The phrase “the blues” typically means sadness and tough times — a connection that may date back to Britain in the 1600s when the term “blue devils” referred to hallucinations that occurred during alcohol withdrawal. However, the color blue is also associated with a number of positive connotations including trust, honesty, loyalty and sincerity. And all you have to do is look out over the open sea or take in a big sky view (in person, or in your mind’s eye), to experience the power of blue to create a moment of calm, relaxation and peace.
Blue tends to be less showy, more conservative than other colors, which may be partly why artist Jim Klein typically opts for the vitality and energy of bolder hues. Occasionally, though, he is drawn to the cooler blue tones, perhaps as a brief respite.
Central Park is one of those efforts.
One fall day, while looking over toward the east side of the farm at a tiny aspen grove, Jim watched a huge flock of migrating blackbirds. “They came close to me and landed in the aspen, then flew over to the spruce trees. It was fun to watch their movements,” recalls Jim. The blackbirds hung around the area for about a week.
Perhaps the birds signaled a change. Around that time, Jim decided to switch from the earth tone wash he normally uses when starting a painting, to a blue wash. “I wanted to try something different,” he says. “After applying various shades of blue, I started flinging the very dark blue at the canvas, and it splattered.”
He didn’t like the result, and he had to act fast to do something with it. “Acrylics only give you a very short window to express what you want to do. That’s what I love about them,” Jim says. He grabbed a smaller brush and spontaneously transformed the dark splatters into what now looks like birds, and suddenly the painting had a new energy. “It brings me the same joy I experienced observing the blackbirds flying around the trees at the farm.”
Jim called the painting Central Park, because it evokes skyscrapers overlooking nature. But, it is the blues that create the emotion. “Blue is an inward color – a deeply spiritual color,” he explains.
It’s been a great year, so as a thank you to our fans, J Klein is giving away a $500 gift certificate!
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Check out some of Jim’s other blue pieces, such as Athebasca – inspired by the glacier he visited while on a trip to Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.
