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Posts Tagged ‘Principle Gallery’

Distant Memory

Posted in Biographical, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on May 24, 2012| 3 Comments »

Every man’s memory is his private literature.

—Aldous Huxley
 
 
**************
 
I like this quote from Huxley.  I have often felt that all of our personal lives fit into some sort of mythic template on which all literature is based and that we often fail to see the connections between the tales of our own lives and those stories which have come down through history in the form of myth and legend.  We all live lifes that are often filled with tragedy , comedy and drama.  Heroic, even.  But we seldom perceive them as such, instead thinking of our personal memories as being merely mundane. 
 
And that’s probably as it should be.  Life is spent, for the most part, moving forward in small, day-to-day steps with little time left to see the larger pattern of our lives.  Who has the time to reflect backwards, to see how our lives fit into the templates of eternity?  Very few of us, to be sure.  But what if we could take that time to look back fully and see the patterns set in history and to see that our lives own patterns mesh into that pattern, that we are all indeed connected to and part of the same fabric?
 
Would it make a bit of difference?  Would it make us appreciate the fragility and rareness of  each individual’s place in this world. make us understand that our own history is the history of all and that our memory binds us to the fabric of history?
 
I don’t know.  But it’s something to think about.
 
Funny how the mind works.  I meant to write about the painting above, a new piece  called Distant Memory (  10″ by 16″ on paper) set for my Principle Gallery show early next month and suddenly find myself off on a theoretical journey.  Maybe its the way the foreground of the painting, with the converging rows of the field,  relates to the house and tree across the water in the upper half of the painting.  I get a sense of looking back from the present, taking a pause from the labor of the moment,  which is represented in the rows,  to a personal past set around that house that reminds me very much of the farmhouses of my youth, often taking me back to different points of my own life, my own connections to templates of time.  Even the overall color of this piece sets that tone of memory for me.  There is  something in that green that reminds me of the ferns that my mother dug up many years ago from the hillside above the Chemung River and planted in the shade of the old farmhouse that we lived in for much of my childhood.  That green often brings back that memory, one filled with an air of  coolness and the smell of damp, rich soil.  A good memory.
 
Okay. Enough for now.  Work and the present calls.  I have my own fields to tend to now.
 
 

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Almost Blue

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , on May 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

A new painting  that is headed for my upcoming show , A Place to Stand, at the Principle Gallery , opening June 8.  This is a 12″ by 36″ canvas that carries the title Almost Blue, a title taken from the great Elvis Costello song.

I often talk about  the color blue as being addictive, about how difficult it is at times to pull myself away the color when I am working with it.  It is the yin to the yang of the reds and yellows I often work with in my paintings.  The reds and yellows are often bold in statement, claiming a small piece of the world as their own and making the case that they have meaning in this world.  The blues, however, don’t make such brash statements.  They create a different atmosphere, one that is quietly questioning why they are here in this world. Blue is a calm sense of wonder and reflection, almost melancholy at times. 

The Red Tree is here but its normally bold statement of self is enveloped in the blueness of the sky and landscape surrounding it, making it feel less like a statement than a question.  There is an uncertainty as to the whys and whats of its existence and the red of the tree seem almost ready to turn to blue.  It is almost blue.

I was going to have a video of either Elvis Costello or his wife, Diana Krall, doing the song here.  Both are fabulous.  But I came across this video of the late jazz great  Chet Baker doing the song in a performance taken from the film Let’s Get Lost, a documentary about his life made in 1988 not long before his death.  If you don’t know much about Chet Baker, you should really check out his bio.  It is the stuff of classic tragedies and will surely someday be the subject of a great film.  This version of the song  is a great expression of his existence and in the photos shown throughout the video you can see the toll that life, violence and drug abuse took on Baker over the years.

Almost Blue…

 

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Sovereign Solitude

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on May 16, 2012| 6 Comments »

I’ve been getting work ready for my upcoming show, A Place to Stand, which opens June 8th at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This will be the thirteenth consecutive year that I have had a solo exhibit there yet it still induces a certain fear and anxiety, feelings that my own common sense tell me should have faded long ago.  But they still persist.  However, part of me appreciates this fear in that it makes me focus on the body of work, knowing that creating work that speaks and stands on its own is the only way to overcome these anxieties.  If I am satisfied with the overall feeling of the work then it will ultimately prove to be successful.

