Over coffee last week I was reminiscing with a friend who’s passionate about music, particularly Bob Dylan and other artists from the folk-rock era. While sipping lattes, Dave told the story of what inspired Dylan’s song, Tangled Up in Blue — a recent foray into painting. Apparently Dylan adapted a remark from his art teacher: that beginners often get “tangled up in the blue” section of their palette.
Dave was enchanted by a recent biography of Dylan, written by a historian and Dylan fan, resulting in a fascinating exploration of the political, social and cultural milieu that informed Dylan’s art. Somehow we kept returning to the “tangled up” phrase during our conversation.
Since then the phrase, snatches of the song and images of blue have been reverberating in my head. A pleasing form of blues obsession…
And now the concept has morphed into “tangled up in green,” sparked the visual explosion of spring green everywhere I look here in the Pacific Northwest.
After a long grey and insanely rainy winter, this verdant fire is a feast for warmth-starved eyes.