Meeting LA MOCA

Meeting  LA MOCA

A first-time visit to LAMOCA Grand Avenue yields treasure, magic, and happy surprises.  Who knew downtown could be so fun?

Nancy Rubins, American sculptor and installation artist, is handily represented outside.

A meditative room offering communion with Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

One of my faves, a Louise Nevelson sculpture silhouetted before a Jackson Pollack painting.

My fave man in black, silhouetted in front of meditative  Mark Rothkos.

Currently shown: Urs Fischer…welcome to his/our (?) world.

A show spread across the two downtown MOCA locations, and several galleries of MOCA Grand Avenue.

Culture disintegrates in a fascinating and visceral way…and its skeletons are revealed.

Beyond patina.

He has caught something…we have all felt like that,

and this.

Let’s hope this isn’t the sum total of the current  zeitgeist.

Here’s looking at you, kid.  Outside…playing with our perception of perception, perhaps.

Time for some lemonade, at Lemonade MOCA.

Check it out!!!

You just…never know.

Something might speak to You…and you… might speak back.

Life Lessons from Lillian

 Life Lessons from Lillian

Last week I had an amazing experience.

While grocery shopping, I had an exchange with a lady named Lillian who was doing her shopping from a motorized cart. She shared with me that she was 91 years old (plus one month), and had all her “marbles”. She certainly does, and then some.

I was shocked.  Her eyes were bright and clear, her voice strong, and she had a wicked sense of humor.  She exuded life force.

What is the secret, I asked her, to being so vital at that age?

Her answer blew me away in its forthrightness, clarity and simplicity.  I paraphrase:

“When I was in my 80′s,” she said, “I identified three things that must be done daily, and after I turned 90, I added a fourth.”

Wow. What were these things that could help to sustain such energy, such engagement, such vitality, at such an age.  I wanted to know.

So, I asked her, and  this is what she said:

“Every day you have to learn something new.”

“Every day, and the most important one, you have to have humor, and you have to spread humor.”

“Every day you have to do a good deed, even if you only pick up a piece of trash and throw it away.”

“And then I added a fourth one; every day you have to be thankful for something.”

And she added…

“Now, if you can do all four of those before 9:00 in the morning, then you can screw up for the rest of the day.”

(Like I said, this lady  packs in a wicked sense of humor…)

Thank you Lillian, for doing the good deed of teaching me something new, with great humor, and endowing me with the spirit of thankfulness.  I won’t forget you, nor your life lessons. May you live long, and prosper, practicing your four  maxims every day, and inspiring us to do the same.

Creating Color Harmony

 Creating Color Harmony

On  April 21, I chatted with on her Artistically Speaking Talk Show about the “Art of Color Harmony”, based on the work of  Michel Eugène (M.E.)  Chevreul.  Chevreul was a contemporary of the painter Eugène Delacroix, and he penned “The Principles Of Harmony And Contrast Of Colors: And Their Applications To The Arts” in 1855.  He was a chemist, Chevreul’s color principles influenced great European art movements including Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Orphism.

Rebecca’s interview guest on the program that day was Rachel Rockwell, of Bubbly Nature Creations.  They discussed food photography, and Rachel generously offered tips for the novice, and aspiring photographer.  Rebecca suggested I use Rachel’s images to illustrate this post, and I  discovered something in common to these two, separated by over 150 years..soap! Chevreul’s research “enabled him to elucidate the true nature of soap…which led to important improvements in the processes of candle-manufacture.” Rachel started her blog as a way to document her soap-making!   Such… synchronicity!      But onward…to The Art of Color Harmony, illustrated by Rachel Rockwell, and Rebecca E. Parsons.

We discussed six ways of creating color harmony, three “Harmonies of Analogy”, based on similarity, or relatedness, and three “Harmonies of Contrast”, based on differences.  Interesting to note that “harmony” can be achieved by what would seem to be opposite principles…read on! (A word of advice: have your meal first..these images may have a mouth-watering effect!)

What Chevreul called the “harmony of scale” involves putting together colors closely related in  value (lightness/darkness) and hue (the pure color itself).  Above the chocolate browns  create a most delicious tone-on-tone effect, relieved by the  complementary (opposite each other on the color wheel) red and green of the strawberries.

Here we see a similar “harmony of scale” effect, with a gradation of color in the cake’s frosting, going from darker, brighter and more intense/concentrated at the bottom, becoming almost white at the top. Earthy and colorful touches break up the harmony of scale, to add “the harmony of contrast of colors”…but we will get to that!

Not food photography above, but a lovely example of harmony of scale…pink on pink, with just a slight shift in value to the darker on the embellishment!

Analogous colors (those next to each other on the color wheel, of similar value create the “harmony of hues” when put together, such as the oranges, golds and orange-browns above. They are beautifully offset by the complimentary blue box behind, which makes the whole composition pop.

Photo by Rebecca E. Parsons

The third “Harmony of Analogy” described by Chevreul as “harmony of a dominant colored light” relates to, as I understand it, the harmonious effect of a “dominant tinted light” on varying hues and values. Above we see, gratis Rebecca, an assortment of variously flavored cupcakes of different hue, some darker, some lighter, illuminated by a warm light.  The color of the light is a unifying factor in the grouping, composition, and harmonious effect.

We now come to Chevreul’s three “Harmonies of Contrast” in which color harmony is achieved through differences, IE, contrasts. We begin to see how many different paths there can be to harmony…is there a lesson beyond color theory in all this…?

I am not sure what the delicious-looking drink above above consists of as far as ingredients go, but it can be seen as an example of what Chevreul terms,  “harmony of a contrast of scale”. One basic hue, speckled with  much darker value of that hue creates a kind of tone-on-tone texture.  or, so it looks to be in the photo. In any event, the effect is that of unified harmony,  and titillates our taste-buds!

By contrast (no pun intended) the “harmony of contrast of hues” is illustrated above. Related colors (red plus white equals pink) in highly differentiated values (white the lightest, the pink the mid-tone, and the red, though bright, the darkest) set each other off by virtue of their difference…not only in value, but also in purity, and chroma.

Finally, we arrive at one of my favorites, the “harmony of contrast of colors“. Here is where the ideas of “the attraction of opposites” comes into play. We see how colors far apart in value and hue can be combined to create relationships that are dynamic and visually arresting, yet harmonious nonetheless. In the image above, we see aspects of the three primary colors, red, yellow and blue represented and cooled by white. The colors have a great deal of contrast, yet create a harmonious whole.

Harmony can also be created by the presence of two complimentary colors,  (again, colors which are  opposite each other on the color wheel) such as red and green!  Notice how the green garnish sets off the reds of the tomato, and focuses the composition? Still harmonious, but powerful!

And, what can be more powerful at last, than harmony?

Here’s wishing YOU the peacefulness and power of harmony; in Art, in Work, in Life.

Here’s to a harmonious world.

Cheers!

Crawling the Wall: The Making of a Mural

Crawling the Wall: The Making of a Mural

Lest you think that only smooth interior walls or whitewashed exterior ones can provide the surface for mural magic…let me set you straight.

What is a mural ?  Related to the French word “mur”, meaning “wall”, the term “mural” is derived from the Latin mūrālis, which means “of a wall”, derived from the Latin mūrus, or…WALL!  And…there are so many kinds of walls…

Some sport a trellis, such as the wall I was to paint for my client, Maureen.

This was her view through her kitchen window, in a neighborhood that is often permeated in dense fog.

Well, picturesque though it might be…the trellis had to go.

Underneath, the corrugated texture of the wooden siding posed another painting challenge.

Maureen’s contractor and landscaper, Greg Spry of  Spryscapes had designed a bench for the deck, so the mural needed to work with it.

The deck opened out directly from the living/dining area, which informed the mural’s color palette.

I also took inspiration from the colors, textures and patterns of pillows, textiles, artwork, and other details inside,

as well as from Maureen’s business card.

She loves flowers and plants, and with that fog,  they can be challenging to grow and maintain on the deck.

Taking a cue from the wall’s trellis “history”, I designed a composition of curving vines, punctuated by big splashes of brightly colored blossoms, and made it to-scale.

On a rare lovely, sunny day, I set up a little outdoor studio right on the deck , and set to work.

The essentials: mockup, palette, and rags.  Oh yes…the paints are out there too.

I began with a rough chalk outline on the wall, closely following the design depicted in the mockup.

I laid in the underpainting for the leaves , “vines”, and and stems, over which the other colors would go, in a cool green hue.  I had cut stencils (incredibly useful!) in varied sizes for the leaves, and adhered them to the side wall with blue painters tape in-between color applications.

Next came the underpainting of the flower blossoms in a brilliant yellow.

All the paints used are artist’s  acrylic designed for mural painting, which I bought at the Precita Eyes Muralists Community Art Store in San Francisco.

Next, I laid in the other colors, and added details, complexity and depth with layers of color that shifted in value from dark to light and back again.

I used sets of strongly contrasting complementary colors to add energy, intensity, “pop” and vigor to the design.

I disregarded the edges of the strips of siding, and its corrugated texture, and painted right over it and into its texture, applying layers of slightly watered down paint to the painted surface to fill each area, and give the sense of unbroken blossoms of color dancing across the wall.

Maureen’s painter had base painted the wall in a neutral color, which made the technicalities of my task easier, as his efforts helped to unify the surface.

The idea was to create a rhythm, and feeling of movement, color and pattern across the wall.

The colors would change with the light, but always add a

sense of whimsy, magic and joi de vivre to the deck and to the home,and to animate it,

all the way to the end.

(Of course the painting is varnished to protect it from those foggy elements.)

  Now Maureen has a magical, motion-filled garden to look at when she raises her eyes from the kitchen sink, and looks out the window to  the deck. These are flowers that don’t require watering!