That being said, I am at a point in this process where the body of work has began to take a shape, a theme that runs through it.  It is called A Place to Stand and that definitely speaks very much to what I see in many of the paintings.  The word sovereignty  also comes to mind often when I scan through this group of work.  The idea of the individual standing apart, self-reliant and strong, is an appealing notion to me, as it is to many others.  This sovereign individual is still part of this world yet self-contained, it alone being responsible for its actions and reactions. It has made its choice and it has chosen solitude.

This is a scary concept for some, a life where we must take responsibility for our actions and decisions, where we relish our time alone in solitude.  It is a freedom which we profess to desire but are often hesitant in pursuing. It may not be a freedom which suits everybody but for those who seek this sovereignty of self, there is no greater reward than living by your own decisions and beliefs.  We may not seem significant in the greater world but we have the power to rule our own lives.

And that should always be remembered.

The painting at the top is very new and really ignited this thought process this morning.  It is called Sovereign Solitude, of course, and is  6″ by 22″ on paper.  I finished this piece late yesterday and found myself thinking about it all evening, wanting to get back in the studio early this morning to look at it to see if it still jibed with how I was seeing and feeling it in my mind.  It did. 

It has a warmth and calmness in it that I myself find appealing.  It is like taking a deep breath then slowly releasing it, allowing the effects of this action to be felt fully.  The pulse slows and breathing levels off. 

Solitude found.

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Blue Sovereignty

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on May 7, 2012| 4 Comments »

I’m in the midst of finishing up work for my upcoming show at the Principle Gallery early next month.   This show, my thirteenth there,  is titled A Place to Stand , after the famed quote from Archimedes, and opens June 8.  I’ve written here over the past few years about the process of working towards a show. For me, there’s a real rhythm that comes from this process, a deep groove where each new painting begins with little thought as to where it will go, each new piece just starting with a line or a slash of color then taking off on its own at a breakneck pace.  This rhythm is something I look forward to with every show.  It’s exciting to see work that sometimes doesn’t come so easily suddenly begin to flow easily before my eyes.   

I’ve done this long enough to appreciate how rare and fleeting is this feeling.  When I first experienced this euphoric rush, I didn’t recognize this, actually thinking it was just how things were, that I’d just progressed to a level where this was the norm.  Years later and many peaks and valleys in between, I know better.  As a result, I find myself really relishing the last few days when this rhythm seems to be fully in effect.  Relishing and hoping that it will hang around for a while.

This is a painting that came from this rhythmic surge, a 12″ by 16″ canvas that I call Blue Sovereignty.  There are a lot of things I could say about this painting.  The coolness and smoothness of tone in it that gives it a placid pall, for example.  Or how I see it as a sort of abstracted portrait when I look quickly at it, the moon serving as an eye in profile.  Or about the title’s reference to sovereignty,  about how we each have authority over our own life, our own empire of self.

 Or any number of different things.

But I will leave those alone for now. 

I think I just want to take it in without thought, much as it was created.  Free and easy…

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Uncle Orson Reviews Everything

Posted in Neat Stuff, Quote, tagged , , , , , on January 3, 2012| 3 Comments »

Last week, a friend forwarded me a link to an online article from the December 21st edition of a  Greensboro, NC newspaper,The Rhinoceros Times.  It was from a column called Uncle Orson Reviews Everything and in this particular column, Uncle Orson took on a variety of subjects including flash mobs, Andy Serkis ( the actor who portrayed Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films) and a book from Stephen Greenblatt,  The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.  He then went into a description of the shopping district of Alexandria, VA from a recent visit that included a visit to the Principle Gallery.  He writes:

I’ll confess that I spend my longest visit in Principle Gallery, which specializes in one of my favorite genres of art – hyper-realism and abstracted realism. My wife and I visited once before and fell in love with the art of GC Myers, a painter of symbolic landscapes with a bold earthtone palette.

A piece of his has stood now for years above the fireplace in our family room, where it is the focal point as you walk down the hall. It’s a place of honor – and we can’t bear to rotate any other piece in to replace it, even temporarily.

Myers makes it a point to keep his originals low-priced enough that regular people can afford them, though this means he must paint many of them! He’s a hard-working artist – but with a powerful vision, and art that rewards long contemplation.

