In Massimo Polello’s Blue Workshop, we mixed fabric dye and used various techniques to apply ground pigments to paper. I also painted Arches Text Wove sheets with watercolour since the various shades of blue on my palette were calling to join the party!

After several days of dipping and dyeing, the laundry room was papered in blue as the sheets hung to dry. I yearned to hear what they were saying. I sought to find words to place on their pages. Does a book need words to have meaning?

At first the pages spoke of the various hues of blue that exist. They started with aquamarine and azurite and worked through the alphabet to ultramarine and YInMn. Hmmm…that last one sounded fascinating. I was curious to learn more! 

YInMn blue pigment was discovered accidentally when researchers at Oregon State University combined yttrium oxide, indium oxide, and manganese oxide. By heating them in an oven, they were surprised when an attractive blue pigment formed. I peg it the shade of ultramarine. Professor Mas Subramanian and graduate student Andrew E. Smith made the discovery in 2009. On the colour market, YInMn is also known as Oregon Blue or Mas Blue. The pigment’s name is derived from its chemical components on the periodic table—Y (yttrium) + In (indium) + Mn (manganese) = YInMn. 

While lettering the names of blue on the book pages was a respectable solution, I wondered if the book pages wanted to say something more. What if I delved deeper?

The circular shapes on several pages made me think of Joni Mitchell’s song, “The Circle Game”. At the same time, the hilly landscapes alluded to the lyrics—painted ponies going up and down on the carousel of time. The song had a melancholy to it that could be represented by blue.

Since it is February and I’m sending out birthday cards, the purple shades reminded me of amethyst, the gemstone for the month. That sent me down an interesting rabbit hole. However, creating a book about amethyst featuring round shapes that were not purple was a stretch. I set the idea aside.

For inspiration, I went back to a book project that had its roots in Laurie Doctor’s workshop “Speak To Me From Everywhere”. In the class, we used several techniques to coax the pages to speak.

Then I was caught by a sermon about creation. I was imagining the world in chaos before a mighty hand brought form to “the deep”. The words “Chaos” and “Kairos” tumbled around in my brain and danced on my tongue as I made the connection between meaning and phonetics. Chaos and Kairos. Kairos and Chaos…

Chaos—complete disorder and confusion; a state of things in which chance is supreme.

Kairos—a propitious moment for decision or action; a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action.

As it happens, designing a book without pinpointing the content beforehand is a novel way of creating! While it adds a layer of complexity that is fascinating, there’s also a feeling of artificiality to fabricate a topic from remote connections. During this season of struggle to uncover the meaning of blue pages, going off in so many directions felt chaotic. I needed to bring Kairos to the project!

I’m contemplating the notion of chaos and Kairos to name the colours of blue. As this concept develops in a rather unorthodox way, I’m going with the flow to see how it unfolds. The search continues…