Here’s to the bon vivant, Maureen, Cheers!

 

 

Crafting Change

Crafting Change

Sometimes trying to change anything at all feels like howling in the wind.

We try to reach out and create change in our lives, and we feel like we are in the dark.

We try to take a step forward, and it feels like our feel are stuck in stone.

When we try to  make a change, sometimes we feel like we are just a shadow of our former selves.

We seek illumination, guidance, direction, support, but what we find may seem faint, and not enough to light our way.

Our fears  loom like shadows, seeming to quadruple in size.

We spiral down into our core, hoping that there, might be an answer.

We seek wholeness: may the circle be unbroken.

This when we can’t even always see where we are going.  (“The bear went over the mountain…and found…another mountain- yikes!”)

We find out change is a process. Step by step, little piece by little piece, stitched together, small efforts, trying again, two steps forward, one step back.

A patient putting together of parts. A heaping up of nuggets.

DON’T

the process.

We seek the

at the end of the pot of gold…once we learn it is not actually vice versa.

We work at it. In innumerable ways, we push through stone. We learn, we grow, we apply techniques, we make efforts, we try again, we set strategies in place. We keep going. We keep growing.  It takes work.  Sometimes we can’t have the radio on while we are doing it.

We may find that we are finally able to bloom a bit, knowing that light can be dappled, and light and shadow are intrinsically entwined.

We allow ourselves that moment of glee, of joy.  We raise our hands in exultation, we stretch our hands to the heavens, we laugh.

We keep going.

Contemplating Color – Three Year Round Up

Contemplating Color – Three Year Round Up

In the spirit of the process of the necessity of the…well…updating, overhauling, revamping, refurbishing, and just re-ing the online presence of the ArtiFactory Studio, and Artissima ventures…and, about to add/subtract/move around work from my site, I thought I would share some of the color design work completed since my last site update…er, 2010…and spend a few happy moments contemplating color, and its magic.

This Berkeley bungalow went from nondescript drab to warm and inviting, all due to a color shift. The owners were really ready for this, but finding the right colors which worked on the structure, integrated into the neighborhood, and didn’t get washed out by the strong sunlight, took awhile to find.

The welcoming red door reflects the red in the plant, contrasting just enough from house body color to  become an accent. To me, this combo looks “good enough to eat”, and fits with the intimate and accessible bungalow style.

The new colors, a chocolatey brown framed in cream, completely transformed the garage and made it clean, attractive and integrated. Color can do that.

This modern condo building  graces the urban landscape in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks neighborhood. It’s quasi-industrial style called for a streamlined color scheme that made the most of its details: a wall of windows, large garage door, metal house numbers, and a  bright wood front entry door. Though urban, green trees flank the building.

The green-gray body color is set off by a darker green-gray hue on the garage door and trim, which grounds the building. The many window sashes are called out by a deep burgundy red, relating to the bright entry. The palette emerges industrial yet elegant.

The story of this quaint cottage-like house extends back through two paint jobs! The owners were not happy with colors original to the home when they purchased it, nor with a new palette designed by another consultant. They decided to keep the strong purple and green trim and accent colors, but tone them down with a deeper body hue which would tie to them, and thus minimize their visual impact. Red plantings in the window boxes add a splash of accent color that animates the scheme.

The lower part of the house is painted in a stronger (more heavily tinted) concentration of the body color,  making it appear darker and more solid. This feeling of solidity makes the viewer feel reassured that this foundation can support the upper part of the house. The quiet field color makes an effective foil for the accent colors, plantings, foliage, and beautiful trees which grace the property.

San Francisco is famous for its Victorian-style homes, and their multitude of decorative architectural details, can make designing a color palette both challenging and fun, to say nothing of gratifying.  The owners of this Victorian wanted an integrated scheme that highlighted its details and design, but in more subtle and retrained manner then some of the nearby “Painted Ladies“!

Thus we chose paint “specs” (specifications, IE, the paint colors) within one color spectrum, including the pale trim, which, with its greenish undertone, related to the rest of the colors. The front and service doors, window sashes, undersides of the overhangs, and architectural details were painted in a total of seven colors.

The front door, service door (shown above) and garage doors were each painted in a different, yet related hue. The colors range from the creamy trim, to the deep bronze-hued front door, and ornaments painted in metallic bronze. A great deal of effort, but worth it!

This apartment building , called  ARIA, is in Canoga Park, in the San Fernando Valley Area of Los Angeles. The color scheme ideas, in coordination with the builders, operations manager and director of capitol improvements involved, ranged from brick and black colors, to earthy browns, ochers, greens and roses. Quite a process. Out of all this emerged an inviting palette which accentuated the clean lines of the building, and played a bit with its details, doors and balconies.

The service door is painted in a more intense version of the balcony color.

The inner courtyard serves a a central “boulevard” for the residents.

The bright doors, and brown accents identify important areas, and assist in path finding.

The devil is in the details!  Residents personalize their spaces.  Some like skulls, apparently.

The play of light on the painted surface affects the way we see the colors. Warm light will make the color appear to be just that.

The building on the other end of the block, SONATA, is a different style, but  color design of the two buildings, including their interior courtyards, was done as one integrated job.

Using the same color on the exterior balconies on both buildings serves as a sort of “color connective” tissue.

A “tri-play” of color: foundation, body and accents hues, set off by the white trim color..

The green-toned hue on the stucco foundation of the building grounds it, as discussed above, and ties it to the surrounding plantings.

Sonata’s inner courtyard. As I understand it, plants will be added. Awnings add a homey touch.

My favorite image from the project- the back of SONATA. The muted colors on stucco, and the stairway,  railings, and balcony remind me of time spent as a student in Southern France.

Who knew?

Give me your color weary, your peeling paint, your faded siding and scuffed up stucco!  It is my pleasure, my joy, my challenge and my calling  to recreate your architectural color to as near perfection as I can and give new life to your buildings, your spaces, your environment, and maybe even your soul!

Color on…Cheers!

Contemplating Work – Three Year Round Up

Contemplating Work – Three Year Round Up

In the spirit of the process of the necessity of the…well…updating, overhauling, revamping, refurbishing, and just re-ing the online presence of ArtiFactory Studio, and Artissima ventures….and, about to add/subtract/move around work from my site, I thought I would share some of the work completed since my last site update (yikes, was it really three years ago?), and look at some of the media, processes, forms and approaches that are part of the wide world of decorative painting.

I created a line of hand-painted light switch plates which I call, “Artissima Lumens“, which though small, do take a lot of work and focus to complete! Sanding the plastic or wooden surface, as well as screws/hardware, priming it, base painting it, and then…the embellishment, adornment, decoration (hmm…not a good word in art school!), whatever you want to call it. This can include hand painting images, gradating color, stenciling  a design, pattern, image or scene, adding layers of semi-transparent glaze, and most often, a combination of some, many, or even all of these!

Mid-Century design, style, decor and imagery can be rich fodder for decorative painting on the wall, as evidenced by these bedroom accent walls. The dawn of the atomic age, coupled with star-bursts, floral imagery, and geometric shapes and patterns can be inspirational. These treatments, based on a sketch (above with mirror), made by, and a re-imagined image, (immediately above), found by the Client constitute a creative collaboration that bore Mid-C fruit in both a guest and master bedroom.

There is nothing quite like custom,  hand painted imagery on a wall, or ceiling.  Above, the Fightin’Irish and Michigan State logos find a home in the room of a young boy, with an avid avian interest. Custom-designed stenciled and hand-painted birds fly across his ceiling and desk wall, and perch above the entrance to his bath.

Stenciling, and the art of repeated pattern is an effective and beautiful way to create a border. Especially effective in a room, such as this bath, with no crown molding.  The bright color ties the room together with the strong artwork displayed there, and connects to the vibrant colors seen throughout the rest of the house.

Exterior  decorative painting on the wall, any wall, can go a long way towards brightening up an area that is often dark, and shrouded in fog, as many decks, patios, yards and porches are in the vast and often overcast Sunset District neighborhood of San Francisco. The painting of a colorful wall mural on the rough textured shingled siding of this deck not only brightened the area, and extended the adjoining living space to the outdoors, it also gave the inhabitants a colorful “garden” to look at through their kitchen window.  Doing dishes is going to be a lot more fun now in that house!

“MINDS HEARTS HANDS VOICES” is the motto for  Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco. The painting of the motto so that is can be seen through the front windows communicated the basic approach and philosophy of the school. Samples of blue hues, and font styles were presented to the Headmaster and Development Director, who chose which to use. The intent was to keep the image and the message clean, clear and simple, albeit elegant, and let the words do the talking!

House numbers  for HGTV Curb Appeal, “It’s All in the Details” episode were created with customized, hand-cut stencils, based on a font chosen by the host, John Gidding. Gradated shading using highlight and shadow was added to give the illusion of depth.

The Flying Cranes project at The Briggs Residence (a historic residence in the West Adams District of Los Angeles) was the brainchild of architect Kaitlin Drisko, of Drisko Studio Architects, who wanted to transform the living room TV cabinet into a work of art . In conjunction with the Owner, and Owner’s rep Paul Davidson, designs and imagery for both the interior and exterior were developed collaboratively.  The exterior sides of the cabinet doors are gilded with composition gold leaf, or schlag metal, then painted with the cranes composition.

The interior of the doors are stippled with  layers of gold, blue and red paint hues, then stenciled with a custom motif adapted especially for the project. When open, the articulated doors frame the TV screen.  The piece is designed to be a focal point in the room whether the doors are open or closed, the television on or off.

It is fascinating to look back over a three year span of work, and contemplate all the uses of decorative painting.  It is a form that marries function and beauty, usefulness and aesthetics, craft, visual art, architecture and design.  Playing at once subtly and powerfully through our visual landscape, decorative painting makes its mark!

