Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Stained Glass’

More Local Than I Thought

Posted in Current Events, Event, tagged , on October 17, 2019| 1 Comment »

I was contacted a short time ago on Facebook from stained glass artist Annie Fatica in Erie, PA. She told me in a few short sentences that she had been a fan of my work, having a small painting obtained at the Kada Gallery in Erie, and that she was inspired by it in her own work. She included a photo of the stained glass piece shown here adding that she had created for a fundraiser for the Democratic Party her aunt was involved with.

I was very pleased to see the work and immediately could see that she had “borrowed” a little from my work. I think it’s a fine piece of work and am honored to have had any part in its inspiration.

I naturally thought the local fundraiser was in or around Erie, where Annie lives. Even though I live 230 miles away, that was fine with me. I am happy to help in any way that gets more people involved in the political process and raise awareness of how they can use it to affect real change.

It turns out that the local fundraiser even more local than I had thought, being right in my own backyard in the form of a Grass Roots Get-Together to benefit our local Chemung County Democratic Committee. I was totally surprised and even more happy that this work would benefit the local party.

Small worlds.

And it takes place tonight, Thursday,from 5:30-8:00 PM at the Hill Top Inn, overlooking the Chemung Valley and the city of Elmira. For my friends not familiar with this area, the Hill Top is but a few miles on the same hillside from where Mark Twain spent many a summer, writing some of his best known works at Quarry Farm.

This piece of work will be part of a silent auction and I am hoping it raises a bunch of cash for the local party. If you’re going tonight, hope this gives you a bit more of a background on this particular work from Annie Fatica. I checked out some of her other work and was totally impressed by her skill and vision. Great stuff! Below is a favorite of mine.

[Because I knew I would not have any time to write this morning, I wrote this post yesterday before. After witnessing the absolute traitorous madness that our president* displayed yesterday at several separate instances, I am more pleased than ever to have this work support a party that stands in stark opposition to him. This must stop now.]

Read Full Post »

Imperfection/ Redux

Posted in Biographical, Early Paintings, Quote, tagged , , , on November 21, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers-2001 Seeking ImperfectionI’ve been taking a stained glass class for a few weeks now, trying to shake up my routine and thought process a bit.  In going over my work there with the instructor who is teaching me on a one-to-one basis, I try to explain that while I am seeking to learn proper technique I am not shooting for perfection.  I am looking for expression and things like rhythm and harmony.  It made me think of the painting above , Seeking Imperfection, which was the title piece for my second show at the Principle Gallery back in 2001.  I am re-running a post from a few years back that better explains my search for the not-perfect aspects of our world.

_______________________

Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.

–Thomas Carlyle

****************

I was thinking early this morning about a comment made yesterday by Linda Leinen about how we go through life, starting fresh and clean, and progress as we absorb all that life deals out to us, leaving us somewhat scarred. It reminded me of  the title of  both a painting and a show that I did many years ago called Seeking Imperfection.  It remains one of my favorite titles, probably because it best describes my own relationship with perfection.

I’ve always been somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of perfection or the search for it.  Perfection is the antithesis of our humanity, at least in how I view it, and to seek it is to deny our imperfect natures.  We are flawed and scarred characters in a world that is definitely not perfect except in those rare moments when all of these flaws coalesce into instances of harmony and beauty.

That’s kind of what I hope for and sometimes see in  my paintings– harmony and beauty despite the inherent imperfections.  I can find flaws in any of my paintings but I don’t cringe at the sight of them.  Instead, they make me glad because in seeing them I recognize my connection to them, can see the struggle in trying to create these moments of harmony.  A pit here, a dot of stray paint  or a rough edge there, a bristle from a brush trapped in the paint– it all speaks to me, saying that it can be whole and harmonious-  beautiful- despite the flaws.  Perhaps not a bad way to view one’s life.

Read Full Post »

From Out of the Blue

Posted in Influences, Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , on April 15, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers From Out of the Blue smIn yesterday’s blogpost, I talked a bit about the influence that stained glass had on my work.  Deep color, the luminosity  and lines defining the forms within are all attributes that have found their way into my work.  It was never a conscious decision, one where I said to myself that I was going to try to emulate the look and effect of stained glass.  It was just one of those things that I took in and integrated into my personal aesthetic. Just something I liked to look at.  And that somehow synthesized into the work.

In fact, I wasn’t even aware of the similarity until a few years into my career when several people pointed it out to me, asking if stained glass was a big influence.  I think I always answered yes to the question.  I mean, I liked it a lot so it had to have been an influence on some basic level.

Looking around the studio at the group of new work that is growing for my upcoming June show, Native Voice,  at the Principle Gallery, there are a number of paintings that you can easily see the influence of stained glass.  The piece shown above, From Out of the Blue, really has that feel for me, with the geometry of its puzzle-like pieces in the foreground and the brightness of its sky.  I see that sky in glass as hundreds of small, sharp shards of varying sizes and colors, all radiating outward.

