Happy Birthday Mary Blair!

Mary Blair has been an influence since I was a little girl. I didn't know her name back then but I knew that she could work magic with drawing tools:
If you've ever read a handful of Golden books, been to that ride at Mouseland in Anaheim (you know, the ride where the song doesn't leave your head for days on end), or seen any movie made by the Mouse studio after 1940 (even if she didn't directly work on the film as a concept artist, you can see even modern films and shorts that were inspired by her brilliant use of color and pattern), then you know who Mary Blair was.

She worked with watercolors and gouache:
She worked on tiles:
She also did gorgeous collages:
I saw this one up close last night at the special Centennial tribute (as part of the Marc Davis Lecture Series) to Mary Blair hosted by the Academy. On the second floor as a special surprise for the night only, they had a heavily guarded display of a selection of Blair's artwork. If it weren't for the guards breathing down my neck and the crowd, I would've been like a kid in a candy store with my nose and fingers pressed up against the glass display case.
A favorite from the evening:


Happy 100th birthday, Mary Blair. May your inspiration live on.

More information on Mary Blair can be found:
Fuck Yeah, Mary Blair tumblr
Mary Blair tagged on tumblr
Magic of Mary Blair Gallery
Wiki page
IMDB (see what films she worked on)
Books devoted exclusively to Mary Blair: The Colors of Mary Blair and Art and Flair of Mary Blair (I have both books and I have to say am disappointed by the color reproductions in them as they're not up to par with the originals.)
L.A. Times article 10/21/2011