Media Medley

Media Medley

Being in the process of updating, retooling, adding and subtracting (mostly adding…subtracting is a whole other challenge!) my presence online, including  Website , Linked In profile, Pinterest, Etsy Store and more…I thought I would share some of my media offerings in an Artissima post.  Maybe You will get some ideas of media You can generate, to support, express, and promote Your work and business!

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

I had the good fortune of knowing a talented videographer (he is no longer working in the field, and does not accept inquiries…so, I won’t mention his name here), who filmed one of my projects, and put together a beautiful little video on it.  Although made several years ago, this video still feels fresh and relevant, because of his skill, and creativity.  Thank you Allen!

The Video Showcases an Image Central to My Site

The amazing and dedicated Carolyn Edlund, who “inspires artists to build better businesses”  through her ventures  Artsy Shark, and the Arts Business Institute was kind enough to interview me about how I built my decorative painting business.  The interview was done in two parts, and forms a “document” that can be shared with others, offering tips and guidance to support them on their journey!  Thank you Carolyn!

Use your Mind to Share your Heart, and Your Hand to Share your Voice

I was honored to participate in a project filmed for HGTV‘s Curb Appeal, entitled, “It’s All in the Details“, helmed by the inimitable John Gidding, architect, designer, and showman extraordinaire, and for the record, a great guy! John was kind, supportive, and a real team player on his show, where he stars, manages, designs, interacts, and even picks up a paintbrush!  Thank you John, and the HGTV‘s Curb Appeal team, as well as Johlt Productions…what a great experience.

Artistically Speaking Talk Show   is the brain child of  Rebecca E. Parsons,  Having met the wonderful artist/artisan   Lyna Farkus  through none other then Twitter (!…the power of social media, folks…),  who was at the time co-hosting with Rebecca, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the two of them.  What a fun, and gratifying experience was this interview , as are all the interviews conducted on the show.  A must-listen to for any artist, artisan, entrepreneur, “ladypreneur”, “solo-preneur”, crafter, and more. Thank you dear Rebecca and Lyna.

Create Success..Believe…Gratitude…

One thing can lead to another…after the  Artistically Speaking  interview, Rebecca and Lyna asked me if I would do a monthly segment on the show, offering “tidbits of color wisdom”.  I was delighted to become part of the team, and “The Color Muze” segment began airing each (well, most) third Sundays of the month, at 7:15pmEST/4:15pmPST.  It is a joy to share color information, experience and exploration garnered through 5 years as a color consultant/designer, and training through the International Association of Colour Consultants/Designers.  After each show, I write up the Color Muze segment into an article, which is then published in Rebecca’s  online magazine, Cre8tive Compass  in the Color Muze section.

Muzing on Color

As You can see, there are many ways to share, support, inspire and connect through media. The internet offers opportunities for video, audio, and text, through its myriad channels.  Presenting yourself through these channels is not only promotion, marketing and PR, it is also reaching out, offering information, lending a hand through your own experience, teaching, and interacting with others.  Who knows who You might meet, touch, awaken, or work with next?  Media is also its own art form, whether it be composed of sound, images, words, or a fusion of of these, it is always an adventure, an exploration, a new frontier, and, a little bit of a risk.

But then, putting Yourself “out there” always is, n’est-ce-que pas?

So cheerio, and bon voyage, and see You later…Have a Great Trip!

Looking Up: Griffith Observatory Murals

Looking Up: Griffith Observatory Murals

Heaven may be right there on the ceiling…or a bit of it, anyway!

A trip into LA’s  Griffith Park, with the express intent of seeing the Hugo Ballin Murals in the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda  of the amazing Griffith Observatory  yields immediate results.  If you would like to do this yourself…here are the instructions:

Walk into the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda  of the  Griffith Observatory, stand still, and look up.  This is what you will see…

Turn your head slightly, and you will see a whole new view, and details that may have escaped your initial glance!

No delayed gratification here!

“On the vaulted ceiling and upper walls of the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda are Griffith Observatory’s greatest artistic treasure: the Hugo Ballin Murals. Workers have carefully and completely restored the murals so that they appear as they did when first painted by muralist, film producer, and author Hugo Ballin (1879-1956) in 1934-35.

Medieval cathedrals told stories in stone. The Ballin ceiling mural celebrates classical celestial mythology, with images of Atlas, the four winds, the planets as gods, and the twelve constellations of the zodiac. The eight rectangular Ballin wall murals depict the “Advancement of Science” with panels on astronomy, aeronautics, navigation, civil engineering, metallurgy and electricity, time, geology and biology, and mathematics and physics.

In addition to Griffith Observatory, Hugo Ballin’s murals also appear throughout Los Angeles in such noted buildings as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the Los Angeles Times Building, and Los Angeles City Hall Council Chambers.” –http://www.griffithobservatory.org/exhibits/brotunda.html

The joy is in the soft range of hues used, and the details, which combine to create a harmonious, yet thrilling whole, and complete the narrative.

The nearby fluidly shaped recessed ceiling is also highly ornamental, treated to what looks to be meticulously applied painted texture, or “paint effects“, a magnificent central floral/sunburst style image,

bands of architectural details gracing its curves, gold surfaced “dentils” , and repeated lines and shapes which, in concert with the color palette, tie it all together.

If all things Griffith fascinate you,  may enjoy seeing this video on the Park, the Observatory, the Murals, and the man who started it all, Griffith J. Griffith.

Enjoy the view!

Color: A Balancing Act 3

Color: A Balancing Act 3

 Between Unity and Complexity: Achieving Balance

As discussed in previous posts, color balance in our environments can have a profound effect on our health and well-being. The “emotional loading of a space” in architectural psychology terminology, is the emotion we feel when we perceive color in a space. Perception happens in the brain, and is a process. What we perceive, as regards to color, and thus the resulting emotion, may be influenced by many factors, such as the size and shape of the space we are in, the interplay of the colors that are there, our state of mind, and, of course, the light. I would go so far as to include pattern and texture, weather (affecting the natural light which may be entering  and thus informing the space), cultural associations with the colors used, and our own personal associations with them.

So complex! But also, so much fun. Evocative. Provocative.

Unity and complexity are two opposite poles, unity related to parts fitting into a coherent whole, and complexity involving variation.  Both are important.  Too much unity, and we can experience monotony and sensory deprivation, in a word, under-stimulation. Symptoms can manifest such as irritation, restlessness, difficulty in concentrating, and interestingly, excessive emotional response.  Why? As I understand it, because  we do not have enough to capture our attention, indeed, perhaps to distract us from our emotions, or to direct them.  As color consultant Helen Gurura says, “People expect all their senses to be moderately stimulated at all times.”  What is the key here? The word “moderately”.  As the saying goes…“All things in moderation…even-  moderation!”

On the other end of the spectrum, we have complexity, which in the extreme, can lead to over-stimulation. and increase muscular tension, pulse rate and blood pressure. Hmmm…not good. Too much saturated color, brightness and pattern demand  attention both voluntary and involuntary. This can mess with our capacity to concentrate visually and thus interfere with tasks that require this, resulting in among other things, lowered productivity.

Thus we see that both over and under-stimulation can impair our concentration..one by not giving us enough to focus on, the other by giving us too much.  In both cases we get distracted…by having not enough to see, or by being inundated by too much visual stimuli!

Our goal is balance, the balance between these two extremes, and apparently our minds, bodies, and perhaps our souls and spirits too, crave it.

Let’s see how balance, or, “the securing of unity in the midst of variety”,  is achieved in the following spaces, visual environments, and color schemes.  We are all human, and require certain things to stay alive, and to thrive.  However our personal tastes, needs and requirements may differ, based on our genetic make-up, backgrounds, psychology, and cultural influences.  There is no one-size fits all for design. Most of us know this from experience. We may need to “play around’, to discover what fits, or “works for”  us best at any given moment, knowing that this may very well change over time!

The inhabitant of this sleek urban space wanted a minimum of color. Warm wood, and neutrals punctuated by crisply framed black and white photographs gave her what she wanted, and saved her from the dangers of monotony, sensory deprivation, and under-stimulation. A favorite painting adds a tiny pop of color, and a variety of materials and light-reflective sheens add visual interest without bringing too much complexity into the space.

Red plays a starring role in this open plan kitchen/living room, adding strength to both spaces in the accent wall below the bar. The warmth of red, wood and rug is offset by the  white trim, and cool metal of the bar stools. Red is often used as an appetite-stimulating color in dining spaces. Here it is kept to an accent, so as not to overwhelm the space and our senses.

This bedroom is in a condo that serves as an “urban getaway for its owners, who wanted a space both warm and restful for their city place, and  high on the “unity” end of the color balance spectrum.  Use of creams, ochres, and warm woods achieve this, while the painting brings in some drama and contrast (IE variety and thus complexity), while staying within the chosen color scheme.

Another use of red as accent, doors are a popular surface for red hues. (Why? Check out this Houzz article on the subject!). The red door of Soulful Pilates Studio in San Francisco (painted red on both sides) ushers students and practitioners into a serene, yet energetic space. Like the bedroom above, warm, creamy ochres are used, but the palette is enlivened by colorful mats, and equipment sporting a variety of textures. The red, intense by contrast, adds complexity by creating a focal point expressing the idea of passing from the outside world to the internal realm, both mentally and physically. A multitude of windows add more visual interest, and plenty of light to the space during the day, as well as framing street “scenes”. Below, the purple mat provides pleasing and complimentary contrast to the golden walls.

Cream, red and strong pattern are used to great effect in this Parisian-inspired living/dining area,  another example of an urban “get-away” for the owners. Detail, but a minimum of artwork was added to the walls to break them up visually, and our eye is drawn down the “walkway” to the brilliantly colored and patterned curtains at the end of the corridor. The hue on the wall matches the cream in the curtains, reducing visual complexity through a limited color scheme, and the smooth, polished wooden floors warm and ground the animated, yet elegant space.  The heavy, dark painting is offset by playful patterns, streamlined ornamentation, and  an illusion, of retrained opulence. Comme que c’est tres-francais!

