We Can’t Stop Thinking About What Could Chase Steffy Away From Bold and the Beautiful
Steffy is bound to leave The Bold and the Beautiful. Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is pregnant with her fifth child and will take maternity leave. We can’t help but wonder what will drive her alter ego away from town.
Carrying The Show On Her Back
Steffy has been carrying the show on her back lately. She was involved in the storyline centered around the Forrester Creations coup attempted by Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Hope (Annika Noelle). Then, there was the whole Luna (Lisa Yamada) situation. Steffy learned that Finn (Tanner Novlan) is the cold-blooded killer’s biological father. We initially assumed this news would break up Sinn as we know it, but they’re still going strong.
Now, there’s a new storyline involving Liam (Scott Clifton). He lashed out at his father, Bill (Don Diamont), for releasing Luna onto the residents of Los Angeles. After Bill left his house, Liam fell and hit his head on the coffee table. Steffy found him and called 911 before it was too late. That’s when they learned there was blood in Liam’s brain and skull area.
But wait, there’s more. Liam is dying. One of the medical tests revealed a mass in his brain that’s both incurable and inoperable. On the Tuesday, April 22 episode, Steffy reveals this grim news to Liam. Once again, she’s enmeshed in another storyline. But how will her character escape the stress and pressures of L.A. life?
Reaches Breaking Point?
It’ll be time for MacInnes Wood to go on maternity leave. That makes us wonder about Steffy’s exit. (Find out more about Steffy’s B&B exit theories.) Whenever MacInnes Wood went on maternity leave in the past, they sent Steffy away on a trip. It was initially assumed that she would leave because of Finn’s relationship with Luna. But he’s remained true to his word by this point.
It’s possible that she could leave with Liam to help him get the medical help he needs. It’s also possible that he could need treatment in Europe, which would take place off-camera. There’s also speculation that Clifton could exit the soap. Steffy might not adjust to losing Liam forever, which could send her to a mental health facility in Europe.
What are your thoughts on Steffy’s potential exit? Do you think she’ll leave because of Finn or because of Liam? Or do you think something else will send her packing her bags? Let us know in the comments.
In Mazda’s hometown of Hiroshima, Japan, there are artists whose families have been making traditional Japanese lacquer work for generations. Lacquer is an artistic process that starts with the resin of the native urushi tree which is then ground and mixed with pigments to create a bold, smooth coating that can be applied to wood, or spread over a paper form to create a light, strong, and very beautiful finish on furniture or housewares. It’s a time-consuming art. A single lacquer bowl can require more than 100 layers and take more than four months to complete. The result is unlike any other paint process. It’s glossy and deep, with colors like a sunset or a butterfly’s wing.
You won’t find any lacquer artists in the paint department at Mazda, but there is no doubt that Keiichi Okamoto, head of the design center, finds inspiration in that traditional Japanese craft. If you’ve ever walked past a ruby-red CX-50 in a parking lot or caught a glimpse of a bright gem of a Miata on the highway, you have Okamoto and his team to thank for that eye-catching color. To make a red so vibrant, Mazda’s paint team had to develop a whole new paint process.
Takuminuri translates in English as “artisan coloring,” and it refers to four of Mazda’s most dramatic colors: Soul Red Crystal, Machine Gray, Rhodium White Premium, and Artisan Red Premium. What makes these colors different from standard metallic finishes is the size of the metallic particles and the way the paint is applied. Where normal metallic paints use larger flakes and only a few layers, a Takuminuri color uses much smaller flake and a translucent color layer before the clear coat. This is a similar technique to the “kandy coat” colors of custom cars in the 1960s, where a layer of metalflake or pearl was sprayed over by a transparent color. Unlike those early candies, which were notorious for becoming blotchy if not applied perfectly by a skilled hand, Mazda has managed to program its factory robots to lay down thin, even coats of each layer to maximize the shine and avoid any imperfections.
To achieve the sheen without the glitter of metallic, the actual flakes in the first layer of paint are a mere 12 to 15 microns thick, barely bigger than what the human eye can see. The layer contains both metallic and light-absorbing particles, which mimics the effect of a flake sprayed over a dark base coat—a trick for creating depth under the eventual candy top coat.
For inspiration, Okamoto looked at gemstones, freshly machined metal, red wines, and, we’d guess, at local lacquerware. The result is shades that highlight the shape of the cars in unbroken lines and with an underlying glow. It’s the perfect match for Mazda’s unfussy, simple design language, much like a lacquer sake cup in a traditional black and red finish.
