Broken Blue 1958

John Ferren made this painting, Broken Blue, and I wonder what he was thinking. The blues are like a deep sea, but then these slashes of yellow and red and brown cut through it. I can imagine him, brush loaded, making these confident jabs, each one a little dare. It's like he's building something, but then breaking it apart, which I totally get. Painting is a lot like that - you push and pull, add and subtract, until something unexpected happens. It’s not just about pretty colors; it's about energy, a kind of push-and-shove that makes things feel alive. Ferren was part of this big conversation with other painters, all trying to figure out how to make something new, something that felt like now. Each of those gestures, those colors, it's all part of this ongoing experiment, this beautiful mess of trying to make sense of the world through paint.