This is Night of the Blue Wish. It’s a small painting, only a 4″ by 14″ image on paper, but it has a much bigger feeling. It’s part of my show, New Days, that opens a week from today, Thursday, Jully 22 at the West End Gallery in Corning.
It’s a very blue piece. Blue, as I’ve talked about before here, is like an addictive drug for me. I love using it in the way it is used here, to create a dense color of night, but working with it has a very intoxicating effect. It makes me want to use this color, this blue, all the time, makes me want to make it the center of my color universe. But I know I must resist and only use it sparingly lest it overwhelm my whole way of expressing myself. So, periodically I cautiously let it emerge and show itself, to satisfy my addiction.
This piece has a feeling of magical thinking for me, like a fairy tale. As though the tree, under the cover of this special night of color, comes alive, as we humans slumber in our little boxes, to engage in a dialogue of sorts with the moon. As though it were beseeching the moon to stay a little longer, to keep it company and enjoy a bit more conversation. As though the moon’s light gave the tree an ability to speak, to express itself in a way outside its normally slow and stoic way.
Well, that’s how I see it…
Redtree Times 
Gary,
Love, love this one – wish I could see it in person at the show. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Noah
Thanks, Noah. Good to hear from you. Hope everything is working out well in Ohio. Give my best to Erin and the girls.
Really great piece, Gary. Love it.
Thanks, Tom. So good of you to say so.
One of the things I’ve been doing (read: wasting time with) recently is hanging out in the chatroom associated with The Oil Drum. Obviously, my concern for the Gulf spill landed me there, but it’s an extraordinary experience.
I don’t let out a peep, mostly – after all, those are oil’n’gas guys and gals in there, geologists and engineers and such.
But what I’ve found is that they all have a profound fascination with the ROVs (remotely operated vehicles for anyone who sees this and doesn’t know) and their underwater life. I’m going to write about it eventually, because it’s – well, so interesting. And slightly mysterious, and more than a little humorous.
I raise the issue because, reading what you wrote about this painting, it’s the first thing that came to mind. The “feel” is exactly the same. Not only is that “kingdom under the sea” slightly magical, all of those engineers anthropomorphize the ROVs just as you do the moon and trees.
The chatroom, your painting and your reflection on it all suggest that there is an “other world” just on the verge of breaking into our own, at any moment. Can we facilitate that? Maybe. I suspect maybe your blue does, from time to time.
I never gave that much thought but it must be an incredible feeling to maneuver one of the ROV’s in the deep water of the sea, to have eyes and limbs that function in a world so far removed from ours. That would be magic. I can understand their “profound fascination” as you describe it.
Thanks, as always, for the thoughtful and thought provoking comments…
One of the things I love about the internet is that, in the course of learning about one thing, you can discover a hidden jewel you never knew existed.
I’m watching “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with my husband and three kids. Ethel Merman’s character, Mrs Marcus, has just phoned her son, who is too busy dancing to answer the phone. My husband, who’s British, and not familiar with a lot of our “celebrities,” asked about Dick Shawn, the actor playing the son. I recognize him, but imdb doesn’t have a decent photo and I searched for a better one, and came across an entry you wrote on August 19, 2009, and thus discovered the “jewel” that is your paintings.
I could write poetry in your honor, talk of color and light and captured essence, but I have a bowl of hot popcorn, and I’ve seen this movie at least half a dozen times, so I think, instead, I’ll just sit and munch and enjoy the art. It’s like a virtual peaceful oasis amidst the chaos. A tiny vacation before I have to go make dinner.
Thank you. I can’t wait to see what awaits.
What a wonderful comment! Thank you so much for the kind and generous words. It’s so funny that you mention “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. A copy of it has been sitting by my DVD player in the studio for the last week, just waiting for a moment when I can slow down and fully take it in for the umpteenth time. It never fails to make me laugh. A great choice to share with your kids.
Again, thank you. I’m always glad to hear from someone who appreciates Dick Shawn…