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Posts Tagged ‘West End Gallery’

Law of Nature

Posted in Opinion, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on January 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

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There is a wonderful law of nature that the three things we crave most in life– happiness, freedom and peace of mind– are always obtained by giving them to someone else.

—— General Peyton March

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This seems like the right thought at this time.  All too many people all over the world  lacking in happiness, freedom and peace and too many people trying to satisfy these desires of their own in a greedy, selfish way, believing they are not connected to the suffering of others.  That they cannot have an effect.

But ultimately we are all connected.  And perhaps it will only take a few small acts of kindness in our everyday lives that will snowball, inspiring others to action and changing the way that our collective mind looks at the suffering of others,  allowing us to believe that we can do great things.  And with that belief, we could do great things.

And wouldn’t that be a big step forward to achieving happiness, freedom and peace of mind for ourselves?

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The piece at the top of this post is titled Lines of Connection and is a wee 2″ by 4″ painting and is available as part of the Little Gems show at the West End Gallery in Corning.

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Little Gems

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Recent Paintings, tagged , on January 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I’m trying to refocus my attention back to my work after the last few days of the auction.  Currently, I am working on a group of very small paintings for an annual show called Little Gems at the West End Gallery in Corning.

This show has always had special significance for me in that it was the first show that I ever publicly displayed my work, back in 1995.  I wasn’t sure where the road would lead at that point and surprisingly, it has surpassed my hopes of that time.  Without that first step, at that first show fifteen years ago, I might very well have a very, very different life now.  So you see how I put some weight towards this exhibit of small paintings.

I also like this show for the format which forces me to work small.  It’s a great opportunity to work out new things on a small basis,such as amping up different colors and blocking in new compositions.  Or in the case of this small piece shown above, revisit a composition with a different feel and color.  Small pieces enable me to work on dynamism on a small scale, finding what elements work and might translate to larger work in the future.

Important rehearsal time.

From a collecting standpoint, small works have always been important to me.  Many of my longtime collectors obtained a small painting of mine as their first piece of art.  I try to make the small pieces every bit the same as the larger, more expensive paintings in all aspects except for the price.  I like the idea of making original work available in price to most people, opening the sometimes overbearing world of art to a wider range of the public.  There is something exciting about having new eyes and new energy in the galleries and both often come from people who may have been intimidated by the idea of even being in an art gallery in the past.

And like my first foray into the world of art fifteen years back, that can be an important first step.

Little Gems opens  February 5, with a reception from 5-7:30 PM,  and runs through March 12 at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.

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At the Gallery

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on December 28, 2009| 2 Comments »

Well, I’m through the first two days of a 5 day stint at the West End Gallery in Corning.  Thus far it has been pretty uneventful with pretty light traffic, less than we had hoped for the days following Christmas.

I was able to meet, for the first time, several collectors who came in.  One was a lady from California who had acquired several pieces of mine over the years.  As she came through the gallery with her daughter, who she was visiting in Corning, I asked if I could be of assistance.  She said no, saying see just wanted to see some of the work of Gary Snyder, the artist who had done several paintings she had purchased there.  As she went up the stairs to the upper gallery, I ran through the artists who have shown there and couldn’t for the life of me, remember a Gary Snyder.

A while later, she came down the stairs and I asked if she saw anything of interest.  She said she loved Snyder’s work that was there.

Perplexed I asked if she had actually found some.

She said yes and explained how she ‘d followed his work since the smaller blocks of color and the first red trees.  It suddenly dawned on me that she was confusing my name.

“Do you mean Gary Myers– GC Myers?”

In that moment it dawned on her as well that she had the name confused. “Oh my, yes!” she exclaimed then told me she was thinking of a California poet named Gary Snyder.  I told her that I was the painter and she was very surprised and pleased to finally meet me.  We talked for quite a while, having a pleasant conversation, and she left with one of my books.