There are many ways to visually balance an environment, and the approach may be different for each person.  You may try changing paint colors, adding or subtracting pattern and texture,  curating works of art, decorative items or textiles, rearranging furniture, or even changing your floor surface…with a rug, a coat of paint, or just a bit of “spit and polish”.

I hope this series of posts on Color: A Balancing Act has offered some insight into how to better live and thrive in your environment, and have more fun in it too.  Color, like most things worth investigating, is a life-time study.  Mysterious,energetic, scientific, emotional and physical…it truly seems to weave its own magic, and power.

May You use it well!

Green Seen

Green Seen

A Peon to Green

Green gradating into red…its compliment and opposite. Nature’s magnificent paintbrush.

modern exterior design by los angeles architect OKB Architecture

  LA, of course… From “Houzz”.)

The San Francisco version.  Notice the lack of sunshine…

Passageway…

Passageway…

“up into the silence the green
silence with a white earth in it….” –: E. E. Cummings

Color: A Balancing Act 2

Color: A Balancing Act 2

What is the “emotional loading of a space”?

Says Helen Gurura,  an internationally accredited colour design consultant,  and executive vice-president of the International Association of Color Consultants (IACC). “Feelings can be evoked through colour at even an unconscious level and this gives rise to the term “colour emotion”, defined as “an associated feeling or emotion induced in the brain during the colour perception process”. In architectural psychology terminology this is called “the emotional loading of a space”.  Achieving balance in colour design clearly remains a challenge though.”

French Cafe..anyone?

In last week’s post, we looked at a variety of exterior architectural color schemes through the lens of visual “unity” and “complexity”, exploring what creates both over and under-stimulation,  and ways of creating balance between these extremes.  The goal is to  avoid both extreme unity/monotony/sensory deprivation which results in under-stimulation, and extreme complexity/variety which can over-stimulate the senses.  As Ms. Gurura states, “The balance between unity and complexity is the first and most important rule in the design of user-supportive architectural environments.”

Essentially, we expect, and I extrapolate from  this want and need  our senses to be moderately stimulated at all times.  I must assume that  dreaming accomplishes this when sleeping…even when mediating, we are often instructed to concentrate on the breath, a sensory experience.

The built environment is a place where we may posit our dreams, our imaginations, even our breath.  When we have been “doing battle”, even if that means fighting the good fight, out there in the world, we may need our homes to return to, relax, recharge, regroup  and  catch our breath in.

Let’s relax now, take a deep breath, and enjoy looking at some interiors that were designed through placement of color, pattern, texture, and more, to not only meet the functional needs and wants of those who live and breath there, but also to express their innermost hopes, dreams, wishes and desires…and perhaps even fantasies about themselves and their lives.

The owner of a charming home in  Berkeley, Ca, wanted to transform his son’s old bedroom into a guest room, that his fiance would claim as her own special space in the house. His love of strong color, bold artwork, rich, layered patterns and textures  is mitigated to accommodate  her taste for beige by the choice of a neutral wall color and creamy trim.

The wall color is taken to the bookcases, which frame not only scores of colorful books, but also his son’s powerful painting. By keeping the bookcases “color neutral”, what is contained within and between them is kept front and center, and the multitude of colors and patterns do not overwhelm.

Warmth, richness, depth,and elegance reign in this master bedroom, where the deep earthy golden-brown-with hints of persimmon wall color compliments the multi-hued wood floor, the heavy dark wood furniture, and fresh white trim.  The trim is needed to relieve the strength of the other colors, and because the room is spacious, filled with strong lines and architectural details, and  large pieces.

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Although this room doesn’t have the plethora of  color, pattern and texture in its details like the Berkeley guest room above, the complexity of its space, containing recesses, alcoves and a window seat, the variance in the texture and light reflectance of its surfaces, and the expanse of textiles on bed and chair, give it just as much visual variety and interest. The room is beautifully balanced and filled with light, comfort and calm, with enough accent to engage the senses.

Here again pale “neutral” (read, “beige” ) walls and tile, and white ceiling contain,  frame and unify strong color and bursts of pattern,  just as the streamlined silver frames contain but do not restrain the beautiful, bright  watercolor paintings created by the owners’ children. The effect of the paintings and blue-patterned vase is amplified by their reflection in the mirror, which adds a sense of space to a smaller room. The varying colors and patterns are also on different planes: the paintings on the wall parallel to our line of sight, the counter top perpendicular to it,  the vase parallel, but below the paintings, creating a layered effect, adding complexity and variety to the space.

The serenity of this bedroom is achieved not only with soothing neutrals on wall and ceiling, but carrying that over into large swathes of textiles such as the bedspread, pillows and throw. Layers of texture and intricacy are created  through the “distressed” mirror frame which adds a painted and reflected scene to the visual mix, and intricately detailed and tasseled window treatment which adds sheen, pattern, and a whole other level of visual interest, as well as framing the window.  Who couldn’t relax in this room?  R & R is exactly what it is for…and as unbroken as possible. As opposed to…

the “boudoir”, in the same unit!  This room will keep you awake, though it does share the element of faux fur pillows with the bedroom. Needless to say, the owners are style Franophiles, at least with this space, which is a second dwelling for them, an urban “get-away” from their home in Napa County, CA. In this alcove, they had big  fun “papering’ the walls with a  fabulous, French-feeling fabric, placing a gold “sunburst” above the divan ( covered in the same pattern), and “peppering” it with black fur pillows.  Isn’t it wonderful to have a room where you can just go wild with the design and decor? Shouldn’t we all have that?  This room is just a little jewel box of color and pattern, and we found exactly the right paint color for the ceiling, to pull out the rich cream hue  in the fabric, and soften the pinky-red surrounding it.  Because the fabric is so all-encompassing, the walls, curtain, divan and pillows covered in it merge into one, and the complexity and visual variety is contained in that one pattern. The room is small, the room is warm, the room is happy, and the room sings…a totally different song then the bedroom,  and  another example of “securing unity in the midst of variety….”, and achieving balance, as Helen Gurura would say!

Color: A Balancing Act

Color: A Balancing Act

We have all had the experience of sensory overload..as well as sensory deprivation.  We may experience overload when entering an environment filled with loud sounds, bright colors, an array of patterns,  and a variety of textures…to say nothing of what we may be sniffing, tasting or touching there.

We may experience sense of deprivation when a space is too quiet, neutral, bland, uninteresting, and feels just plain boring.  We know something is “wrong”, but we may not be able to put our finger on it, literally speaking, especially if there is a dearth of textures, colors, patterns, and other visual stimuli.

Although our tolerance for visual complexity and variety, as well as unity and coherency varies from person to person, we do expect, and maybe even need, our senses to be stimulated to some extent at all times. Perhaps we are experiencing this through dreams while we are sleeping!

Not surprisingly, even our health and physical well-being can be affected by exposure to over or under-stimulation. Extreme unity, or monotony, can result in restlessness, irritation, a lowered ability to concentrate, wandering attention, and an overly strong emotional response.  Extreme complexity/variety can result in higher blood pressure, pulse rate, and muscle tension.  Not a good thing, as we can probably all agree.

Knowing this, our job as color consultants/designers becomes charged with even greater purpose and meaning…how to create environments of balance (which doesn’t mean symmetry or the sum of equal parts, which might become monotonous), which support both our physical and our emotional well-being, as well as the function of the spaces themselves, and even our life’s purpose!

Before we get either too lofty, or too weighty about all this, lets look at some color designs and palettes that achieve balance in a variety of different ways. I hope to continue to investigate, explore and disseminate the subject of color balance in further posts. Have fun!

A nearly monochrome palette relieved by creamy white trim can be stately and restful, especially when enlivened by a multitude of decorative detail.

Even a deep, rich, dominating hue such as a  burgundy purple can be set off by accents of an even deeper value. The dramatic shift to white in the trim frames a building that the owner wanted to simplify and streamline, while still acknowledging  its details.

A slight amplification in field color from the original,

 makes this building more satisfying to look at, as it is more “complex”(contains more color) . The addition of a dark accent color on the window sashes, and a more intense door color add variety, which also increases complexity, and protects against visual monotony.

The temptation to “go color crazy” on this magnificent Queen Anne Victorian could have created so much complexity, that our attention may have been distracted from actually seeing and enjoying its beautiful period details, such as the shift in shingle pattern, decorative insets, and dentils.

Instead, by limiting the colors to a set of resonant neutrals (field color, field color 200% formula and off white trim color), and adding accents in earthy hues of complimentary sage green and brick-red with just a touch of gold leaf,

we are not so overstimulated by too much variety, and can actually take in and enjoy the details, colors and shapes that integrate to create a unified whole.

The complex but neutral beige body color, and white trim are punctuated by a rich red service door, a singular detail on this building, which has very little embellishment, or even trim.

As the owner wanted to reduce the possibility of visual complexity, subtle interest is brought in by the use of a slightly darker and more intense foundation color, which grounds and visually supports the structure. Thus both over and under-stimulation are avoided, and we experience enough visual simulation to provide a pleasing experience physically and emotionally.

The size, style,, “stateliness” and foliage around a structure can influence color design choices, as well as how much its body is broken up  by its trim. Here the deep blue-green color of the house body is significantly relieved by the crisp white trim and garage door, as well as bright green foliage, which becomes a color accent or counterpoint to the dominating blue and white. As the building reads  tall and thin, our eye is drawn upward to the sky, which completes the picture. Not seen here is the warm brown accent color used on the planters in both the entry way and back patio, which provide  contrast to the blue and green, and complete the triad of blue, green and brown “nature’ colors.

