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Posts Tagged ‘West End Gallery’

Coming Up After August

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- At the End of the Day smI have written here several times about my dislike for the month of August, most recently in a post from last year called Cruel August.  This year’s events have not changed my mind one bit.  But today mercifully ends August and there is the somewhat more soothing feel of September and October on the way.

Here’s what is on my calendar for the next month or so:

There are only a couple of days left before my show, Contact, comes off the walls at the West End Gallery in Corning.  The show ends this Friday, September 2, so if you want to take a look at this year’s show, please get into the West End in the next day or so.

On September 17, I will be giving my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This is my 14th talk at the Principle and it is always a pretty good time.   It’s a simple matter of combining some good folks, good conversation, a few confessions and the chance to win one of my paintings at the end of it all.  And a little more.  There are more details that will be revealed in the next week or so.  As I said, it’s Saturday, September 17, beginning at 1 PM.

Then then following week, I head up to beautiful Keuka Lake where I will again lead a two-day workshop for the Arts Center of Yates County.  Last year’s workshop was my first foray into teaching and, despite the initial apprehension that I wrote about here on the blog, was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.  I was amazed at the amount of info the attendees absorbed and the great progress they made in two days.  It was very satisfying and I am excited to be at it again this year.  The workshop runs on Thursday and Friday, September 22 and 23 from 9-4 each day.  For more info click here.  You can also call them at  315-536-8226.

After that, it’s on to this year’s last solo show, Part of the Plan, which opens October 29th at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA.  It’s been two years since my last show at the Kada, which has represented my work for over 20 years now, and I am eager to show some new work in this show.  There will be more details upcoming on this show but mark your calendar.

 

 

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Into New Territory

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Into New Territory smIf your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.

–Shunryu Suzuki

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I was looking for some words to go with this new painting, Into New Territory, that is part of my show now hanging at the West End Gallery.  I came across this quote from the late Zen monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki that expressed very much what I was seeing in this painting.

I see this painting as being about moving out from that which you know, examining the possibilities that open up to you when you dare to move beyond your comfort zone.

When I read Suzuki’s words, I began thinking about my own experience as a painter.  In the beginning when everything was new and my knowledge consisted of much less than it does today, every day was filled with new discoveries that opened up wider and wider vistas of possibility.  There seemed to be no boundary, no limit to where it might take me.

But as one gains more knowledge and becomes more “expert,” one begins to set limits on their possibility.  They learn hard lessons from failures and often even stop looking in that direction as a future avenue of creativity.  Their focus becomes narrower and narrower.  The possibilities that seemed endless as a beginner seem much more limited and defined.  The “what is” is greater but the “what might be” seems to be fading into the mist.

The trick is in retaining some of that  beginner’s exuberance and its naive openness to all possibility, and to find a way to incorporate the gained knowledge that came to you along the way.  In the context of this painting, it means straying out into the open and daring to look in all directions.  It means setting aside all fear of failure and the encumbrances of the “what is” to move toward an endless horizon.

It’s so simple a thought and so difficult to realize.  But one must try and try and try.

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Blue Fires

Posted in Music, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2016| 5 Comments »

GC Myers- Blue Flame smFirst, too many thanks to send out to everyone who made yesterday’s talk at the West End Gallery such a fun event.  That may well be one of the most enjoyable talks I’ve participated out of the many that I’ve done.  What a wonderful and engaged group of folks!  They were so welcoming and warm that it made me feel very comfortable and free to tell my little stories.  I had a good time and I hope they did as well.

Thank you a hundred times over to those of you who took time on a warm August day to come sit for a bit with me.  I was so honored by your presence and will feed off the memory of yesterday for a long time to come.

I have to add that after the talk ended I found myself completely exhausted–wiped out completely.  More so than I remember from the aftermath of past talks.  I think it’s a combination the built-up anxiety of having to talk in front of a group of people, the actual mental effort expended and the release from having it all go off in a very good way that left me sapped.  But it was a satisfied exhaustion.

For today’s Sunday Morning music I thought I’d couple one of the paintings from the West End Gallery show with a song.  My painting shown here is titled Blue Flame, a thin 2″ by 14″ on paper.  The song I’ve chosen is titled Blue Fires from case/lang/veirs which is a one time grouping for this year of singers Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs.  I’ve been a fan of k.d.lang for over 30 years now and am a huge fan of Neko Case so this was no-brainer for me.  Just a lovely song that I think meshes well with the image here.

So, enjoy and have yourself a pleasant Sunday.

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Talk Reminder

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on August 5, 2016| 3 Comments »

Bearable Vastness -- GC Myers

Bearable Vastness — GC Myers

Just a reminder that if you’re in the Corning area tomorrow, Saturday, that there is a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery beginning at 1 PM.  I will be talking a bit and taking questions about almost anything you want to ask.  Hopefully, most will focus on my current show, Contact, that hangs in the gallery until September 2.  But, as in most of these talks we cover a wide range of subjects.