There were several other encounters of that sort, enough to make the days go by quickly. The piece at the top, Away From the Chaos, a 20″ by 24″ canvas has been garnering a lot of attention.  It has an interesting rhythm in the sky that has been making people stop and take notice.  One of the benefits of being in the gallery is watching how people react to different pieces from different artists, seeing how different colors and elements attract the viewer.  It’s a constant reminder of the elements that make a painting work and how important it is to keep those elements central to the piece.

So, even when it’s been slow in the gallery there are lesson to be learned.  Got to run and get ready for class…

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At the West End

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged , on December 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

It’s two days before Christmas and rushing towards the end of this year and into the next.  2010.

As I’ve noted in recent posts, for me this the time of year when I am regrouping and trying to gain focus on the direction of my work for the upcoming year.  I am working out new ideas and planning how I want to put my solo shows together, thematically.

For the short term, starting the day after Christmas and going until the day before New Year’s Eve, I will be at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.  If you’re in the area, please feel free to stop in and take a leisurely browse through this great gallery.  I’ll be there to answer questions about my work so if you’re interested, come on in.

During that time at the West End, I will be bringing in a few pieces from my archives that haven’t been shown in a while.  Some will be available  for this time only.  There will also be a few surprises, so stop in and spend a few minutes.  I’ll be looking for you!

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Upcoming

Posted in Current Events, tagged , on December 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Well, I’ve firmed up a couple of things that I will be doing in the next few weeks.  First, tomorrow I will be giving a talk about my work  for a group at, of all things, a Christmas party.  It’s an annual event given by a longtime collector of my paintings who first became acquainted with me while I was still waiting tables back in the 90’s.

Then I will be guest-sitting at the West End Gallery in Corning from the day after Christmas until  December 30.  I haven’t done something like this for some time and am looking forward to it.  I’ve been looking for something to shake up my perspective and the opportunity to be surrounded by art and talk about it seemed like a perfect fit.  I did this once before, about 11 or 12 years ago, and it was really enlightening to get a different view on how people look at art and what matters to them, something that gets lost in the isolation of the studio.  It also creates an energy that will carry over into the studio in January, when I start really focusing on the shows for that year.

I’ll be talking a little more about this in the next week or so.  It’s a great chance, if you have questions about the work, to ask them outside the night of an opening when time is very limited.  I’m planning a few other special things so if you’re in the area, please stop in to shoot the breeze and take a look at the work in this wonderful gallery.

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Patriot

Posted in Neat Stuff, Video, tagged , , , on November 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

It’s Saturday morning and something made me think about the meaning of patriotism.  Out of the blue.  I began thinking of an old Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul song, “I Am a Patriot” and a version that he performed back in 1984.  It had a long intro that was simply put by Little Steven ( better known to most  as Steve Van Zandt of the E Street Band and The Sopranos) and speaks as well to these times as it did 25 years ago.

It may be hard to get past the 80’s look of the clothing and the production of the show this is from but I think it’s still a pretty good anthem for doing what is best for the people of your country first, setting aside self-interest.   And that’s what patriots do.

By the way, the painting shown is  The Way of the Brave and is currently hung at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.  I thought it fit the song…

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Potential

Posted in Early Paintings, Influences, Opinion, Painting, tagged on September 8, 2009| 2 Comments »

Elmira Street 1994This is an old piece from 1994 when I was still just beginning to realize that I might find something in all the time and effort I was putting into painting.  It’s not a great piece but there are things I like about, things that gave me a feeling of potential, at least in my own head.

I bring this up because of a brief conversation I had with a friend this past weekend.  I attended an opening at the West End Gallery and ran into a friend, also a painter, so naturally our conversation turned to baseball.  We were discussing a well known pitcher who had great abilities, great stuff, who, while occasionally displaying his brilliant talents, often performed far below his talent level.  His efforts seemed to betray his potential.

In the conversation, I equated the pitcher to a painter we both knew.  I had followed his work for a number of years ever since he had graduated from a pretty good college program, having seen a group of his collegiate work at a time not too long after I had painted the piece above.   I remember being very impressed at the time.  Actually, envious is a better word for what I felt.  I saw real potential in that work and realized that I was struggling to achieve things that obviously came easily to him.  I remember being a little disheartened at the time at my own talents compared to his.

