been, as I said, a happy plateau.  It’s where many artists, upon arriving , settle in for the remainder of their careers.  And why not?  They have worked hard to reach this plateau and are producing the work they set out to produce at the beginning of their journeys.  It would be very easy to stay here and be content and safe, to not have to face the prospect of a new climb with all the perils that come with it:  The uncertainty of what is up there and the possibility of failure.

Maybe I am being over dramatic in my description here.  I don’t know.  I do know that I have that clawing and gnawing feeling in my gut that now is the time to start moving onward and upward, to leave this happy plateau and take on the risk of failure.  Whether I can actually muster enough bravery to make this move, whatever that may be, and where it might take me are only the beginning of the  questions that arise, questions for which only time holds the answers.

We shall see…

Here’s an old song, Unsatisfied,  from The Replacements that fits the bill for this subject.  Look me in the eye and tell me that I’m satisfied…

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The Principle Gallery in Charleston

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , , on November 5, 2013| 6 Comments »

Principle Gallery Charleston interior Nov 2013It happened a couple of months back but it’s now official: the Principle Gallery Charleston has opened.  Located on Meeting Street in historic Charleston, SC, the gallery formerly known as the M Gallery of Fine Art made the transformation to its new name under the Principle Gallery banner last week.  They had ran for the first two months with the M Gallery name as the gallery was previously obligated under that name to hold the annual exhibit of the American Impressionist Society, a huge show with around 200 paintings.  But once that show came down, the move to the Principle Gallery name was made.

This expansion is an exciting move for owner Michele Ward.  She brings her keen eye and her principled approach ( that’s where the name originated) to business to the Low Country and I think the residents of  the Charleston area will quickly understand why the Principle Gallery has prospered and grown in Alexandria over the past two decades.

Principle Gallery Charleston exterior Nov 2013It’s exciting for me to see the Principle Gallery grow.  I have been with them since they made their initial move to  their present King Street location in early 1997.  They were a great gallery even in those earliest days with a wonderful roster of artists.  But  the gallery never remained static  in its approach and has continually strove to expand the quality and reach of the work it represents  As a result, the Principle Gallery name has become nationally known and is a destination gallery for many artists.  By that,  I mean  it is a gallery that most artists would place on their wish list if they could choose where they could exhibit their work.

That being said, it makes me appreciate so  much the nearly 17 years I have exhibited with Michele and her gallery.  Without the encouragement and opportunities I have received from the Principle Gallery and Michele, I am sure my career and my life would be very much different at this point.   I owe much of any success I might have now to this gallery and it is gratifying to see it rise to new heights in a beautiful new space in a great city.

I am sure they will be a big hit in Charleston.   Congratulations and all the best wishes for you , Michele!  

 

  

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Exiles: Cain/ Redux

Posted in Early Paintings, Influences, Quote, tagged , , , , , on September 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- CainI brought up a reference in last week’s Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery that I would share here again.  It’s about a posting that appeared here about five years ago, one that focused on one of the paintings from my Exiles series from around 1995.  It’s a painting that I would never part with for many reasons but mainly for the meaning it holds for me in changing the course of my life at one point.

In 2008, I wrote:

I thought I’d take a moment and show this painting, Cain, another from the Exiles series that I’ve discussed in past posts.  This is a smallish piece and one of my favorites, one with which  I will never part.

He is based, somewhat, on the biblical story of the original exile, one expelled from his homeland after slaying his brother  to create a new world for himself, never to return.  It is also based on the novel Demian by Hermann Hesse, a book that meant much to me when I went through a trying time years ago.  Actually, it seems a lifetime ago.

In Demian, Hesse uses the mark of Cain as a symbol for those seeking the truth in themselves.  He also discusses the dual nature of man, an idea which has had a very formative aspect in my growth as a painter.  The idea of opposing forces, light and dark,  being contained in one element, one being, always struck a chord in me.  It made sense of the struggles that I observed in myself and many others.

He also made a statement that resonated like a gigantic bell tolling for me.

Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.

Without going into detail, that small sentence was a revelation.  It changed my world forever.

I realize this is a fragmented explanation of this painting and the book that influenced it.  I merely wanted to illustrate what personal meaning some pieces can have for an artist as well the serendipitous nature of moments when art and one’s real life converge.