A unified palette can make a building stand out…even if it doesn’t contain an extreme shift in accent color. Our richly hued “old  burgundy” beauty commands the street view here.  All  the more regal for being contained and restrained in color variety, the palette is retrained yet fun, making a statement without overwhelming our senses. The building itself serves as an accent for a block dominated by pale, nondescript and rather unimaginative hues.  Maybe, stimulated, but not overstimulated by our royal example, the neighbors will be inspired to follow suite and add more local color!

If You are feeling either over, or under-stimulated in your environment, try experimenting with adding or subtracting color, pattern, texture,  changing the value (light to dark), or intensity/saturation (brightness) of the colors, changing your accent color to the compliment of the dominant color in the space, or if there is no dominant color, creating one.

You may just find yourself feeling better on all fronts!

Until next time…wishing you balance, variation, complexity, unity and coherence in your Life!

Standing Our Color Ground IV

Standing Our Color Ground IV

Having completed a rather large and multifaceted color consultation for a set of two buildings anchoring opposite corners of a block in the “The Valley”, I decided to disseminate the experience, and its results through a series of blog posts.

I am completing the process with this post..which highlights some of my favorite details, architectural and otherwise, of  two buildings, one on either end of a median-sized block in Canoga Park, a district in the San Fernando Valley, about 25 miles northwest of Downtown LA.

Doors….the cool elegance of a front door,

verses the brighter warmth of unit doors.

   The personal statement of a windowsill-scape adds whimsey.

 Shifts of  color pull out window and balcony details.

A strong hue on a service door offers  visual way-finding, and pleasing accent,

while the softness of integrated colors is  accented by a hue less saturated.

The sides of a building flow with the colors and lines of trees, and bursts of foliage.

Variety in building materials and plants  creates layers of texture, sheen and hue,

bringing  it all together.

Harmony…that’s what we’re after..isn’t it?

Here’s wishing You harmony, beauty, peace, and prosperity…for the still New Year!

Blessings from Artissima…the blog of ArtiFactory Studio.

Standing our Color Ground III

Standing our Color Ground III

Having completed a rather large and multifaceted color consultation for a set of two buildings, named “ARIA”, and “SONATA”  which anchor opposite corners of a block in the “Valley”,  I am disseminating the experience, and its results through a series of blog posts.

Here I compare and contrast the two buildings, one on either end of a median-sized block in Canoga Park, a district in the San Fernando Valley, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

We start with samples…right on the building, looking at two potential palettes. .

The darker foundation grounds the building ARIA, punctuated with symmetrically placed balcony “bump-outs”.

On SONATA, on the other end of the block, the same accent color was used on the bump-outs, with less of a jump in hue between the field and foundation colors.

The service door takes the bump out accent to 200%…animating the deep foundation.

Fewer but larger bump-outs on SONATA create a different effect. We are working with broader planes of color here, which, along with less contrast between the foundation and field color, help offset the visual “busyness” that. could result from the use of of both stucco and siding

ARIA’s inner courtyard, softened by use of plants down the center, offsetting and complimenting the earthy orange, cream and brown hues of the building.

In SONATA’s inner courtyard, a softening effect is achieved with the awnings, as well as the vista of green leaves from the tees beyond.  As there are no bump-outs or patios here in front of the units, the effect is almost that of an empty village street.

Accented bump-outs offset the stronger door color, which punctuates the walls of ARIA’s courtyard.

A poetic melding of colors humanizes SONATA, front and back.

Next up, “THE DEETS”….a fun look at some of the details which humanize a building…This is where people live, after all.

See you next time…singing our color song!

Until then, may the Arias and Sonatas of your life create a perfect harmony…and the music of your colors  and the colors of your music play beautifully together.

Standing our Color Ground II

Standing our Color Ground II

Having completed a rather large and multifaceted color consultation for a set of two buildings anchoring opposite corners of a block in the “The Valley”, I decided to disseminate the experience, and its results through a series of blog posts.

As I explore, express and evaluate this consultation over the course of several posts…there will be the time to contrast the colors that were to the colors that became, look at details, and compare the two buildings, one on either end of a median-sized block in Canoga Park, a district in the San Fernando Valley, about 25 miles northwest of Downtown LA.

This building, called SONATA, sits on the same side of the Canoga Park block as its sibling “ARIA”, but at the other end of the block, caddy corner from a heavily trafficked intersection, and is composed of both stucco  and wood siding.

The accent color Rosewood, a Dunn Edwards hue, reflects the same accent color down the street on ARIA.  As the visible foundation color is the greenish-gray “Bison Beige” in 200% formula, it creates a complimentary pop next to the reddish Rosewood.

The field or “house body” color, Dunn Edwards “Hickory” , in 75% formula, providing lightness and calm to unify the assorted materials, and proliferation of balcony “bump-out”, which accent the exterior.

The sides of the building take up part of a block, and thus must provide a pleasing visual, and visceral experinece for the passer by.  Here we can see how both the lower, darker foundation color, and the field or body color serve as a backdrop for green plants, and gray tree trunks, which almost give the sense of a promenade or boulevard.

 

The boulevard feeling is carried through the inner courtyard, where each resident has their own door, sporting a rather intense 200% formula Rosewood.  The Euro-feel awnings amplify the effect!   At the end of the “boulevard” the far courtyard wall is accented by “Hickory” in 200% formula…just that slight intensification of the color to set it slightly apart from the field color.

my favorite shot of this building and scheme…it reminds me of where I lived and walked n Southern France many years ago. The railing, and other ironwork is painted in Dunn Edwards “Chocolate Pudding” hue!

Because of the unification of materials, which affects how the paint color is perceived, the back of the building, to my mind, may be even more aesthetically pleasing then the front!  Fewer cars, too!

It would be fun to look at the building sibs, ARIA and SONATA together, and muse about both their differences, and their similarities.

Shall we do that in the next post?

Great, its a date then.

Take care, and, until then, Be Well…

 

Standing our Color Ground I

Standing our Color Ground I

Having completed a rather large and multifaceted color consultation for a set of two buildings anchoring opposite corners of a block in the “The Valley”, I decided to disseminate the experience, and its results through a series of blog posts.

Decorative Painting and Color can be all about sumptuousness…but it can also be about streamlining, revealing the lines, and getting down to the bones.

Taking a cue from marketing guru Seth Godin, and his concise, pith, and enormously popular blog, (called, pithily enough, “Seth’s Blog“), I am going to make these posts short, succinct, and see if I can let the images do the talking. (Well, Seth doesn’t use many images, but he is a model of succinctness, and easy to read and take in.

As I explore, express and evaluate this consultation over the course of several posts…there will be the time to contrast the colors that were to the colors that became, look at details, and compare the two buildings, one on either end of a median-sized block in Canoga Park, a district in the San Fernando Valley, about 25 miles northwest of Downtown LA.

The entry of  the building called “ARIA”…made smoother and sleeker with addition of glass, a dark, grounding foundation, and lights that ass a bit of character. Notice the integration of the brown color in the tree branches which reach out to “touch” the building, with the brown of the foundation color. not the same, but related.

“ARIA” en totale….pops of color in the bump-outs, or balconies, both accent and tie together the sandy body or field color, and the chocolatey “grounding”  foundation color. The door is painted in a 200% formula of the balcony color,  (meaning that the amount of tint added to create the paint color is doubled, increasing the intensity of the resulting hue.)

Streamlined greenery provides another accent hue…even more so in complementary contrast to the red in the balcony color.

The foundation color on the balconies, and strong door color add livable accent and interest to ARIA’s inner courtyard.   If the red-toned color on the exterior balconies was carried to all of the inner balconies here, it would have been too much: over-stimulating, and underwhelming. Instead, the doors punctuate the long walls, and reflect light from their semi-gloss surfaces.  The concrete floor is deeper, with a grey cast, making it easier on the eyes then a brighter hue.

The contrast in colors, and the textures of the smooth, semi-gloss surfaces of the doors, and the flat sheen, rough texture of the stucco walls create a pleasing visual tension.  The proper amount of tension, paradoxically creates balance…though not necessarily symmetry.

The sun’s white light transforms how we perceive the painted color, making it appear warm and earthy,

as opposed to cooler and grayer when not in direct sunlight.  The window profiles are painted in 200% formula of the field color, bumping it up just slightly, adding interest without visual clutter.  The metal color of the sconces is reflected in the railings and other ironwork.

Each resident adds their personal touch…above we have a grouping of three black “sculls’…and they fit right in!

“Windowscape”?  “Curated” grouping?  Just plain fun?  Halloween leftovers?

Portrait of a side door….resplendent  in its Rosewood hue, framed by the Teabag- colored foundation, flanked by Weathered Brown-painted iron railings, and shining below a 100%  Hickory house body color.

Next up…a romp through the “perfect palette” of ARIA’s sister property, SONATA…a very different building situated at the other end of the block.  Their color schemes are interrelated, but not the same…because no two buildings are the same.  Even if they claim the same blueprint parents, the  way a building sits on the earth, the way its surface reflects the light, the effect of its surroundings, whether they be flat or foliage, profoundly affects the color we see.  It  is an endlessly fascinating subject, and study

Well Seth, I am not sure if I truly stayed simple…but I h  expressed my passion for color, architecture, design, and the human spirit’s quest for beauty, joy, and perfection.  That last one will always elude us, but at least we can have fun trying!

Until the next…Be Well…

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Installed

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Installed

Last summer, I had the pleasure of meeting  Kaitlin Drisko, principal of  Drisko Studio Architects, known for “Integrating the new with the old…“

I was honored to be engaged to transform a custom-built TV cabinet designed for The Briggs Residence, in the Historic West Adams District. into a singular work of art, that would be the visual focal point of the downstairs of the house.  Paul Davidson of Paul Davidson incorporated served as the owner’s liaison, facilitating and supporting every step of the project, from the initial inspiration, to the design phase, through the full-scale making process, to completion and installation of the piece.