But his subsequent work has yet to live up to the potential I saw.  It has been okay but hasn’t made any leaps above that early work.  It’s always puzzled me and made me feel he was somehow betraying his obvious talent and potential.  I pointed this out to my friend this past Friday and he had a different take.  He thought I was seeing more potential in that collegiate work than may have been there, that while there was talent most of what I was seeing was the result of a lot of supplied direction from his instructors, not the result of his own natural output.  He also pointed out that the other painter had other avenues that he was following, that his real potential might not even lay in the same field I was seeing it.

At that point in my head I immediately realized that I was so wrong in my appraisal of this painter’s potential.  I was seeing his potential against my own desires, not taking into account his own desires, which might include goals that were a million miles from my own.  I was imagining what I could do with the talent I saw in that early.  I was assuming that he had the need to express himself solely through his art, the same as I did.  His failure to followup on the potential I placed on his work was not his failure, it was mine in not seeing that his potential had merely moved in different directions.

It made me look at my whole attitude on the expectations of other’s potential.  What I might see as important might not seem so important in the lives of others and vice versa.  I see this artist’s life and potential in a whole different light, one not shaded with my own expectations of what he could or should be.

Phew, that feels good to get off my chest…

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Talk Aftermath

Posted in Painting, Technique/History, tagged , on August 7, 2009| 1 Comment »

Quietheart I had my Gallery Talk yesterday at the West End Gallery in Corning and it went pretty well.  Really good group of people who asked insightful questions and seemed very open to the things about which I was talking.  I went quite a bit over the hour that was planned but I don’t think it dragged on.  Hopefully, they enjoyed it as much as I did.  They made it very easy for me.

One of the questions that came up was about whether I worked on more than one painting at a time or if I had paintings in varying degrees of completion.  I immediately spoke about this piece, Quietheart, which was the centerpiece of my 2007 show at the West End.

At the end of 2006 I prepped a large panel, 34″ by 60″, layering in multiple layers of gesso to create a visually interesting base to hold up the paint above.  I started the piece by painting a large block of color, consisting of varying reds and yellows that had quite a bit of intensity.  The orangish color of the sky is this color.  So I had this large block of color that I very much liked.  It had the intensity I mentioned and the surface had a great texture that seemed to be visually stimulating throughout.  It was right on the mark as far as I was concerned.

The problem was that I was now afraid to go any further with piece.

I so liked this first block of color, this base, that I felt I could only do harm to it by making another mark on it at this point.  I felt I couldn’t add to, could only diminish from it’s impact.  I gloried in the color and form but couldn’t see a next step at that point.

So I set it aside.  It sat, prominently displayed in my studio, for six months and I would look at it each day and think that someday that would truly be something I would be proud of if I could ever dare to step into it once more.  Finally, one day I pulled it down and said this is the day and with great trepidation, put a new brush of paint to it.

I was immediately engaged and the image as you see it above fell in place quickly.  I breathed easier.  I hadn’t diminished the original block, hadn’t made it secondary to the scene above it.  I felt that its strength bonded with what I had added.  I was pleased.

And that is the main criteria I have to meet.

So, yes I do have pieces at different points and most are just waiting for the right moment.  

Again, many thanks to those who came out yesterday.  It was most appreciated.

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Gallery Talk

Posted in Current Events, Painting, tagged , , on August 6, 2009| 6 Comments »

Gallery TalkWell, today’s my annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in Corning in conjunction with my show, Dispatches, which is hanging there until the end of August.  I’ve done quite a few of these talks over the years, probably 11 or 12, so I know what to expect.  But there’s always a little anxiety anytime you have to speak in front of any group of people.

My gallery talks are always pretty much off the top of my head which, when it works and the audience is receptive and interacting, is good.  When it doesn’t work, it’s pretty ugly.  A lot of blank stares and awkward silences.  Luckily, that’s only happened once or twice.

