Define Blue?

"PILOT PEAK"
Beartooth Pass, Wyoming
Oil on Canvas
9 x 12
(Private Collection)



This story must be told. For one, because it is a good reminder of how personal one's perception of color and reality will always be, and two, for the simple fact that I behaved myself, when I was certainly given enough fodder to unleash the inner brat in all manner of colorful ways.

Pilot Peak sits at the base of the Beartooth Pass, north of Cooke City and the Silver Gate entrance to Yellowstone. Years ago, I stood at this place on a windy September day, thunderheads grumbling and rolling overhead, aspen glowing vibrantly on the mountainside. As I began laying the groundwork for this image, an elder gentleman came along and quite matter of factly announced that I was using the wrong color blue for that mountain. Really? The wrong color? According to who?

Eventually I learned that the fellow had painted this view himself and was simply aching to show it off, but for lack of a better method, persisted in insisting on "the correct" way to paint until finally in disgust, there was nothing left but to show me what real art looked like -- and with that darted off to the van to find his painting.

I was taught always to be polite, and at 31 hadn't yet realized that it was okay to tell people to bugger off. When Mr. Helpful finally did leave, the irritation of the encounter lingered. I consoled myself with fantasies of mixing the perfect blue and chasing him all the way back to the van while doinking blobs of it on his person. The very thought of it made me chuckle, and it still does. The incredulous dolt is surely part of the memory time capsule of this image, wherever he and his hemorrhoids may be.

In art, there IS no right or wrong, there is only what pleases you and conveys the intention, and what doesn't. However in life, there are certainly shades of etiquette which may bear consideration, especially when approaching unknown entities painting by the side of the road. Annoying pests, approach at your own peril.

So tell me, do you think I used the right color blue?