He goes on to write about his admiration for the gallery and its many other extremely talented artist.  Needless to say, I was surprised and pleased at being the subject of his words, even the fact that he took notice of my desire to keep my work accessible to people of most income levels, a subject  I will talk in greater depth about in a later post.  I wondered who this Uncle Orson was and going back to the top of the page located a photo that I had missed earlier with the words By Orson Scott Card underneath. 

Orson Scott Card, it turns out, is an extraordinarily famous writer who has written over 60 books in several genres but is best known for his landmark science-fiction series that begins with Ender’s Game, a book that  won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards and came in third in a poll from NPR for the Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books, with only Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings snd Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy finishing above it.  Ender’s Game is currently in production for a long awaited film version,  to be released in 2013.

Now I must confess, I had no idea who Orson Scott Card was beforehand or the extent of his notoriety.  While I was an avid sci-fi and fantasy reader in my younger days, it was about the time that Ender’s Game came out that I lost track of the genres.  It wasn’t until I was at a family get-together a few days after Christmas that I realized how well known he was.  When I mentioned this Rhino Times article and said it was by the man who wrote Ender’s Game, my two nephews, both intheir 30’s now, were pretty excited as it had been a pretty big book in their lives.

 Even my sister, coming from the kitchen, asked, ” Orson Scott Card has one of your paintings? Well, my estimation of your work has just went up!”  It seems she had read it as well. 

As I have said here before, I am unaware of many things in this world.  So, Uncle Orson, excuse me for not knowing your work before this and thank you for your kind words in your article.  They are most appreciated and I am honored to have a painting in a place of honor in your home and hope it continues to give you enjoyment for many years to come.

And I will be reading Ender’s Game soon.

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Everyday Hero

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, Painting, Video, tagged , on December 9, 2011| 6 Comments »

This is a small painting, only 5″ by 6″ on canvas,  that recently went to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.   I call this piece Everyday Hero and even though it’s small in size, it’s one that I find full of meaning for myself.

As they often do in my paintings, the fields of alternating rows of color represent the act of labor.  The day-to-day sort of work of the people who toil every day with little if any recognition, trying to merely live their lives.  They raise their kids, they pay their bills and they simply try to just get along without bothering anyone or being bothered. 

 These are the people who built this country.  They built our infrastructure– the roads and bridges and the schools and factories.  They worked in the fields and in the foundries and factories and manned the trains and trucks that brought the products to market.  Moreover, these are the people who consumed the products that were made, moved and marketed here.  These were the people who created the wealth of this nation.

I know that this is sounding like a 99% spiel and maybe it is.  I have gotten so tired of hearing about the job creators and how they must be protected when very few are pointing out that the great wealth that these few possess came from the sweat and pocketbooks of the many.  I may be missing something here but I can’t think of anyone whose wealth was created in a vacuum that didn’t depend on the sale of their product, be it a manufactured item or a natural resource.   You might say that a hedge fund manager might not depend on the sale of a product but he only serves as a casino operator for those who wealth was created of the people.  Without their wealth, he has nothing.

Now don’t get me wrong.  It seems that when anybody makes the case for more equality of wealth, they are branded as being anti-capitalist and anti-business which is not the case.  The greatness of this country comes from this opportunity to succeed in a huge way, to take an idea or an innovation and set the world on fire with it.  You should be rewarded richly.  But unless you have the people to buy the products or ideas, unless you have the infrastructure to carry that product to these buyers, unless you have the fire fighters and police to protect your homes and offices, unless you have have clean air to breath and water to drink— it will never happen. 

You can be a hero to many by being a  job creator but you must  take some responsibilty for the everyday heroes who have made you wealthy, probably beyond anything most of these folks could fathom.  It is part of the unwritten contract of our land.  It is only fair.

Massachusetts Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren made a very passionate  statement of this same thought recently in a video from a fundraising event that most of you have probably seen.  It is as compelling and precise an argument as anyone I’ve seen make while standing up for the everyday heroes.  Here it is:

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Path to Clarity

Posted in Neat Stuff, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on December 2, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is a new painting called Path to Clarity, that made its way to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria yesterday.  It’s a 6″ square piece on paper and has a clarity in its color and tone that evoked the title for me.  I was looking at this piece and thought of an item that I came across lately, a test of the flexibility of the mind.  I’m sure this has been around for quite some time, probably for years in circles that cover areas of  psychological/cognitive testing.  When I first saw iit I thought it was just a foul-up in the code for the page I was reading , a seemingly random series of numbers and letters.  But seeing below that I was supposed to read it, I focused a bit and it came very easily.