Framed by the dentil-style crown molding above,

and the streamlined fireplace below,

the four articulated doors swing open from stippled side pieces anchored to the wall.

The inside surfaces of the cabinet doors are also stippled, then  stenciled with a custom motif and variations, echoing other design elements in the room.

The stenciled pattern creates another frame when the cabinet doors are opened,

while the Flying Cranes add movement to the room when they are closed.

The transformed surface becomes a focal point for the room.

This project truly has been “A Saga of Flying Cranes” and a labor of love…

Gratitudes!

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Process

  A Saga of Flying Cranes: Process

I have had the opportunity, the honor, really, to work on a very special project for a historical residence, in the historical West Adams District of Los Angeles.  I was brought in by an architect specializing in the restoration and preservation of  historic buildings to transform a custom cabinet, designed to cover the living room television set, into a singular work of art.

I worked closely with the architectural firm, and project manager,  interfacing with the owner, interior designer, builders, and foreman, as we developed the design from concept to a specificity of  colors,textures,  materials and composition.

Along the way, I amassed and created inspirational images, painted, gilded and stenciled mock-ups, to scale drawings, and numerous samples.

Once inspired by images, and with the design process determined, it was time to bring the rubber to the road…and take the concept to the surface!

The inside of the four cabinet doors were stenciled with a customized motif that was variously rotated, flipped and reversed into variations that were combined to create an  elegant,  complex, yet fluid composition.

The individual motifs, and the pattern they created when combined were designed to complement and reflect the pattern in the rug,

and the carved images of  a free-standing wooden cabinet in the room.

Even the decorative heating grate cover is an inspiration, and is integrated into the overall design and feel of the room!

The architect’s office created a mock-up from copies made from the stencils themselves, and put together in the desired sequence for reference, to insure no mistakes were made.

Due to virulent vigilance, none were.

Stencils based on the chosen designs were drawn out to scale on acetate, a clear plastic material often used for this purpose, and hand-cut using an xacto knife, on a “self-healing” cutting mat.

Once the stencils were used, colorful paint residue made it easier to see their pattern, and also served as a color guide. The hand-cut stencils can be too delicate to wash off, so the paint stays on them.

After careful measuring and positioning, the stencils were taped into place over the primed, latex base painted, gold painted and several times stippled door panels..and the colors were applied in a stippled (or pounced),and  layered fashion.

Stenciling is truly the art of delayed gratification…the total effect can really only be seen when done.  You have to  love it.  If you do, the effort, the care,  the patience and the high wire act is worth it.  It is for me…I truly love the process, and how complex the results can become.One of my favorites is the extraordinary ceiling of the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, housed in the Chicago Art institute.

After the stenciling  was completed, three applications of composition gold leaf, also called dutch metal or schlag, were applied to the front side of the doors. Each surface was delicately sanded in-between, with a fine sandpaper of 400-600 grit.  Visual delineation of the  squares of gold leaf was the desired look. The  surfaces were  then sealed with a coat of  oil varnish designed for use over dutch metal, to prepare it for the painting.   Dutch metal will tarnish with any contact with water media, so this varnishing step is crucial.

Finally, the initial painting of the “saga of flying cranes’ began…first in primer, as the paint is acrylic, and it would not stick to the oil-based varnished surface. Washes of color in acrylic were then built up over the surface, and detail laid in. The painted surfaces were lightly sanded between paint applications, to keep it smooth and satiny.

More color details were added to give depth, dimension, and a bit of pop to the scene.

The colors were carefully chosen and designed to work with the room’s rug,

(glorious colors and patterns…found by the amazing architect and designer and their team.)

 fabrics, textiles and accessories…(some might say that pillows are necessities!),

as well as the wall colors and finishes in the room. The undertone of deep blue violet in the birds also provides pop against the complimentary gold background.

It was important to the architect that the crane’s feet have personality!

Inspired by the film, “Winged Migration“, these cranes have grit and determination…they are going somewhere, and they are going to get there!

On-site in the residence,  I treated the sides of the cabinet in the same stippled fashion as the interior surfaces of the door…but no stenciling here. I applied layers of stippled color over the primed, them base painted, then gold-metallic painted surfaces, as was done with the inside of the cabinet doors above.

The room is handsome, serene, streamlined, and somehow both warm and inviting, and cool and elegant.

I am looking forward to gong to the site soon,  to see and photograph the doors installed and the cabinet as a whole.

When I do, I think I  will be tempted to say…”You’ve come a long way, baby!  You’ve flown the coop!”

Are You looking forward to flying in this New Year?

I hope You are able to take flight in 2013.

As we know…time does fly…so let’s fly with it!

Let There Be Shadow

Let There Be Shadow

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” –Johann Wolfgang von Gogh Goethe

As we begin a new year, and the teen years of the millennium, there is a great deal of talk, longing and intention around new beginnings, fresh starts, new leaves, new chapters and so forth.

Let a new day dawn.    I am all for that.

Let the new page be started, the new leaf turned,  the fresh chapter embarked upon, longed for beginnings begun, and previously stalled starts started.  Let’s find that rainbow at the end of the storm, that light at the end of the tunnel.

But, let’s not forget, as the writer Goethe so pithily yet eloquently states, where there is light, there must also be shadow…and vice versa…we cannot have one without the other.

So, when confronted with the shadow side of our own natures,

even our own gifts,

 the coolness of the shade that we need as respite  from the sun,

and the shadow of our own fears, challenges, anxieties and struggles in the so-called dark,

as we move towards the light of fulfilling our longings and realizing our dreams,

let us remember that “Shadow owes its birth to light.” ( --John Gay),

and not be stumped,

stopped,

or stupefied by

its presence,

but know…

that shadow will always be there…

a companion on our journey….

needing

to be acknowledged,

insisting,

on making its presence known,

 

so that we can continue

to feel the glory

of the light.

Here’s to 2013!

Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

The Miracle of Light

Brilliant Light

Transformed by Light

Breaking Light

Reflecting Light

Rainbow is Light

Happy New Year 2013 from Artissima, blog of Artifactory Studio

May Your Year be Filled with Light

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 8,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 13 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Celebrating Loved Things 1.

Celebrating Loved Things 1.

E-Lumen-8 Part 1 Take 2

E-Lumen-8 Part 1 Take 2

E-LUMEN-8 Your Life! 

The story of “Artissima Lumens”…painted light switch plates for your e-lumen-8-ed pleasure!

The adventure begins  with prepping: sanding and priming the front surface of the nascent “Lumens”…making a tiny white canvass to frame the light switch aperture.

The “Lumen” prepared “canvasses” begin to stack up. Their tiny screws get the same treatment. Each is sanded, primed with a white-tinted primer, painted, and treated in the same manner as the rest of the piece. The entire surface is treated as one composition.

  It is fun to play with the aperture, and use it as part of the composition.

Pattern rules. Words can express dreams, hopes, even prayers.

The possibilities are endless…the size restrictions a creative stimulant….as opposed to a limitation.

  The interplay of textures, (built up through the application of  layer upon layer of stippled paint), and pattern, color and image, only become more fascinating to manipulate and explore.

Metallic paints provide glow and glimmer, sheen and shimmer, adding luster and elegance, or perhaps a celestial quality.

The addition of paint, texture and color add depth…while sanding between the layers with wet-dry sandpaper makes the pieces smooth and sleek, creating a tactile experience to match the visual. Layering imagery over texture, then softening, or slightly obscuring it, can suggest an air of mystery, softness, and complexity.

The elements are engaging to play with, mix, and and match.

I hope that the addition of “Artissima Lumens” will add an element of detail, joy or  artistry to a room and make turning on the light not only an illuminating, but fun!

E-LUMEN-8 Your Life!

Turn it On!

May Your Holidays be filled with light, joy, and FUN!

E-Lumen-8: Part 2 Take 1

E-Lumen-8:  Part 2 Take 1

Leaf Love

I recently participated in a holiday gift show, and created a collection of my “Artissima Lumens” (painted light switch covers) to show and sell.

In that spirit, I decided to document the process, and also create a sort of show and tell.

In posting, I decided to move “backwards” in time…starting with the finished creations, and then showing how they were made, start to finish, er,  finish to start.

Star Burst

Both the fascination and the frustration, ah-challenge, of painting on such a small canvas is, just that. Light switch plates  are such a small canvas, especially the “rocker” style light switch plate.

No, we are not talking Mick Jagger here…we are talking the type of frame-like light switch plate that has a rectangular opening designed to surround  a rocker style light switch.  The “canvas” area exists in just that small frame.

Ivy Trail

So why do it?

Why take on such a potentially frustratingly limited space for creativity?

I See the Moon

Well…the challenge and allure of  creating a miniature, for one thing.   It is fascinating to see what can be done on a limited surface space…with the limitations imposed both by the form and the function of the object.

How does one “use’ the opening as part of the composition?  Knowing, of course, that the light switch itself will change position continually as it is used for what it is designed to be used for: let there be light!

E-Lumen-8 your Life!

Do the “Lumens”  then become tiny pieces of performance art? “E-Lumen-8-ed’ not only by the burst of light when the switch is flicked, but also by the intentional movement of the client/owner/user when they reach out, and press, push, flick or rock that light switch?

Does the user become an unwitting collaborator in the “performance’ when they complete the action necessary to get use from an essentially utilitarian object?

An object that is surrounded by the embellished work that remains stationary, and yet is enlivened by the action it surrounds, like a miniature theater?

Does the user then become the performer?

