Paintings, Murals & Surface Pattern Design
Port of Seattle
On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever
SEATAC Airport
Artist Sarah Helen More is proud to present, On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever, a glass mosaic now part of the permanent collection of the Port of Seattle. The piece captures the dynamic and emotional nature of travel through bright colors, dazzling shapes, and symbols representing the sky and movement. The piece embodies the floral-geometric style for which the artist is known, and is on view beginning February 5, 2025, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever is More's first public art project and is composed of flat-glass mosaic tiles. With an educational background in textile design and fiber arts, More frequently works with imagery associated with the decorative and practical arts and in particular, quilts and their geometric forms. The visuals she uses are collected during her regular walks in Seattle and pulled from traditional American quilt patterns, architectural flourishes, and elements of the natural world. Much like a quilt, the mosaic wraps itself around its underlying structure, and the colors shift slightly from light to dark to mimic the passage of time and the transition from sunrise to sunset.
My intention with this project is to create a piece that expresses the excitement of travel through bright colors, dynamic shapes, symbols, and mosaic tiling.
As travelers walk past the piece, they will be met with a visual kaleidoscope of pale greens and blues, inspired by the Alaska Airlines brand colors combined with bright, punchy reds and yellows that evoke excitement and positivity. The forms range from large abstract, floral motifs to arrows, shooting stars, a mariner’s compass, and a wheel of fortune. The motifs are also collected during my regular walks in Seattle and often include architectural components from my surroundings. The Seattle city flower, the dahlia, features prominently in the second panel as a beacon of home. As the piece unfolds along the doghouse, the colors shift slightly to mimic the passage of time and the transition from sunrise to sunset. These visuals represent directionality, adventure, comfort, and nature, and are intended as a touchstone for each traveler to carry along their journey. The wheel of fortune symbolizes prosperity and good luck, my wish for all who pass through on their journey.
City Gardens
Bellevue, WA
2022
Meta Open Arts
This project, called City Gardens (a reference to my husband, my biggest supporter, who, as a teenager, spent all his free time in a punk rock club of the same name in New Jersey) originated with an idea to create something that would bring bright color, joy, and sunshine to a region of the world that experiences overcast and drizzly skies most of the year. The project grew into a geometric garden of sorts, with a nod to the beautiful summers and glorious plants that bloom during the warmer months in the PNW. And the final piece has a factory-like vibe (a predecessor to the digital age), or the feel of a large, mechanical object with lots of parts that dance across the wall, churning with pattern and color. Often, in the middle of a project, it's hard for me to know what or where the meaning can be found; I generally just follow my gut and sort through the wreckage on the other side. With City Gardens, I incorporated my usual process of working between the digital realm for the layout (in Illustrator & CAD, also assisted by my husband) and painting each part by hand in an attempt to create something that appears digital from a distance but reveals the hand upon closer inspection. Without the human component, technology doesn't exist, and at this point, without technology, modern humans would struggle to exist.