GC Myers- Private Glow 2016

WIN THIS PAINTING!

If you have never been to one of my talks, you should know that one of the more popular parts comes at the end (I finally shut up!) when I have a drawing for one of my paintings.  I always look forward to these moments and get a real charge from this.  Private Glow shown here is the piece I have selected for this talk.

I hope you’ll be there for the talk– maybe you’ll take home this painting!

Starwatcher

Starwatcher

 

 

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Sprites at the West End

Posted in Current Events, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , , , , , on August 4, 2016| 4 Comments »

SPEAROW at the West End

SPEAROW at the West End

I am totally out of the loop about the current Pokemon Go craze as well as Pokemon in its original form.  I don’t know what the characters are or what they are called.  Nothing.  I only know about it from the stories I have heard of people so engrossed in playing the game on their phones that they walk into traffic and so on.

But it turns out that the sprites, as I learned they are called, have been spending time in the West End Gallery lately.  The gallery is a PokeStop in Corning and there has been an increase of people coming in with smartphones in hand to the point that owner Jesse Gardner began to worry about their safety on the stairway leading to the upper gallery.  The idea of someone stumbling down the steps in pursuit of an invisible sprite isn’t in her business plan.

Jesse took a few pictures of some that she found hanging around the work.  So if you come to the Gallery Talk this Saturday you might be able to catch sight of NIDORAN, SPEAROW or CATERPIE or whoever else might be there that day.  Hopefully, they won’t cause any problems during the talk.

And don’t worry, they are not eligible to win the painting that will be given away at the end of the talk.  So whether you see the sprites or not, I hope you can make it to the West End Gallery for the Gallery Talk that runs from 1-2 PM.  There will be refreshments, a prize or two, some art and maybe a few laughs.

CATERPIEwithGCMyers

CATERPIE using the Bridge

EEVEEwithGCMyers3

EEVEE Taking in the show.

NIDORANwithGCMyers

NIDORAN at the West End

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Rooted

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Rooted smOnly when man succeeds in developing his reason and love further than he has done so far, only when he can build a world based on human solidarity and justice, only when he can feel rooted in the experience of universal brotherliness, will he have transformed his world into a truly human home.

–Erich Fromm, Sane Society, 1955

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This painting  hangs in my current show at the West End Gallery.  It is a 30″ by 10″ canvas that I call Rooted.

I often see the Red Chairs hanging in a tree as a symbol of human solidarity, of being part of a continuum that started long before its own origins, descended from a common beginning born in the very elements of this earth.

It’s this common beginning that we often forget in our journey through life. We find that we are separating and dividing ourselves, isolating ourselves further from the common root that bore us all.   In this isolation we fail to see our own humanity in others, seeing only our differences and not our common bonds.

And it is these common bonds that will no doubt determine our future on this earth.

Is the ideal of human solidarity a possibility or a pipe-dream?  I do not know.  It certainly seems improbable, given where we are at this point in time.  But I do know that if we dismiss it as a possibility then we don’t have much of a future ahead of us.  Our strength is carried in our roots, our oneness.

And that’s how I am seeing this painting…

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GC Myers- Private Glow 2016REMINDER;

GALLERY TALK at the WEST END GALLERY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1-2 PM

Join me for what I hope will be a lively conversation along with a free drawing for the painting, “Private Glow”, shown here on the left, as well as a few other surprises!

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Gallery Talk Saturday

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on August 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Private Glow 2016Saturday, August 6, I will be giving a Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in conjunction with my show, Contact,  that is currently hanging there.  The talk runs from 1 to 2 PM.

If you’ve never been to one of my talks, they are usually pretty free flowing affairs with a lot of back and forth between the participants and me.  I try to make it as interesting and fast moving as I can to make everybody feel engaged and involved in some way.  The really good talks usually have me talking at the audience less and just responding off the cuff to all sorts of questions in a conversational manner.

I never know exactly what’s going to come out of my mouth during these conversational talks.  I try to be absolutely honest in my responses sometimes surprise myself with what I say so, for good or bad, there is that wild card at play as well.

Of course, if you’re aware of my Gallery Talks, you know that I normally have a drawing for an original painting at the end of the talk.  Unsurprisingly, it has become a very popular part of the talks, both for the audience and myself.  For me, I see it as an expression of gratitude for all that they and others have given me in this life as an artist with their enthusiastic support over these many years.  I get a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction from this part of the talks.

The painting that I have selected to give away at this Gallery Talk is the painting shown at the top, Private Glow.  It is a 12″ by 12″ painting on canvas that has a little story about how it came to this point that I will share at the talk.  It has my favorite Red Tree on an island which very much fits with a current theme in my work.  I think it’s a strong piece in many ways and am pleased to choose it for this talk.

