The Legend of G'Mac
In 1975, after flunking the final exam in Mrs Finkler's 7th grade art class, the artist once known as
Gary McIntyre legally changed his name to the Arabic character "ج"
“I didn’t want to be bound by bourgeois Western expectations,” says ج from his eclectic home near Scorched Elbow Arizona, which is constructed entirely from biodegradable tofu packaging. “I feel that my own ethos of resonance is reflected best by an alphanumeric symbol deriving from a culture that beheads infidels,” he adds, inhaling a deep breath of an undisclosed type of smoke.
“Plus, no one can pronounce it, which adds to the cool-factor.”
ج’s work does indeed reflect an inner ennui that strikes at the very heart of the modern social pseudo-centric construct. His early paintings, which do not contain any actual paint, or any kind of visual material at all, strike one as the embodiment of ج‘s searing indictment of the tepid mediocrity of anyone who has a real job.
The final piece by ج, a virtual canvas with nothing on it, was to be made available at the Mile Long Yard Sale in Watertown Tennessee in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, the only copy, on a 5" floppy disc, was eaten by a
three legged dog named Flumpy, just outside Jim's Antique Store. A team of restorers and veterinarians was unable to salvage the imaginary piece.
The next few years yielded no new artwork from ج , just a few unsubstantiated rumors from the shadows. Some say he went back to school, earning advanced degrees in Irreverence, Self Deprecation, and Bovine Scatology. Stories of penguin poaching, black market baby pools, and bootlegged Jane Fonda Workout videos were whispered in smoky barrooms, but no confirmed sightings of ج were reported until 2013 when he suddenly reemerged with a new name, G'Mac (pronounced Zhe-MACH!) and a stack of canvas daubed with actual paint!
The G'Mac collection continues to grow, and select pieces are now available on the Art by GMac website,
and soon, hopefully, at the Mile Long Yard Sale in Watertown, Tennessee.
(Bio created by Tom Hilpert and several of his invisible friends)
Okay, here's the real story...
G Mac is a painter and "reformed musician" living in Watertown, Tennessee.
Self taught on the guitar, pedal steel, keyboards, and bass, G traveled the world for over 30 years with such acts as George Thorogood & the Destroyers, The Rembrandts, Al DiMeola, David Ball, and Gin Blossoms as a musician, tour manager, audio engineer, and crew member.
Oh, about the name - "When I hired on with one band, they had a drummer named "Angry Gary." It was confusing having two Garys on the bus, so I became G Mac"
Painting came late for G. After flunking a 7th grade art class, he never again picked up a brush until age 50. "One day, I just got an urge to try it. I mixed up some house paints, used a piece of vinyl siding for a palette, and painted an odd landscape on a scrap of sheetrock. That day, painting became a constant need in my life. The final two years I spent on the road, I would bring my paints and try to carve out an hour a day for it."
In March of 2015, using leftover and reclaimed building materials, G created the Staircase Art Board. "I had 12 cases of laminated planks and some old oak flooring laying around, and a big staircase with no art on the wall. Bang! An idea is born. They really lend themselves to landscapes, but I can't wait to see what a real figure painter can do with one." A patent has been applied for, and is in the works.
G has now retired from the road and devotes himself to painting, building Staircase Art Boards, and hiking. "Until recently, it was all music. I never really appreciated art or artists. I therefore have no real influences. My style is still developing, and I can't wait to see what happens next. Each new painting is a new adventure."
"It's nice to take the time to actually see the places that went zooming past the bus windows for all those years. I try to notice the details that I missed while traveling, and hopefully get them into my paintings. I love the desert. When I paint one of those places in Death Valley, or Zion, or Joshua Tree, I can almost smell the dust."
G's work can be seen on the Art by GMac page on Facebook, or at Artbygmac.weebly.com