Does the “Artissima Lumen” function merely as a frame for the utilitarian light switch, or does it employ the switch itself as a moving part of the whole? Does it employ the user as performer by engaging him or her to complete a necessary action?

Lotza Lumens

Such questions of form and function, concept and adornment, use and decor, object and action, creator and performer…may underlie some of our very motivation to create.

They won’t be answered in or by this post…but they are fascinating to contemplate!

Tracking Texture and Giving Thanks

Tracking Texture and Giving Thanks

The palette of warm gray/green, with terracotta/brick hues…translates from architecture,

to walkways,

to utilities,

and back to architecture again…

sometimes combining materials and textures in new and unexpected ways.

The type of material, and its texture, offer us a myriad of ‘takes”, on the colors, and how they play together.

Stone,

the glory of weathered wood, artfully used,

even concrete…reveal their charms, as the value, intensity and emotional impact of their colors shifts through their textures.

Nature’s palette too, plays out differently through texture….elegant branches punctuated by new green leaves against smooth ivory walls,

and  new life pushing its way indomitably through rock…

Let Us Enjoy These Gifts!

Giving Thanks this Season, for the never-Ending Wonders of our World, and the Power of our Imaginations to Create With Them Continually.

Peace and Blessing to All this Thanksgiving Holiday

Glimmer, Glamor, Glow and Glitter

Glimmer, Glamor, Glow and Glitter

Glow and glimmer, sheen and shimmer…the holidays are almost upon us…with their pressure, their joy, their longing, and their brilliance.

Stenciled  light switch covers, metallic  bathroom stripes, gilded stairway banisters, and golden ceilings created with layers of glaze are just a few of the unending treatments which can add shine, glitter and glamor to the space of the  built environment.

Dutch metal enhances a floret, and tinted wax a medallion…applications creating the illusion of precious metal are limitless.

Gilded furniture details spring to life against black, creating an elegant and festive air. Black tie optional, anyone?

       

Gold is not the only star…silver and copper have exciting roles to play for all ages, , both inside and out.

So…wish upon a star this holiday season…and, glow for it!

Decorative Painting: Leaving Our Mark

Decorative Painting; Leaving Our Mark

Encompassing a seemingly unlimited pantheon of forms, functions, mediums and media, the discipline of decorative painting goes everywhere.

A chosen vase provides colorways, pattern, and a touch of whimsy to the wall detailing over a living room fireplace for a creative client’s new home.

Custom stenciled butterflies flutter over the curved wall of the Dress for Success boutique. Architect: Justin Martinkovic of Martinkovic Milford.

Move over Nike  “swoosh”, Top 1 Oil‘s in town…and it’s all painted. Interior designer: Kelly Berg of Arte Styling.

Ceilings beg a variety of adornments…painted beams being one of them. Woodworker: Larry McCanse, Palmer Creek Hand-Hewn Wood Products.

Softly blended glaze colors tease out architectural nuances. Interior Designer: Anne Norton-Dingwall:   AND Interior Design Studio.

It takes a brave and bold client to live with strong color…a real treat to create with custom tinted, blended glazes.

Glazed stripes layered over a glazed wall create depth and character in The Polished Lounge nail salon.

The high ceiling and walls of a narrow powder room are dramatized by layers of glaze creating visual texture.

Glaze and paint create the effect of  marble and stone on a living room fireplace.

Once white latex, these tub cabinets have been transformed into wood…known in the business as “faux bois“, literally “fake wood”.

In the same bathroom, the closet door and cabinetry are also faux bois…inspired by the door to the room, which is “real” wood.

This cabinet sits at the top of a staircase, and serves as a focal point when ascending the stairs, or just passing by and looking up. It’s faux bois application matches that of the staircase banisters.

The wonder of decorative painting, and its myriad of applications is that it is are never-ending. Continually changing and evolving, and showing up in any and every nook and cranny, or open interior or exterior space, the glorious enhancement, beautification, communication and transformation of the built environment continues, and will continue, as long as humankind is willing and able to leave its mark.

Decorative Painting: A Life in Review

Decorative Painting; A Life in Review

Having spent many years, and still spending them in this broad arena we call, “Decorative Painting”, I wanted to take a moment to step back, and look into what comprises this multifaceted field…which could be described as the enhancement of the built environment.

Decorative painting can involve the coating, texturing and stenciling of small, utilitarian objects.

It can be the embellishment on an “industrial” scale with latex paint and big brushes, of a commercial establishment….a kind of  “branding”.

Exterior, …

         or interior, with graphic design and lettering

Decorative painting is

wall glazing…

ceiling stippling and custom stenciling…

and layering of color.

.

It is pattern…

and marble

,                  and gold

.

It is pure joy.

It can be pure love.

It will transform.

Color Blossoms

Color Blossoms

Floral Inspiration for Color Palettes, Choices, and Combinations

Red, yellow and blue…the classic primary palette with a twist…the colors are warmer and lighter than “true” primaries…with the blue leaning towards the turquoise, the red to the orange, and the yellow a paler tint.

Red and black together can signify hatred, but not here.  The illuminated orangey-red flower hue,  the addition of green in the background and calming quality of the surrounding earth make this an energizing, and somehow ethereal combination.

Analogous colors  are next to each other on the color wheel, such as, yellow (a primary color) and orange (a secondary color). Because yellow is a part of orange, and red is a part of both orange and purple, there is an immediate harmony and relationship  between these colors.

Purple and orange are both secondary colors, which as mentioned above, share red as a “parent”.  With the surrounding green leaves, all three secondaries are represented, providing both balance, and visual interest.

We don’t speak of a “pale” red.  When red becomes lighter in value, tinted with white, it becomes pink. The strong intensity of  the  pink rose swathed in not quite complimentary green leaves is softened by the dots of yellow to one side of it, which relieves both our mental attention and our physical eyes.

  The yellow and orange “bouquet”, analogous colors again adjacent on the color wheel, rise out of a mass of green.  All three of which hues share yellow in common. The parchment and brick colors of the building serve as a harmonious backdrop, and do not compete with nature…

Blue, white, green…the colors of nature. Sky, clouds, and plants, with a slight yellow center in view.  Sunlight?  Think Greece, the Aegean Isles……the sea, the sky, white buildings in the distance, and a bright yellow sunflower flaunted by green pines.

Here, “black” earth surrounds brilliant yet tender hues of yellow, pink, red, and purple. Red and green are compliments, as are yellow and purple…thus providing the tension and the attraction of opposites.

Yellow has a direct relationship with green, being one of its “parent” colors, along with blue. The lighter value and greater intensity of the yellow above makes it pop, amidst the green.

A group of related colors, (hues of orange, including the brick wall) all have yellow in common, as do the green leaves.  The variation in value, intensity and tone of the colors, (and differences in texture of the natural, and made-made surfaces)  creates  visual interest, and  their inter-relatedness creates harmony,  thus a pleasing balance is achieved.

Tints of warm, edible-looking orange contrast with green leaves, which reflect the warmth and ruffly quality of the flower!

Our eye is led around the white on red table top, up the bright red vase, and into the glories of burgundy, violet, yellow and white, with some refreshing yellowing-green blossoms thrown in for good measure.  White softens the scheme, and relieves the richness of these very saturated colors. The red, burgundy and violet share red in common, the yellow and green, have yellow in common, the green and violet have blue in common, thus there is both contrast, and relatedness among the colors. The bright red is  the strongest in chroma, and draws our eye in and up to the floral arrangement.  The combination enlivens and energizes the table, the space, our appetites, and our minds, without overwhelming.

What color palettes for Your home, business or other spaces have been inspired by the glories and the subtleties, of nature?

Where  and how does color blossom for YOU?

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Design

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Design

Initial sketch with color…

 

Moon slice ideas

Initial painting on composition gold leaf background

Blacks eliminated…blues used to create shade, depth and shadow…

Flocks of Flying Cranes?

Moon fade…with inspirations…

Drawing, “cartoon” (as they say in the tapestry world..) to-scale….

 

It’s All in the Prep…Have to have the Love!

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Inspiration

A Saga of Flying Cranes: Inspiration

Cranes are the inspiration for a project in a historic building  in the historic West Adams neighborhood of  Los Angeles.

The gold-leafed surfaces of traditional Japanese screens often serve as a background for crane, and other images.

           Although standing cranes are pleasing, flying cranes provide more movement.

The element of the fading red moon (probably conceived by the artists of such screen and scroll paintings as a sun), was found particularly attractive.

The richly textured and patterned borders of traditional Japanese scroll painting may provide direction and context for the border design of the piece.

The Asian depiction of cranes seems to differ in some aspects to the Western. Photographic and cinematic images of flying cranes stimulate design and composition ideas.

Incredible patterns and textures found in the image below suggest movement, relating to that of the Flying Cranes.

More Inspiration.

I am thrilled to be involved in such an exciting project, and am looking  forward to see what happens next!

To Be Continued…

Channeling Faber Birren

Channeling Faber Birren

Color expert Faber Birren was “a color consultant who read and analyzed tastes in the hues deemed most suitable for one’s surroundings”, as stated by his 1988 New York Times obituary. “Mr. Birren firmly believed in the therapeutic effects of bright colors on the mentally troubled. He also stressed that taste in colors, although occurring in fashionable cycles, was highly personal, with no two people responding the same way.”

Stumbling upon a nifty little book of Mr. Birren’s titled aptly, “Principals of Color“, I delved into the intricacies of tint, tone and shade.

Thinking I already knew quite a bit about what these terms meant, I was  intrigued to find that according to Birren, I still had  a way to go.

Birren divides up “color” into  three “forms”:  Hue (pure color), White, and Black.  True, I thought.  The combinations of these (and there are only four) create four secondary “forms”.  White +  Black = Gray.  Hue +  White = Tint.  Hue + Black =  Shade.  Hue + Black +White = Tone.

