Mary Blair may well be the best known of the mid-century crew of artists working for Walt Disney. She developed the concept art for well known Disney productions of the era such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.
As a child in the 60s, I remember the excitement of her 1964 World’s Fair exhibit ‘It’s a Small World’ being transported to Disneyland and our visit to it. It was indeed an enchanted world of color, pattern, and large headed adorable children from all parts of the globe singing in unity.
As an adult, I have come to appreciate much more about the art career of Mary Blair. There is much to be gained by a study of her innovative approaches, especially with color. In addition to really studying her artwork in several of the children’s books that she illustrated, I have also enjoyed learning more about her in a couple of new ‘coffee table’ books that I acquired as used books from Amazon.
The first of these is The Art and Flair of Mary Blair by John Canemaker:
“In her prime, she was an amazingly prolific American Artist who enlivened and influenced the not-so-small worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. At its core, her art represents joyful creativity and communicates pure pleasure to the viewer. Her exuberant fantasies brim with beauty, charm, and wit, melding a child’s fresh eye with adult experience.” John Canemaker in The Art and Flair of Mary Blair.
The other book is The Hidden Art of Disney’s Mid-Century Era by Didier Ghez, which includes sections on a number of different mid-century artists in addition to Mary Blair.
There are many beautiful examples of her artwork in both books.
With all of this inspiration, of course I was inspired to develop a workshop to share the Mary Blair playtime as we work bits of her style into our own projects. In the day long workshop we will work with gouache and collage.
Mary Blaire Extraordinaire Workshop
Saturday, November 13
9am to 4 pm
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