But maybe it being a painting and not stained glass is the attraction for me.  Each medium has its limitations and being able to borrow attributes from one medium and integrate them into the vocabulary and process of another is exciting in itself.  It is painting’s spontaneity that draws me to it, where instinctual moves can be made within moments that change the whole piece.  I don’t know that I could get that with glass and could easily see a piece like From Out of the Blue becoming a contrivance in stained glass.  Too thought out.  Too worked over.  Too clean.

Definitely not from out of the blue— which is how I like it.

 

Read Full Post »

Judith Schaechter/ Cold Genius

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , , , on April 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Judith Schaechter- Cold Genius CMOG

Judith Schaechter- Cold Genius CMOG

I’ve been thinking a lot about stained glass lately, both as the influence it has been on my work and as a possible future foray.  Growing up around Corning, glass was always in high visibility and trying to capture some of the luminosity of glass was always a goal in my work.  My fondness for the use of defining lines in my paintings most likely stems from a deep affection for stained glass.

When the new (and spectacular!) Contemporary Art + Design Wing opened recently at the Corning Museum of Glass, among all of the epic glass works it was a more modest sized piece of stained glass tucked away to one side that most caught my eye.  It was from Philadelphia-based stained glass artist Judith Schaechter and it was titled Cold Genius.  The photo of it at the top does not do it justice, doesn’t capture the inner glow created by the integrated lightbox.  Believe me when I say it is a striking piece of art.

Judith Schaechter -Wreck of the Isabella 2005

Judith Schaechter -Wreck of the Isabella 2005

I knew nothing of the work of Judith Schaechter beforehand but this image just triggered something.  Looking her up and  finding her work on her website as well a number of others, I discovered that she was one of the pioneers in modern stained glass, having been at the forefront of the medium for over 30 years.  I was overwhelmed by her productivity, her creativity and innovation as well as the consistency of her vision. As I’ve shown here before, one of my ways of quickly taking in an artist’s personal style is in viewing a page of their work on Google.  As you can see at the bottom, Schaechter’s work has a completeness of voice that any artist would envy.

While it is often macabre in nature, it is always beautiful having a transcendent quality that glows from within.  It feels both contemporary and timeless, which is the goal of any artist.

It was hard to not be in awe and easy to be inspired, to see things in her work that fed my own desire for expression, that set off pangs of wanting to make an attempt in that medium.   It’s not a feeling I often experience with many contemporary artists so you can understand my excitement at finding her work.

The few images and my short paragraphs here may not fully do her work justice. Check out her work for yourself on her website.  It includes a very interesting project where she installed windows at the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly.  There’s also a great recent  interview online that is very enlightening– I think many artists will see many things that  jibe with their own experiences.

Judith Schaechter- Google Image Screenshot

Judith Schaechter Eastern State Penitentiary Project

Judith Schaechter Eastern State Penitentiary Project

Judith Schaechter -Battle of Carnival and Lent /Eastern State Pen.

Judith Schaechter -Battle of Carnival and Lent/ Eastern State Pen.

Judith Schaechter Joan_of_Arc 2007

Judith Schaechter Joan_of_Arc 2007

Judith schaechter_23_birthofeve

Read Full Post »

John LaFarge’s Stained Glass

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2013| 4 Comments »

John LaFarge- Samoan Dancing a Standing Siva 1909I am a big fan of stained glass windows.  It has influenced my work in many ways, from trying to emulate the brilliance and glow of the colors to the way in which I see and compose my work.  I have been lucky enough to live in an area with access to the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany who is easily the best known and most stylish of stained glass makers.  The Corning Museum of Glass has a number of his pieces, which are remarkable,  as do several churches in the area.

But there is someone to rival, if not eclipse, the works of Tiffany, someone who actually paved the way for Tiffany’s work with his innovative work in stained glass.  This was John LaFarge.  I can’t remember the exact piece or location of the first time I saw his work except that it was somewhere in NYC.  But I do remember the stunning colors and the lead work which held the glass pieces together.  It  was so different than that of other stained glass windows I had seen which was normally clean and neat, fitting for the solemnity of a church.  But the LaFarge lead work I saw was rough and dark, dividing the opalescent glass but also becoming part of the composition in itself.  His lines were organic and integral to the composition.  It was remarkable.

I came across the image shown above recently,  Samoan Dancing a Standing Siva, in a book about LaFarge’s travels to Tahiti and other South Pacific islands in the early 1890’s and about how this expedition changed his work.  It’s interesting that the other artist whose work was transformed by Tahiti, Paul Gauguin, arrived on the island just days after LaFarge departed.

This piece of stained glass excites me very much in the use of line, especially in the naturalness and organic feel of them, as well as the contrast between the brilliance of the colors and the the darknesses that surround them.  To me,this is simply magnificent, possessing those things that I want to see in my own work.

There is a Pinterest page with many of LaFarge’s more famous stained glass pieces, most of which are a bit more formal than this piece above.  But it gives a nice overview of his work on one page.  To see it click here.

Read Full Post »