Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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'blue 5f\ bounties: By Sarah Garibaldi 1 Editor i It is a chilly afternoon in January, ' and a man stands on a hydraulic lift 5 while he repaints a building. But this is a special painting and a spe- < cial man. This man is Columbia artist Blue Sky. 1 Sky is known internationally for 1 his mural "Tunnel Vision," painted ' on the AgFirst Building on the cor- ' ner of Taylor and Marion Streets. Blue Sky, born Warren Edward ' Johnson, changed his name because 1 he wanted a name that would make ' T believe in beauty. 1 think beauty has beneficial effects. It can make us healthier. It can make us feel goob. Its like mebwne" blue Sky him feel better and happier, as happy as he could be. "bverybody had crazy names back then like Sunshine or Wildflower. I was reading philosophy at the time, and it talked about the power of names and their ability to change things. It said that everything begins as a thought, and that you eventually become what your thoughts are," Sky said. "So I wanted a name that means boundless. Blue Sky does. I just wanted a name that wouldn't limit me, but would open up everything," Sky said. And everything is open for Blue Sky, who says he's inspired by everything he sees around him. "The other morning I was out walking, and the dew was on the grass. There was one of those spiderwebs down in the grass and at a certain angle it was like there was a rainbow caught in the spiderweb, a m ys cr i 7/' c/'/\ r/f 7 Vl47lt/fi rainbow of colors. It was just like a rainbow in the sky, but pieces of it aad gotten caught in the spiderweb," said Sky. Sky discovers hundreds of things :ach day he would love to paint. "There's inspiration all around me," said Sky. "I am never lacking for inspiration. The only thing I am lacking for is time to paint everything I want to paint." r? 11 c i . . out not an or nis paintings come easily. Sky says that if he is having problems with a painting he will sit back and reflect on it. He also prays and takes morning walks in the woods near his house. Sometimes he may look at the moon and think about its romantic nature. With all the inspiration that surrounds him, Sky says the hardest part is figuring out what to paint next. "Painting is all I do. It is my life," said Sky, as he retouched his mural "Tunnel Vision." "Tunnel Vision," completed in 1975, is among the most famous of Sky's works. Although "Tunnel Vision" inspired people to paint murals around the country, it holds a deeper, more spiritual meaning for Sky. "Tunnel Vision' is symbolic of the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. Painted above the tunnel and neon sun are the words "From the unreal, lead us to the real. From darkness, lead us to light." This quote was taken from a book of theosophy, a mystical religion practiced in the early 1900's and one with which Sky is familiar. Sky believes this saying is the mes MT. 1 \7:?: ? SdgC 1U1II1C1 VIMUU lAMlllliUiiU~atA;3. "What this mural portrays is from the unreal or illusion. Almost everything around us is illusion...nothing really is what it appears to be...lead us to the real, and the real is the truth that underlies everything. And from darkness lead us to light. Well, if you get lost in the unreal you do find darkness," says Sky. The idea behind "Tunnel Vision," according to Sky, set off a "chainreaction" of murals across the country, its images and story being trans\att*A inm pvprv lanaiiaof in fhp world. He admits, however, that when he presented his proposal to the Federal Land Bank and the Arts Commission in 1974, it was kind of a crazy idea, but after months of pes SB TOUCH UPS: Columbia artist Bl pleted in 1975, portrays "the light at tering they agreed to give him a year to work on Tunnel Vision. Sky took that year to make Tunnel Vision a masterpiece. "I decided I was going to take it and make it the best painting I could make it. I wanted to make it beautiful and perfect, so the bank would like it and keep it," said Sky. Sky has painted 20 other murals in cities across the United States. His latest one is in*a restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. J I i m - i w" ' ^ t??| 4- ".$ 5 - ? *T' \t. ^':Jfw" Jv ue Sky retouches his famous mural "Tunru the end of the tunnel." Sky wants to paint Sky also wants to paint another mural in Columbia. "I've planned it for a secret wall. I won't tell where it is because every artist would try to paint something there. Another one of Sky's murals called a hotel in Charlotte home for three years. But it was destroyed when new owners painted over it a couple of years ago. "It's terrible to have something painted over," Sky said. "It's like HBM# sff ?#5 ^:m Kan nrTiMlrii. i J|| Tyson Pettigrew/Special to Garnet &Black d Vision." Sky said the mural, com: another mural in Columbia. having a child murdered. When I do a mural, I put so much stuff into it, i;i-- l:U ? 11 5 11K.C a C1LUU. ^ ^ Murals are not Sky's only children. 4 He occasionally designs sculptures or "crazy stuff' like a flying saucer that took off from the top of a building in Hickory, NC. Sky has plans for several area art projects. "I designed a sculpture to go in the \ r? . _ _ 11 _ J ((I I _ _ T ? _ vista area cauea not Lava, its a