And, of course, there are usually other surprises at the talks.  So if you can take time from a summer Saturday, I invite you to the West End Gallery for this year’s Gallery Talk.

I will do everything I can to make it a good time.  Promise.

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Midnight Special

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , on July 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Voyager Blue smToday there is none of that other stuff here– I won’t even utter the “P” word here this morning.  As promised, today is about art and music.

This morning I want to link a song and a painting and the piece shown above immediately came to mind.  It’s a 20″ by 10″ canvas titled Voyager Blue that is included in my current show, Contact, at the West End Gallery.  It has a definite narrative to it, with the small almost indistinguishable figure at the horizon serving as The Seeker, which is often the character that figures portray when they appear in my work.  The Seeker constantly searches for meaning, for purpose and for answers in this life.

The song I thought I would attach to this painting is the great folk classic The Midnight Special.  This song, whose lyrics first appeared in 1905, is about a prisoner who longs for his freedom and symbolizes it in the form of The Midnight Special, a night train that would carry them away from the despair of their imprisonment. There was an actual Midnight Special train that ran between Chicago and St. Louis but the one depicted in this song is considered to be more likely a train on the Missouri Pacific line, the Houstonian, that ran between Houston and New Orleans, departing just before midnight.

But maybe it simply refers to the night train that is nearest to the prisoner singing for his freedom.

This song has been recorded many, many times over the past century by artists from Leadbelly to ABBA but today I chose a version from the Queen of American folk music, Odetta.  It has a nice bluesy sway to it and seems like a good song to push off from on this Sunday morning.

Have a great day.  I hope the Midnight Special shines her ever-loving light on you.

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La Vie en Rose

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , on July 24, 2016| 1 Comment »

west-end-gallery-160First thing this morning, many thanks to everyone who came out to the West End Gallery on Friday night for the opening of my show there.  I am most appreciative for anyone who takes the time on a hot Friday summer evening to come into the gallery.  It was great seeing old and new friends as well as seeing how they reacted to the work, which was hung beautifully by Lin and Jesse.  They did a great job pairing the paintings with original glass work —  each seemed to reflect and enhance the other.

Again, many thanks for making this a great show.  If you haven’t had a chance to get into the West End Gallery, please do try soon.  The show hangs until September 2.  I will also be giving a Gallery Talk on Saturday, August 6 from 1-2 PM at the gallery.  As is now tradition, there will be some sharing so mark the date and try to come on in.

This morning is the end of the Tour de France, the incredible bike race that is one of my favorite events of every summer.  This last day is generally a ceremonial stage, with the riders coming into Paris en masse for a final end of race for one final sprint to the finish line.

Tour de France Froome and Team SkyThe race leader this year is past two-time Tour winner Chris Froome, a Kenyan-born Brit whose skinny frame hides a huge diesel motor within that seems to just chug and chug without end.  Froome’s dominance is quite remarkable but just enduring such a race is incredible in itself.  Three weeks with only two days of rest that covers about 2100 miles that wind around France and neighboring countries, up and over the highest peaks and mountain passes in the Alps and Pyrenees.  

It is speed, strength and sheer endurance mixed in with the toughness to scramble up after hitting the road at 45 MPH and continue riding a tough course for another 50 miles.   Imagine running half and full marathons nearly every day for three weeks over rugged terrain in all sorts of weather.  That’s the Tour.

I always hate to see it end.

So for this Sunday morning music here’s a French classic, La Vie en Rose, sung by the wondrous Rhiannon Giddens.  It is a gorgeous version that she mad in response to the terror attacks in France last year.  Unfortunately, it applies this year as well.

But be optimistic and have a great Sunday!

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“Contact” Opening Tonight

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on July 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Contact sm

“Contact”- GC Myers

GC Myers- The Empowering sm

“The Empowering”- GC Myers

Well, Friday’s finally here which means that my show, Contact, opens this evening at the West End Gallery in Corning.  I think it’s a very strong group of work with an emphasis on color, texture, rhythm and pattern.

Definitely color.

If you know my work in any way you know that color is vital to my work.   Like words to a writer, it is the real conveyor for everything I am trying to express.  It can carry emotion, thought and a sense of time and space.  Color unconsciously speaks to us and puts us in contact with those unseen forces I so often speak of here.  I think you’ll see that in this show at the West End.

So, if you’re in the area this evening, please stop in at the West End Gallery.  The reception today, Friday, July 22,  runs from 5-7:30 PM and is free and open to everyone.  I will be there for the duration and would be happy to spend some time with you there, answering any questions you might have or discussing your feelings on the work.

I hope to see you on Market Street tonight!

"Unrestrained" -GC Myers

“Unrestrained” -GC Myers

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