Inspiration – The Art of Mary Blair

You may have noticed some strange art at the top of this page. I’ve been particularly inspired by the artwork of Mary Blair in the planning of this project – according to Wikipedia -

Mary Blair (October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978), born Mary Robinson, was an American artist best remembered today for work done for The Walt Disney Company. Blair produced striking concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Her style also lives on through the character designs for the Disney attraction It’s a Small World, as well as an enormous mosaic inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Several of her illustrated children’s books from the 1950s have never been out of print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss. Blair was honored as a Disney Legend in 1991.

Yes, I know it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that she was a Disney artist – those of you who know me know I am a Disney fan and worked down there twice. In fact the first time I worked there, I spent some of my time working at the Blair-designed “It’s A Small World”.

Mary Blair had a thing with suns – which I’m all about… and the colors she used were amazing! In addition, the sense of humor she has in her artwork appeals to me. I should have said before, I’m no art critic… I pretty much like what I like and stay out of in-depth analysis… so maybe I will.

Here’s Blair’s mural in the Grand Canyon Concourse at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Florida.

….and closer up

here’s some concept work for Cinderella

…and another mural with kids and the Sun at Disneyland California

If you enjoy this, I suggest you check out the book The Art and Flair of Mary Blair. You can click on the picture below to further investigate.

…and just in case you’re curious… more wikipedia…