Here’s the message:

7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15. PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F U C4N R34D 7H15.

Translated:

This message serves to prove how our minds can do amazing things! Impressive things! In the beginning it was hard but now, on this line your mind is reading automatically without even thinking about it. Be proud! Only certain people can read this. Please forward if you can read this.

I don’t know if there is anything to be gained from this exercise for the general public,but  it made me think about painting and art and how it communicates in very much the same way as this exercise, giving bits of data and filling the blanks with new information that translates in the mind of the viewer.  I looked at this painting and it very much made sense in this context.  I’m sure most people can look at this piece and immediately know what it represents.  Their mind takes in the info and it makes sense and translates very easily.  Their mind probably doesn’t question the white emptiness of the path, the blues of the hills or the orange and reds of the field.  Their mind reads it as one might read the passage above.

What does this mean?  That I really can’t tell except that it only serves as a form of validation of this work’s power as form of communication  rather than something created for mere aesthetics.  Not that aesthetics don’t come into play.   Harmony of color and form play a large part in making the message more palatable.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.  I guess that’s good enough.

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Before…

Posted in Biographical, Early Paintings, tagged , on September 11, 2011| 6 Comments »

Back home, safe and sound.  Sweet.

First, many,many thanks to everyone who came out to the Gallery Talk  at the Principle Gallery yesterday.  You were a great group and made my time in front  of you  very easy and enjoyable.  I hope I was able to pass on somethings you might not have known or answered whatever questions there may have existed.  If not, let me know and I’ll try to rectify that. 

I could talk much more about yesterday’s talk  and how much I appreciate those who attended but I guess I should at least way in on the obvious part of this date.  It’s, of course, the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks .  I’m sure there’s not a soul out there who hasn’t been made to remember this fact by the almost constant coverage by the media over the last several days. 

In yesterday’s talk, I tried to avoid mentioning this, wanting to provide some sort of diversion, but somehow ended up talking about it anyway.  I think it came about when I was trying to explain how much the support and energy that I received from these folks over the years had transformed my life.  It reminded me very much of a feeling I felt on September 10 in 2001, the day before the attack.

It was a spectacular late summer day with hints of autumn in the air, a pure blue sky and a sun that was softly warm but not harsh.  Purely pleasant.  I remember walking around my pond that day.  I was at the point in my year when I was done with shows that I was going to do for the year.  Both had been wildly successful, beyond what I ever expected, and  I finally had a bit of time to relax and really think about this as I strolled around the pond.  I thought about how different my life was now, in 2001, than it was ten years before.  I had felt myself  a lost soul at that time, living a purposeless life with little prospect of doing much with it.  But over the years, art had come into my life and everything was different.  I found a form of expression, began to see clearer those things that were there in my life that had always been there and were core to my existence but I had somehow overlooked as I stumbled around in prior years. 

I found myself and a reason for living.  As I stopped by the pond with that clear sky above, it all struck me on that day, that September 10.  I felt myself the most fortunate man in the universe that day.  My life felt as complete and satisfying as I could imagine and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of appreciation for my good fortune.  I had trouble believing it was my life I was indeed living.

Of course, within 24 hours that feeling disappeared in the smoke and devastation of the events of that day.  It’s taken ten sometimes awful years to somewhat approach that feeling again and yesterday, as I felt the warmth of that group,  I talked about this feeling and my appreciation for them for allowing me to regain that feeling.  I don’t know that I made it clear but one doesn’t always speak easily about matters of grace.

The painting at the top was painted on that day and reflects very much the fullness and contentment I felt for my life at that point.  It is filled with that sense of peace and grace I hinted at above.  It came to be titled Before…  

There was a strange twist to this painting.  I always number my paintings so that I can more easily record and track them over time.  The serial number for that painting was 99-911.  I did nothing to make it fit this way, and in fact didn’t even recognize this number’s relationship to the date until some time later.  Just an eerie coincidence.

