December 4, 2011 – Un-blue-ievable

I hate to commit to a favorite color, but I am particularly partial to blue. Just don’t tell orange or green. Blue is a dominant color in my work. I work in a blue room and also have a blue kitchen. And as much as I love using blue paint, I can never outdo nature. About eight hours north is Crater Lake. It’s an immense and intense blue lake high up in the Cascades. The lake is one of the deepest in the world. Crater Lake is all that is left of Mount Mazama. A volcano that was about 12,000 feet high before it erupted then collapsed around 7,700 years ago. It’s one of those places that I always like to stop at when I am up in Oregon, if only for a few hours just to stare at the blue.

September 26, 2011 – Blue Moon

It really isn’t once in a blue moon. A blue moon does not occur in 2011. There are a variety of definitions for a blue moon. There can be two full moons in a month or four full moons in a season. The only chance we have this year would be a rather unlikely big volcanic explosion tossing enough dust and ash into the atmosphere. Then we’d see some amazing sunsets and a few blue moons.

My blue moon is all really about the color. I love the blue on retro moon maps from 1960’s atlases. I also like all the quaint, or is it corny, place names that appear on those old maps. They hearken back to the era when imaginative “explorers” with telescopes charted the moon looking for civilizations up there in places like the Bay of Rainbows and the Marsh of Decay. The names get even better in Latin with places like the Lacus Somniorum. When I look through those atlases, I realize by now we should be living up there in moon bases or at least taking vacations on the shores of the Sea of Nectar.

July 3, 2011 – Blue

During the course of the 2011 Project, I am including a series of pieces each dedicated to a specific color. The color for today is blue. In particular that sky blue, so candy sweet and practically artificial it is usually only found in postcards. Postcard Blue? Is that that the name of a color? And I am always finding uses for old postcards, so feel free to send me one from your summer vacation. It may even turn up in a piece of art later this year.

January 9, 2011 – Washington State Blue

Something exciting yet unexpected is happening with the 2011 Project. Many of these pieces, today’s in particular, are turning out to be studies for larger pieces.

The second Sunday and the color again is all about blue. Today was a trip to the Vintage Paper Fair in San Francisco. They happen a few times a year in the City. The fairs are becoming a real don’t miss for me. I first went to one about two years ago. I became totally inspired as I was sifting through old postcard booklets. That summer I did a project where I made a series of my own, handmade postcard booklets. Each booklet was constructed with 12 original paintings. Today’s piece involved deconstructing some vintage, Washington State postcards and reconfiguring in a way I usually do when I work with maps.

January 2, 2011 - Two Blue

Day Two and the color is blue. Not in terms of mood – it’s just a color I love using. The piece was done this morning. It’s all about two. I looked at the stamps on a package from Australia and there were more lush, tropical shades of blue staring pack at me. Images of sunny Australian beaches on a cold winter day.

In the afternoon I went to see the Japanesque show at the Legion of Honor. Blue, blue, beautiful blue wherever looked. I could lie and say I was inspired by Hiroshige woodcuts. But no, it was just a happy coincidence.