Thoughts on a Blue Sky

"Thoughts on a Blue Sky"
Acrylic on Brick
Public Mural
2009

I was commissioned by the Sprout Fund Public Art Program to create a mural for the neighborhood of Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh, PA. My intention was to create a large-scale blue sky with a series of thought bubbles that would rise from the horizon and transform into wispy clouds.

I have always been fascinated by the relationship between thoughts and clouds, both as images and as metaphor. With this mural, I wanted to create a composition that would have an immediate and compelling visual impact, but that beyond the initial reading, might complicate, question and evade the viewer. This inability to find a fixed meaning is a fundamental aspect of what makes clouds so appealing. Clouds are ephemeral, enigmatic and they are constantly in flux. This makes it even more exciting when we finally spot a familiar image in a cloud. But this too is short lived. For we all know that in a matter of seconds that image will just be another anonymous white object floating in a sea of blue.

Special thanks to Brian Brown to the painting and support. Additional thanks to Curt Gettman, Jonathan Kline & Christine Brill. For more information on The Sprout Fund visit www.sproutfund.org