The first talk I did at the West End was back in 1997 and I had put everything I wanted to get across into a short speech that I wrote out and memorized.  Well, the talk began and I reeled off my little speech.  It was pretty good until I came to the end of it and glimpsed the clock.  It had lasted about 4 minutes and my mind was a totally blank slate.  

Tom Gardner, then co-owner of the gallery and a well known painter, had told me a little trick before the talk.  He told me to always have a glass of water and when I came to a spot where I was stuck with nothing to say to simply walk back and forth in front of the audience and take a very slow sip of the water.  Look thoughtful.  I thought it was pretty good advice until I realized I would be pacing back and forth, sipping water, for 56 minutes.

Luckily, Tom rescued me with a question and from there it snowballed with the rest of the crowd asking questions, one subject leading to another. Phew!  Over the years I’ve gotten more comfortable with the whole thing and have an assortment of anecdotes to fall back on when things start to falter.

Another reason I don’t go in with a prepared speech is that each group of people is different.  Some groups are more interested in talking technique, wanting to know how each piece is painted.  What type of paint I use and how I achieve certain aspects in the paintings.  That kind of thing.  But others are not so interested in the how but in the why.  They prefer to hear what the stories are behind the paintings.  So, there’s a moment at the beginning of each talk  when I have to gauge what approach suits this particular group best.  I really try to stay away from the technical side for the most part because sometimes, when I’m droning on about such things, I can see the non-painters’ eyes glazing over.  I try to get off the subject as soon as possible when I spot this and try to engage their interest.

It usually goes pretty well and we all have a few laughs.  I’m hoping today is no different.  If you’re in the area today, the talk takes place at noon at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.

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Serendipity

Posted in Biographical, Early Paintings, Neat Stuff, tagged , , , on August 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

InterloperI’m showing an older piece today, one from around 1996 , called Interloper, mainly because I have mentioned the Kada Gallery over the last few days and am reminded of how I came to show with them quite a few years back.  There was a bit of serendipity involved.

It was in  late summer of 1995 and I had been showing at the West End Gallery for several months which was my first experience exhibiting in public.  I was still waiting tables at the local Perkins Family Restaurant full-time, working on building our house and painting every other available minute.  Man, I had a lot more energy then!  I still had no idea that I would or could have a real career as a painter.  My work at that time was very small in size for the most part and was just starting to gain some notice locally but I really didn’t know if it would ever transfer outside our local area.

One Saturday morning, I was at my job waiting tables when a family with a daughter about 10 or 11 years old sat in my station.  They were very nice, smiling and talkative.  Typical chit-chat.  I took their order and that was that.  After a bit, as they were eating I was going through my station checking on each party and I stopped at their table.

The daughter, Hillary,  asked, “Are you a painter?”

I was a little taken aback by the question.  Nothing was said about painting or art, to them or any of my other tables and that was the last thing on my mind at the moment.

“Well, yeah. I am.”

“My mother said you were.  She said that anyone that happy doing their job had to be a painter.”

I just stood there with nothing to say.  How do you respond to that?

It turned out that the mother was a painter as well who lived, for the time being, in our area.  Her name was Suzi Druley and she was on their way out to a gallery that sold a lot of her work in Erie, Pennsylvania.  They had me run out to their vehicle to take a look at her work, which was very interesting, particularly for our area.  It had a sort of Southwestern/Native American feel with with vivid, deep colors and a lot of symbology.  Turns out she was from Texas originally and they had moved here for a job her husband had taken.  She asked what my work was like, saying she would like to see it.

A few weeks passed and I decided to take her up on her offer and went out to their home.  I took photos and some pieces and she really seemed excited by the work.  She said I should show the work to Kathy at the Kada, that she would really like it.

Long story short, she called Kathy and a visit was arranged.  I hauled my bits of paint and paper out there and I’ve been showing with them for going on 14 years.

I’m glad I was in a good mood that Saturday morning at Perkins- I most certainly would not have found made my way to the Kada Gallery without Suzi’s simple observation that I must be a painter.

Serendipity…

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