“Blue Chair” was a working laundry mat that I drove past for many years before deciding to paint it. Driving by at all hours and all days there was always a solitary sole or small family there. I watched this location transition from one of the few laundry mat locations to one that had seen its glory many years ago and was in a rapid decline, abandoned for a new flashy one literally around the corner. I shot the photos and made my sketches early one morning before any patrons could arrive. The location was charged and well worn from the many users throughout the years. I wanted to draw my viewers into this place that was passed by so many times by so many people. I wanted these viewers to see a beauty in want many would see as an eyesore. I wanted the audience to identify and bond with this place in ways they normally wouldn’t. After I began the painting, I returned to take more photos and reap more subject from this rich environment. It was closed and boarded up.