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Posts Tagged ‘West End Gallery’

On the Horizon

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on July 29, 2009| 1 Comment »

Going Up CountryWell, the show is up and hanging, with paintings like the one shown here, Going Up Country,  at the West End Gallery and will do so through the end of August.  The next items on my agenda are a few small events but things that matter to me.

For instance, tomorrow I head out to Erie, PA, to see my friends, Kathy and Joe DeAngelo, at the Kada Gallery to drop off a few new pieces and to just touch base, to talk about where the work is headed and to see how their clients are viewing the work lately.  It’s always helpful to get this type of feedback because every gallery is a little different in its preferences for the work it sells.  It’s important to make sure that the work you give them is the sort of work to which they are most attracted and feel best about when talking about the work.  The enthusiasm the gallery staff has for your work comes across when they are dealing with their clients and that’s vital because so many people need support and validation for their choices, especially with art which is so subjective.

Kathy DeAngelo is definitely enthusiastic.  She has carried my work from the very earliest days, building a very nice following for my work in a relatively small market,  and has always offered tremendous encouragement.  She wants to know as much as possible about the work I bring to her- the motivation behind it, what I see in it and so on.  It helps her in passing along info along to her clients and gives the work a better sense of fullness.  I know that she will always represent my paintings in the best possible manner.  

During my drive out to Erie I will spend my time starting to think about my upcoming Gallery Talk at the West End next Thursday, August 6.  This is an annual event there and one that is often a lot of fun.  For the new attendees, I always offer a quick overview of how I came to be a painter and how the work has evolved over the years and for those who have been there in the past I try to share something new.  For instance, the story behind a painting that may not be obvious when looking at it.

 So, during the quiet ride out to Erie (and, believe me,  going through western NY on Rte. 86 is a quiet ride with very little traffic) I will let my mind drift over different subjects that I might want to speak about.  Hopefully, it will be something that has at least a little interest to my friends at the talk next Thursday.

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Show Afterthought

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on July 25, 2009| 7 Comments »

Higher Thought Well, we had the opening for my solo show last night at the West End Gallery and I’m pretty happy with the results so far.  The turnout was very good which, for a summer opening, is somewhat surprising given the multitude of things going on  and the  number of people heading out to the lakes or out of town.  The response from those in attendance was great and I was able to get a lot of feedback.  Most, including gallery owner Linda Gardner, thought it was the best show I’d had at the West End ( this is my ninth there) and they may be right.  

I am very pleased with the show.  It fills the space nicely and Lin hung the work to its best advantage. The gallery’s lighting made the surfaces glow, giving the pieces real depth.  I think the work itself was very consistent in strength and had many paintings that reached out equally to viewers, pieces that might be the stars of other shows.  Just a very good group.

My favorite comment of the night came from an older couple from out of the area who said, ” You go to so many galleries and just when you think you couldn’t see something new and fresh, we come across this.”   Always good to hear.

So, it went well.  The show continues to hang at the gallery until the end of August so if you’re in the Corning area this summer stop in and check out pieces like the one show above, Higher Thought.

Now I’m left to find my next goal, my new point on the horizon that I can work for.  This will occupy my thoughts for the next few weeks as I putter around doing things around my studio and my home.  It’s an odd time.  There’s this emotional letdown after a show opens and if the show doesn’t meet one’s expectations it can last for quite a while.  But if the show goes well and rises up to your hopes, there’s a momentum of sorts that propels you past the post-show funk and onto the new road going forward, which is exciting and energizing.

So far, I think I will be going forward.  And that’s a good thing…

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Show Day/ Song of Self

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on July 24, 2009| 3 Comments »

Song of Self    Well, another show day has come around.  Tonight’s opening is at the West End Gallery in Corning,  kind of my home gallery.  It’s in my home area and was the first gallery to show my work so there’s a certain sentimental attachment.  You always want to do well on your home field.  

Normally, this creates a certain tension, some nervousness.  But as I wrote about my earlier show this year, I’ve tried to shake off these jitters.  If I’ve done the work and feel I’ve done my utmost then there’s nothing to be worried about.  How folks react is beyond my control and to feel stress over it is a waste of energy.  Besides, I do feel that this is a very strong group of work.  

That being said, there’s still a little anxiety, mainly over just having to talk about my work.  I try to remind myself to not overtalk, something I tend to do when I’m nervous.  I babble on a little more than I should, sometimes speaking but saying little just to fill the pauses in the conversation.  I try to remind myself to listen more.  Like any situation, my openings always go best when I let the natural pauses occur and just listen to what the people are saying to me.  It’s a lesson I learned in sales many years ago.  If you just listen, the person you’re dealing with will tell you what is important to them.  And knowing this makes your conversation all that much better.  For instance, if a person reveals that their attraction to your work is because of the emotional impact, they may not want to hear the technical details of how a piece was painted.  They probably want to know more of the intent behind the painting and how I view the piece.  

