The Versatility of Impressions Provoked by Blue
By Ali Russo
It’s no secret that the color blue is a favorite amongst many people. Some can’t say why they like the color the most, while others explain their bias is based upon a personal memory, or inclination. Either way, blue is a particular color that tends to have the notion to provoke certain thoughts, feelings and emotions in people and Artists’ Corner & Gallery in Acton, Mass., based their second thematic show just on that.
The space had the same atmosphere as a long, lived-in home, with love seats to lounge on if and when necessary. Jurored by artscope’s publisher and founder, Kaveh Mojtabai, the paintings are arranged neatly along the walls, each work having its own, respective area. So, maybe that’s why the theme of blue felt so familiar in the cozy space, and why it drew the enthusiastic crowd that it did.
The first piece that drew my eye was sitting on a table that was about hip-height, and hugged the right side of the wall. Approaching it, I saw that it was Standing at 9 x 7’’, Caitlyn Marsh’s “Blue Vase with Squares” features a vase that has a bright, yet deep blue that moves through a gradient of light blues toward the top. From the base of the vase until the center, there are thin lines that form a border, an image: a door. Captivating the almost intangible sense of walking home through a snowstorm and finally seeing the door to your home, Marsh brings the viewer back to a sense of childhood wonder, almost relief. Mojtabai chose Marsh’s piece as the first place winner.
Above “Blue Vase with Squares” hangs a painting that held its own in its attention to technique, as well as the professional utilization of warm colors and intricacy in details. Coming in second place for this juried show, Victoria Haskell’s “Boxed in Blue” offers a gorgeous top-view of variously-sized shells sitting in a worn, brown bowl. The shells are different not only in size, but in their shadows and contrasts against the light; the shells in the center are shaded with a darker shadow of blue versus those that find more light toward the outside of the bowl. Haskell also implements clever pockets of space within the bowl, reminding the viewer of its reality, in a way: that not everything will fit as neatly as we’d hope, but the empty moments can remind us that we have more of ourselves to grow into.
Tucked into the corner of the wall I found John Norton’s acrylic “Night Light” on a 18 x 24 canvas. The piece itself is set behind the dark, warm backdrop of the night sky while rooftops stagger themselves throughout the center of the piece. As the houses become fuller in view, some of the windows are even a bright, almost hopeful yellow; the light has the same, warm, white feeling of moonlight, thus bathing the houses in a matching hue of the sky behind them. In a way, it can leave the viewer with the sense of being reminded of their size, of their smallness in comparison to the large, and in this case, quiet world of nighttime.
This themed show is truly a special one; the pieces range in all kinds of mediums and convey moments that are relatable to all, just by the sheer inspiration of the color blue. Whether the viewer is looking at a beach-front view, the moon hanging in the low, blue murmur in the dead of night, or a string of bluebirds on a blackened wire, the last thing the viewer will be feeling, hopefully, is blue.
(“Blue” runs from March 25 through April 17. Artists’ Corner & Gallery is located at 566 Massachusetts Avenue, West Acton, Mass. Gallery hours are Tuesday from 1-8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday by appointment. For more information, please call (774) 526-2778 or visit www.artistscorner.gallery).