Blue Fog 

Curator: Stepping into this space, we encounter "Blue Fog" a painting credited to Eyvind Earle, that seems to conjure up a memory from a dream. Editor: The overall design strikes me first, particularly that contrast between the stylized silhouettes of trees and the sharply geometric pathways of light. It almost feels stage-like, a set design perhaps? Curator: That's an interesting point about set design because Earle's best known as a production designer for Disney. This image blends an eye for precision, especially his use of defined outlines. Earle creates almost perfectly crafted shapes. I'd consider Earle to be a master craftsman using his skill to elevate landscape. What's striking here is that while landscape painters worked *en plein air* capturing every subtle nuance, Earle instead constructed them from imagination, from memory. Editor: Precisely, it's constructed. This invites conversation around value, doesn't it? His meticulous labor to create something perceived as natural versus say someone who does actually make landart, but in contrast is labeled 'outsider art.' What tools were being used? Were there assistants in his process? These material concerns shape how the work sits. Curator: It feels almost inevitable we ask those questions! To step away from this for a moment though and think about *impact*: to be suspended in an uncanny yet alluring place. There is also a delicate interplay of depth. Editor: True, these receding, hazy layers, meticulously laid out and shaped create illusion, while also calling attention to the labor in making a believable depiction. What he gained from this almost flattened pictorial plane is a mesmerizing balance. It reminds us that nature itself is both material and muse. Curator: It does blur those boundaries. It is so human. Perhaps Earle offers a quiet nod to the notion that even the wildest of landscapes are subject to our artistic interpretation. Editor: Right, and reminds us that labor practices within art production profoundly affects consumption of a piece.