the first flags were printed on chiffon

The first cloud flags to float were artists’ prints made as giclées on chiffon a few years ago. The images were so subtle that Lindsey ended up hanging them 3-deep, one in front of the other, to achieve depth and a sense of movement as the delicate cloth shifted and wafted.which morphed onto paper

and were next printed on paper

The next versions were printed on paper, which were torn on the edges and hung on sticks as sculptures. Along the way, she did an installation of large scale paper clouds in Pt. Townsend, WA, in the summer of 2012. These were, as always, a prayer for blue skies.

and were next printed on silk

The first evolution of the flags on cloth were 10”x10” each, custom printed in San Francisco on silk, and sewed to a cotton ribbon in sets of 12. The images were prints from original digital photos Lindsey continues to take of the Northern California skies. This version of the flags had a wonderful life in and around Half Moon Bay, CA, hanging inside or outside, and were meant to be ultimately composted—to send their message out to the winds and back to the earth.

and then there were Blue Sky Flags...

All of Margaret Lindsey's sky pieces are sourced in a sun-lover’s passion for blue sky, and for all things blue. The blue sky flags were dreamed and imagined several years ago, and evolved through many proto-types, but took their present form after the Half Moon Bay artist spent a seemingly unrelenting 35 foggy summer days at home following a back injury. As one grey day followed another, she yearned for blue skies, and yearned to create again. Unable to travel, or even to paint in her studio, she started making art again with her personal trove of blue sky photos. She'd been “collecting” blue sky images for several years, by taking photos of amazing “found” skies wherever she roamed. The first pieces she made were hung in her house to cheer her up.
The flags exist not only as a personal prayer for blue skies, but are also made as an offering—a way of giving beauty back to the winds and the sky.

and now the sky flags have morphed yet again…

The next evolution of the flags were 9”x9” each, which became sky ladders. The third edition of the popular cloud flags are back to silk (the polished cotton was too clunky for magical flying clouds) and are unhemmed, meant to be ephemeral, flown outside or in, and eventually melt back into the earth. They come in sets of 3, and are 7”x7”.

Look for sets of Lindsey’s cloud flags at these locations:

Art Works Gallery, Grass Valley CA • Coastside Books, Half Moon Bay CA • coming soon: on this website

There were originally 24 images, custom printed locally on silk, nearly see-through when the sun is behind them. The first 24 were shown at the Blue Sky Café in Half Moon Bay in November, 2013. Owners Sally and Ken Coverdell encouraged Lindsey to print more, and subsequently hung another 144 of them in the rafters of the café.

after that,
the flags began to travel    

They have hung from old piers at the harbor in Princeton, CA, with only stray cats and random paddle-boarders for admirers, and they’ve been installed as a pop-up installation for Mauro FF’s Feb. 14, 2014 Sunset Piano concert on the Half Moon Bay State Beach bluffs. Since then, they’ve been installed in Norway, they flew at Burning Man 2014, and are hanging on Orcas Island, WA. They've flown at the Commonweal Retreat Center in Bolinas, in Pescadero at a local pottery shop, in Nevada City,  Chico, and of course, all over Half Moon Bay.

take the Blue Sky Flags out to play

The Blue Sky Flags have just come back into print. Please check this site at a later date for new information on where to acquire the flags. We have found a new printer, and the flags definitely still want to come out to play...