Maybe I will elaborate in the future.  Maybe not…

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Satisfied

Posted in Biographical, Influences, Painting, tagged , , , on September 12, 2013| 6 Comments »

GC Myers- SatisfiedIt was twenty years ago this month that I had the accident that started my painting career.  When I began painting at that time, it was not with some long-range goal of becoming a professional artist or even with the thought that anything would come from it.  I was simply looking for a creative  outlet for emotion that was roiling within.  I never had real expectations and didn’t even begin to form any until a year or so after I started.  I had no idea where this would take me nor did I have a notion that my work would take any sort of form that might reach out to people.  It was simply an urge that begged to be fulfilled at the time.

As the years went by, expectations and hopes did begin to take form.  I began to expect to sell my work and to have people take somewhat of an interest in it. I hoped that people would take my work as seriously as I did and that people would look deeper into it.

But the thing that has surprised me over the years is something  that I never expected or had even thought of beforehand.  That is the trust that many people place in me when they confide to me their feelings about the work, often sharing deeply personal stories about their lives.  I have heard many personal stories, some sad and some triumphant,  in the past two decades and seen many teary eyes as they relate their stories.  Each time I am surprised and touched at how open and honest these folks are in sharing the details of their lives with me.  Surprised may not be the right word here.  It was surprising at first  but then  turned to humbling in that I often didn’t feel worthy to be so privileged.  Now, it is still a bit surprising, a lot humbling and totally an honor to be let in on such private emotions.  It is the most gratifying and satisfying aspect of my experience as an artist over the past two decades, far exceeding financial rewards and public acclaim.  It is perhaps the most inspirational element that I carry with me into the studio each morning.

I had no idea that such a thing might happen when I started and still struggle to figure out how it has happened within the framework of my paintings.  It remains a mystery but a most satisfying one.  Thanks for such an unexpected gift.

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The painting shown here is fittingly titled Satisfied and is a 24″ by 14″ piece on paper and is currently at the Principle Gallery.

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Principle Gallery Talk 2013

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Principle Gallery - Talk 2013Well, this year’s Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery is over, having taken place this past Saturday.   I have done this talk for the past eleven years, always in conjunction with the Alexandria King Street Art Festival, which fills the well known street in Old Town with artists and artisans from around the country.  It was an absolutely beautiful,  sun-filled day in Alexandria  so I was so grateful for the group of folks who took time from their day to stop in.  I think the talk went fairly well although in the aftermath I felt, as always, that I missed many vital points that I had wanted to touch on.  But hopefully I made some cogent points and everyone came away with a bit more info about my work.

The highlight of the talk was, of course, the giving away of the painting Ode to Whitman, a piece that I have featured here in recent days.  For the last six years or so, I have given away a piece every year at this event and an interesting phenomenon has began to take shape.  I normally ask someone to come up and draw from the container of entries.  The first year went without incident with the chosen person reaching in and picking a name from the assembled audience.  However, prior to Saturday, the person chosen to come up and draw has pulled their own name in two of the last four years.  I am not a mathematician but the odds of a person reaching into a contained held above their head and pulling their own name from a group of 50 to 75 entries seems as though they might be kind of high.

So, when the time came for the drawing I asked if anyone felt lucky and explained the history.  A young lady in the front row agreed to come up and I jokingly asked her to show me her hands so that I could make sure she wasn’t cupping a slip of paper.  We all laughed and she reached up and drew a folded slip of paper.  As I opened the slip I heard her gasp, “Omigod, that’s me!”  I thought she was kidding then  realized that it was indeed her.  I joked that she better show me some ID before I hand over the painting.

But the painting was hers.   She was so grateful, claiming that she was one of those people who never wins anything.   Well, things change and I hope that that painting which holds meaning for me comes to have meaning for her as well.  If that fortunate person is out there reading this, I am sorry  but your name evades me this morning so drop me a line to refresh my memory.

Many thanks to all who made it to the talk.  It was an honor to be able to talk with you all and a pleasure to hear your thoughts and stories.  One of the great rewards for me as an artist is having people share their life experiences with me, feeling comfortable in doing so  because of the bond they feel through the work.  It is a humbling affirmation of the power of art.  Again, many thanks for all that you have shared through the years.  It very much enriches the work.

Many thanks to Clint, Jessica and Julia at the Principle Gallery for taking care of the details and making me feel comfortably at home there, as always.  And thanks to gallery owner Michele Ward  (actually, now gallery mogul as she recently announced the acquisition of the M Gallery of Fine Art in historic Charleston, SC) for her continued support of my work through the years.  Though my work is wildly divergent from the typical work in her gallery, she has always maintained a belief in the work, something which has carried me through the peaks and valleys of what has turned into a career.

Hope to do it again  next year!

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