It  is a painting that I deeply regret ever letting go and though I know that the folks who now possess it have their own deep feelings for this piece, they will never know how much it still  lives with me, how much it reminds me that day, that September 10th when life seemed as good it could be and how rare and fleeting that moment can be.

Thanks again to everyone from yesterday.  Have a good and peaceful day.

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Changing Perspective

Posted in Painting, tagged on July 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, I wrote about paintings that are returned from a gallery and how my view of them has changed over the years.  In the comments, Clint, a staff member at the Principle Gallery (and a great guy ), wrote about he is often surprised by certain pieces that don’t sell at a show, pieces that seem to really strike a lot of people.  I, too, think it’s interesting to see what paintings don’t find a home despite much interest.

Sometimes it’s  just a matter of size when the painting starts to take on larger dimensions, such as paintings that are 30″ by40″ or larger.  The size naturally eliminates many collectors who simply don’t have the space.  The size also means that the pieces are more expensive which is also limiting.

But sometimes it’s not size or price.  Sometimes, like with the painting above, Defining Moment, it’s just not the right time or place.  It’s still a surprise although not as much as earlier in my career.  Then, I seemed to be able to tell when a painting was finished if it would leave the gallery quickly and was generally correct.   I could often tell that a painting would go quickly, often within hours of hitting the gallery.  But over the years I have seen this ability diminished and the paintings that I think will go quickly now seem to be the ones that linger, that don’t leap off the wall into the arms of a new owner.

I don’t know what has changed but think it may be that my eye has changed over this time.   Early on, I wasn’t far removed from my days where I worked at other jobs where I was serving and reading other people on a daily basis.  My eye was used to looking at things from someone else’s vantage point, a useful quality in any job where you are trying to satisfy other people, and I really think this allowed me to see my early work as others might.

  But over the years I have become more isolated in my studio, less attuned to reading other people.   My perspective now is only what I see in the piece, not what other’s eyes might see.  I suppose this is as it should be.  But it was pretty exciting when I felt like I was looking through other eyes and the work felt like it was someone else’s.  Now I solely judge a painting by what it does for me, knowing that it is my work.  Sometimes those pieces which most excite me take a bit longer to find someone whose reading of it matches mine.   

But they usually do find a like mind.  This I’ve learned.  So, even though they may not find a home quickly, I am patient in knowing they will eventually.

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No Funk Zone

Posted in Personal Mythology, Recent Paintings, tagged on June 15, 2011| 1 Comment »

I’m officially declaring this a No Funk Zone.

In the past, I’ve written here of a sort of letdown, a sort of glumness or funk that occurs in the aftermath of even highly successful shows.  It’s no stranger to me and I’ve talked to other artists who describe the same thing happening to them.  It most likely results from working so hard to meet the deadline for a show, having everything so geared up for a specific moment so that when it has passed a void is left.  A new purpose and immediacy must be found quickly to fill the vacuum left.

However, I’m finding that this hasn’t been the case after this most recent show at the Principle Gallery.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I am already deeply immersed in my next project, my annual show at the West End Gallery.  That gives me a sense of purpose and a target at which to shoot.  It leaves little time to mope around.

But I’ve had this same show after the Principle show every year for eleven years now and I have fallen into a funk several times after the first show.  But this time I ‘m back in the studio with a renewed vigor, eager to work and feeling oddly upbeat.  It feels good but worries me a bit– I’m not used to finding myself in this territory.

I have no good explanation for this mild elation except that perhaps this last show has made me feel somewhat more confident in the direction the work is heading.  I often speak about validation of ones work and perhaps that is what I’m feeling.  I have often lost confidence at certain points over the years, as was the case for a period of time coming into this show.  It’s a self-doubt that creeps in and nags incessantly, making me question every move I make as well as the validity of my work.  So when people respond in a way that you hoped they might, seeing the work as you wished them to see it, it validates what you yourself see there.  The self-doubts turn to self-assurance, which is energizing.

That’s the best rationale I can offer.  I’m trying to not overthink this.  I just want to enjoy this moment and take full advantage of the energy it supplies because I know all too well how quickly it can be gone, replaced by those questions and doubts.

So for now, welcome to the No Funk Zone.

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