Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Blue Sky and Hokusai...




Years past I read a novel by James Mitchner which had to do with the South Pacific...Since he wrote several about that area in the world , I can't remember the exact one...but...In it he talks about a famous artist (Hokusai) who wanted to advertise his artistic abilities by painting a portrait of  Budda or some other famous religious figure on a canvas that was 600 feet long...and he used brooms as brushes and when it was completed he attached logs at one end and had it hung up on the side of a very tall building...This portrait brought his artistic abilities to the local shogun...Who then asked him to enter a competition with other local artists which he won...and the way he won is by dipping a chicken's feet into some red paint and letting it run across his canvas (rice paper,etc.) which he had painted a blue line onto... He explained to the shogun that it was fallen maple leafs on a river...If you don't believe me ...look him up in Wikipedia...

Now what has that got to do with Blue Sky?  Well back in the 70's...Not many people knew of Blue's abilities...But...Blue decided to paint this wonderful mural he called Tunnelvision...And it was big...

Get the picture?

Well my complements go out to him...He is a terrific artist and has proved it time and time again...Why have I got a picture of a somewhat broken or bent fire hydrant?  Because it reminds me of one of the world's finest muralist...Blue Sky



Here is a photo of Blue's Fire Hydrant Sculpture in front of his mural "Tunnelvision"...
 Click on...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sky_%28artist%29