Knowing how to speak to people’s differing needs is an important part of  the opening and sometimes I do it well and sometimes I miss my mark.  So, today I keep reminding myself to listen and give each person who wants to talk my full attention.  If they make the effort to come out to my show, then that is the least they deserve.

The piece above is Song of Self and is part of tonight’s show.  It’s a very simple composition, one that I’ve done in a few versions over the years.  It’s meant to be a piece where the the quiet of the scene is highlighted by its contrast to the texture and color in the painting itself.  The sky in this piece has great texture and brings a deeper visual interest to areas of the painting that may not immediately register when the piece is first seen.  I like this piece a lot.

You can see this painting tonight at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.  The opening for this show, Dispatches, starts at 5 PM and runs to 7:30.  If you want to talk stop in and I will listen…

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Dispatches At the West End

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on July 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

DispatchesThis is the title piece from my show, Dispatches, which opens this coming Friday, July 24, at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.

This painting has a lot of motion in it from the leaves and bend of the limbs on the trees to the way the color seems to move over the texture of the sky.  It’s a pretty simple composition that allows the motion and color to take center stage although I still believe the strength of this piece comes from how one sees the central message, which is contained in its title, Dispatches.

It’s primarily about our interaction with the world and how much we’re willing to give of ourselves.  What we send out into the world.  Our intentions shape our actions and our actions define us.  

What message are you sending out to the world?

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The Dark Blue Above

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , on July 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Dark Blue Above This is a new piece that’s titled The Dark Blue Above.  It’s very much about atmosphere and feel, very much about the weight of the sky and the potency of color and texture that give it a certain presence.  I think the simplicity of the overall composition enhances this feeling.

Makes me think again of my own smallness, my own insignificance in this world and this universe.  It’s a catalyst and sets me thinking on the nature of all things.  How? Why?

I guess that’s all I can ask out of a piece of work.  

This piece is past of Dispatches, my solo show at the West End Gallery that opens July 24.

On this Sunday morning here’s a song from Johnny Cash that sort of fits the feeling of the painting…

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Wind of History

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , on July 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

9909-234 Wind of History smallThis is a new painting that is titled Wind of History, part of my next solo show at the West End Gallery.  The show, Dispatches, begins next Friday, July 24, with an opening running from 5-7:30 PM.

This is a very striking piece, one that demands immediate attention.  It has a lot of different aspects that all contribute to the overall impact.  It has a very graphic quality in the strong color and the way the multiple  layers below stack together.  There’s also great visual interest in the sky’s texture, which may not show very well in the image here.  The stones below the surface echo the light of the sun (or is it a moon?) in this sky. 

Adding to this is the motion in the trees with the central figure, the Red Tree, astride a hillock.  There is motion in the strata below as well which gives the impression of them being a part of a wave under the ground’s surface.  The Red Tree seems to ride this wave.

There’s a lot about this piece that I like.  For me, the Archaeology-like paintings are more about abstraction that the final painting’s representation.  By that, I mean, when I start a piece like this I have little or no idea where it’s going.  The piece builds from the bottom, in the layers.  As I paint them, there is little thought to what will be above.  It’s, as I said, very abstract at this point, all about color and shape and how each bit relates to the other.  One layer dictates how the next will form.  It’s an interesting time in the painting of the piece.

I think all of the elements in this painting come together very well, creating a unity that I think translates really well.  It has a powerful feel, at least in my eyes.  I hope it comes across to others as well.

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Take Heed

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on July 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

DSC_1055 smallTake heed: You do not find what you do not seek.  -English Proverb

 

This is another piece from my solo exhibition at the West End Gallery in Corning , opening July 24.  The title of this painting is Take Heed, taken from the English proverb shown above, which serves as a reminder that we have the ability to set our own paths and destinations.  It seems that all too many people live their lives without any thought to where they want their lives to take them.  They simply take the path that is immediately before them , that which is easy.  They will never know what might be  off the path they follow, which is the path of others.

 

 


 


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Soul Lights

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , on July 9, 2009| 1 Comment »

DSC_1048 smallThis is a new piece, Soul Lights, that is part of my upcoming show that opens July 24th at the West End Gallery in Corning.  It is painted in my obsessionist style, one that I have mentioned in previous posts.

The title of this painting comes from the way the sky is formed from many patches of color and the way the light is formed therein.  It reminded me of one of the supposed byproducts of the string theory which is a very  speculative area of quantum physics.  Without going into the scientific basis for the theory ( which I really couldn’t do very well anyway), string theory basically creates a platform where extra dimensions could and may exist alongside the dimensions that we know and dwell within, without our knowledge of their existence.   A simplified example of how this might work is the way we are surrounded by radio signals all the time without our knowledge but with the proper receptor, a radio, they become apparent.  With string theory, perhaps there are also parallel dimensions around us without our knowledge, dimensions that contain others forms of energy, other forms of existence.

People have used this as theoretical basis for many things such as time travel, the existence of UFOs, and things supernatural such as ghosts and other spectral occurrences.  The string theory has been a very fertile field for science fiction writers to work.  

Perhaps it also provides a place where the soul, the source of energy that animates the body,  ultimately dwells.  Perhaps there is the energy of souls all around us in these alternative dimensions.  Maybe the photons we see are also the part, a facet, of something unseen.  That’s how I see the sky in this painting, as masses of disparate energies that we only see partially in the dimensions we can detect.

Okay, remember that it is early in the morning when I’m writing this.  I’m not smart enough to really discuss quantum physics.  I am not familiar with all the New Age-y spiritualism.   I’m just saying there is some form of energy out there in the light we see.  What it is, I surely don’t know.  In this painting I like to see it as light and energy of souls.  

And that makes me feel good…

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New Precious

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , on July 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

New Precious This is a new painting that will be hanging at the West End Gallery at my next solo exhibit, Dispatches, which opens July 24.  This piece, titled New Precious, is painted in what I have termed an obsessionist style, a term that differentiates it from the style I use in much of my work.

I use the term obsession because it best describes the feeling I have when I’m painting these pieces.  There is a complete immersion in the painting and every stroke changes the piece and dictates the subsequent stroke.  It requires complete focus on the canvas to maintain wholeness throughout.  I really enjoy painting in this way,  enjoy the feeling of connecting so completely to the surface.

This particular piece has a very iconic feel, thus the title, New Precious.  By iconic, I mean the painting has a feeling of being presented as an object rather than a portrayal of a scene.  This is something I have always looked for in my painting.  I feel that this objectification gives the painting a physical presence when hanging on the wall that gives it a sense of weight and gravity.  I think these qualities, these intangibles,  contribute heavily to the first overall impression a piece makes on the viewer, which is the point where their determination of connection to the piece is often made.  This first impression is the gateway into the painting for many viewers.

It’s hard to tell if a piece succeeds in this way and impossible to plan such a result.  But I think it remains important to maintain the goal and  hope that occasionally the mark is met.

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Dispatches

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , on July 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Postcard 2009 WE 2 smallI’m in the final weeks before my next show for the year, opening July 24 at the West End Gallery in Corning, NY.  This is, as I wrote in earlier posts, the the time when I’m finishing up the last details of painting on the body of work, varnishing finished canvases, getting the frames prepped  and titling each painting.  Hectic.

The title of this show is Dispatches.  Linda Gardner, owner of the West End, asked the other day for a show statement and I realized I had not had a chance to write one.  I don’t always write a statement for my shows but Lin likes to use quotes from the statements in preparing press releases and other publicity for the show so I always do one for her.

This is my first draft of this year’s statement:

Dispatches.

 

Messages sent out into the world. The act of communication.

 

The name for this group of work came from this idea that has been rolling around in my head for a while. I’ve began to realize, over the years that I have been fortunate enough to show my work at the West End Gallery, that my paintings are not about simply portraying a scene, merely creating a pleasant decoration for one’s home or office. I realize now that they are a form of communication, a way of transmitting a feeling across that void between the picture and the viewer’s eyes and making a connection. It’s this connection, this union between the painted surface and the viewer’s own experiences, that gives voice to the work and allows it to say more than I ever consciously could.

 

I wish I could explain how this connection comes about. I wish I could explain the alchemy behind how a simple painted surface affects another person. I wish I could know how to insert my desired message into a painting. But I can’t.

 

So, knowing that I can’t control this reaction between the painting and the viewer, I have started looking on the work I do as dispatches, messages sent out into the world. Being such, for them to reflect what I want for myself, they must be earnest and honest. They must be true to my way of being if they are to reach out to others and reflect their own truth.

 

So, this is how I see this work. Dispatches. Messaages. If I have been true to myself, some will make that connection.

 

 

-GC Myers

July, 2009


 

Dispatches.
Messages sent out into the world.  The act of communication.  
The name for this group of work came from this idea that has been rolling around in my head for a while. I’ve began to realize, over the years that I have been fortunate enough to show my work at the West End Gallery, that my paintings are not about simply portraying a scene, merely creating a pleasant decoration for one’s home or office. I realize now that they are a form of communication, a way of transmitting a feeling across that void between the picture and the viewer’s eyes and making a connection.  It’s this connection, this union between the painted surface and the viewer’s own experiences,  that gives voice to the work and allows it to say more than I ever consciously could.
I wish I could explain how this connection comes about.  I wish I could explain the alchemy behind how a simple painted surface affects another person.  I wish I could know how to insert my desired message into a painting.  But I can’t.  
So, knowing that I can’t control this reaction between the painting and the viewer, I have started looking on the work I do as dispatches, messages sent out into the world.  Being such, for them to reflect what I want for myself, they must be earnest and honest.  They must be true to my way of being if they are to reach out to others and reflect their own truth.
So, this is how I see this work.  Dispatches.  Messaages.  If I have been true to myself, some will make that connection.  
-GC Myers
July, 2009

 

 

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