Wow, thought I…so true.  I had never considered it that way before. So caught up in the doing, the creating, mixing, playing with and achieving of colors…I had not deeply, deeply yet considered, the seven forms: Hue, White,  Black, Tint, Tone, Shade, Gray.

Apparently, as well, our eyes and brains will sort out, or simplify the huge range of existing color, IE, color wavelengths, (color is an effect of light wavelengths ) into a relative few.

In the words of Faber Birren, “It is thus philosophic, if not scientific, to conclude that the human sense of color doesn’t want to be bothered with the details.”    How human indeed!

It seems that we are actually, “dumbing down” the spectrum of colors that actually exist!

My colleague and associate, Rebecca E. Parsons of Cre8tive Compass Magazine, and Artistically Speaking Talk Show fame, shared a most fascinating story the last time we spoke on her blog talk radio show when I visited as the “Color Muze”.

She recounted that during a summer storm, an electrical storm, I believe, she looked up in the sky, and saw a color that she had never seen before.  No, not a permutation of red, blue, yellow, green, purple or orange. Not a black, or a white.

A TOTALLY DIFFERENT color that she had ever perceived, or laid eyes upon before…the closest she could get to describing it was that it might be said to be a “cooler” color.

Wow.

I have tried to research such a phenomenon,  but so far, have not come up with any information on spectral colors that most or all of us normally cannot see, but, that some can, or colors that can be seen only at certain times, and under certain conditions.

It just blows the mind!

I wonder what Faber Birren would have to say about such an experience?

Maybe, as I plough through research or stumble again upon information that might illuminate this mystery, I may find out!

Until then, I will have to live with its shadow of the mystery…or possibly, its light!

Have any of YOU ever heard about, or experienced such a thing?   Seeing “beyond”  the  color spectrum that most of us normally see within?

If so, please share about it with us here.

We Love to hear from You.

Remember, we are all coloring our way through this thing called Life, together.

“

Celebrating Sky…

Celebrating Sky…and that’s it

Cumulus Clouds…lots of them

Brilliant Silhouette

Flaming Sunset Moon

Cooler Sunset Moon

Punctuated by Palms

Clouds Moving over Wilshire

Heavenly Light

Clouds Laying Low

Our beloved Legion of Honor…part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

When Your Head Explodes

When Your Head Explodes

Despite the provocative title, this post is NOT about self-destruction, or really any other kind of explosion.

It is about how to avoid that, in a world, and a time, when everyone is overloaded, overstimulated, overwhelmed, and maybe just barely keeping themselves from going over the top.

What to do when conflicting demands, world crises, the seemingly ever-faster passage of time, and the never-ending allure and addiction of the internet challenge our time management skills?

Well, in many cases we may  need to do what one of my students did in a recent workshop….create

…and make lemonade out of lemons, and not the other way around.

One way to do this is to, as I term it, “Slow it all down” and take a breath, take a moment, and if you are engaged in a task, really concentrate on it, focus, and allow yourself to be drawn into its magic, and even its mystery.  Allow your attention to be captured, and the results may be unexpectedly healing, centering, renewing, and revitalizing.

I did this recently, when in a moment of feeling conflicting demands, needs, commitments, desires and possibilities, including the need to post on my Artissimablog, took a moment, and focused on my HOUZZ  design blog posts. Some of you may subscribe to this amazing entity…and receive, like I do, hundreds of fascinating, applicable and glorious posts, images, ideas and blurbs a week.

Hard to keep up with, and I have moved from reading EVERYTHING/EVERY ONE, to just those that truly fall within my current central focus of interest: color, art integration, decorative painting, D.Y.I., small spaces, the handmade, hands-on, bespoke, vintage, re-purposed and recycled. Plenty to keep anyone busy.  However, often I am rushing through them, just to get them “done”, read, checked off my ever-lengthening “to-do list”.  Not always really taking the material in; like flipping through a magazine, and not really reading.

Well,  on this particular day, for whatever reason, despite feeling like I needed to and should do a host of other things, I scanned my HOUZZ posts, and chose a few “treat” myself to. I put my whole attention on reading them, taking in the images, opening my heart, mind and soul to the ideas, aesthetics, whimsical innovation, and sheer beauty before  me on the screen.  As I became absorbed in what I was doing, the concerns, tensions, worries and conflicts seemed to slip away, and I was transported into other worlds of artful fascination and loveliness, feeling my spirit drink this in for all it was worth. The beauty, stimulation, and peacefulness of the images and ideas before me “worked” upon me, instead of the other way around.

When I had perused and imbibed  several chosen, intriguing posts, I was ready to move forward with my day, energized, calmer, and with renewed vigor for the tasks at hand.  It was like my nervous system had taken a break and come back refreshed, and maybe it had. Agitation may drive us to the place where we need to be creative or productive (not always the same thing), but it doesn’t seem to be the state  in which we ARE the most creative or productive, as John Cleese shares  with us in an intriguing talk.

Sometimes that is just a matter of a shift in attitude, decision, focus, or breath.

Quiet, clear, calm, focus, seems to be necessary, for us to “drop down” into that state where we are free of worry and stress, and can just roam; create, produce, play, complete, whatever.  Anxiety and the worry over conflicting demands takes a greater toll on our energy sources then simply releasing ourselves from those states, and giving ourselves fully to what is before us.

So, the next time You feel that Your head might explode,

               STOP….

Take a breath. Stay calm.  Choose a task, or just focus on the one right in front of you, and for just a few minutes, try to give yourself to it completely, and see what happens.

You may find yourself not only calmer, more alive, and less agitated, but also a bit richer in experience then you were before.

And that is certainly worth the price of admission!

Color Full

Color Full

Having completed a series of information-laden posts focusing on the “physics” of color and light…I decided it was time to lighten up and celebrate the colorFULness of our world…Come along with me, and celebrate Light and Color in all their aspects!

In Art…

and Architecture…

in Craft….at the Library….

on our Feet….

down the Street…

what we Drink…

how we Think!!!

All there for You to see, watch, read, make, paint, wear, live within, create, walk beside, notice, take joy in, and become energized by…Color (for) Your World!

Light On Color: Illuminate

Light On Color: Illuminate

In the last several Artissima blog posts we have taken a  journey through some of the aspects of color that many of us find challenging to truly understand, and wrap our minds around.

It has been fascinating to tackle the topics of metamerism, spectral reflectance, spectral power, the color rendering index, and color temperature.  I wanted to take a few moments, and summarize what I have learned, and hopefully what you have learned too!

As discussed,  color is a function of light. The color that we  see  is  reflected light waves.   “Visible light is made of seven wavelength groups.  When light hits objects, some of the wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected, depending on the materials in the object. The reflected wavelengths are what we perceive as the object’s color.”

We recognize four types of Metamerism, the phenomenon of colors seeming  to match under one light source, yet appearing different under another/in a different environment.

Sample metamerism: when two color samples appear to match under a particular light source but do not match under a different light source.   Sample metamerism has to do with differences in each sample object’s spectral reflectance distribution, or its response to light, characterized by the wavelengths that it primarily reflects. It happens because of differences in the objects (or samples) themselves.

Illuminant metamerism:  occurs when the spectral reflectance distributions of the two color samples observed are identical, and are seen under different lights sources with differing spectral power distributions  (SPD, or output of a light source, characterized by its relative strength at each wavelength.  It happens because of the light sources (or illuminants) themselves.

Sample Metamerism occurs as a result of  differences in the reflectivity of the color samples themselves, and Illuminant Metamerism occurs as a result of differences in the output of the light source itself, under which we are viewing the color samples.

Observer metamerism: can occur because of differences in color vision  from one person to the next. The physical act of seeing, that which happens in our eyes and brains when we see an object in whatever light, can alter  our color perception. A common source of observer metamerism is color blindness,  but it occurs with the “normal-seeing”  as well.  What  may be a color match for one observer may not be for another.

Geometric metamerism: The angle, distance or light position from which identical colors are viewed may change the color that we see. The distance between a woman’s eyes is, on average, slightly less than a man’s.  This slightly different angle of stereoscopic viewpoint may be why men and women have been known to perceive colors differently!  Most of us have had the experience of  two samples appearing to match when viewed from one angle, but then not matching when viewed from another angle.

CRI, or The Color Rendering Index is an international measurement scale that measures or  describes how colors are rendered, IE “show up” to our eyes,  under an artificial source of light as compared to daylight. Daylight renders the widest variety of colors, as compared to artificial lighting, which depending on the nature of its light source, can render many or few colors.  The International Commission on Illumination (Abbreviated C.I.E. because of its French name, Commission internationale de l’éclairage)is recognized as the  international authority on light and color.  It defines  CRI/color rendering as the effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant.

in my own words, the color rendering index describes the  effect of a light source on how the color of an object appears to us.  It is the measurement of how much an object’s color appearance shifts when illuminated by an artificial (other than daylight)  light source compared to the color appearance of the same object when  illuminated by a “reference” light source (daylight), of comparable color temperature.

Color Temperature… refers to the actual color and type of  light emitted by a particular light source. High color temperatures, those over 5,000K (K = Kelvin) are termed cool colors  and are bluish white, while lower color temperatures (2,700–3,000 K) are called warm colors  and are yellowish white through red.  

Thus, color temperature refers to the actual color of light and  CRI refers to the ability of a light source to render color, in comparison to daylight.

The relationship of color temperature to CRI?

The color rendering index can be used as a basis of comparison between light sources only if they have the same color temperature; if they are the same degree Kelvin, and thus the light they emit is the same color.

CCT, or Correlated Color Temperature, also expressed in Kelvin, is a numerical description of a  light’s color appearance,  and describes whether a white light source appears more yellow/gold, or more blue.  CCT can be used as a means of correlating the color of an artificial light source with the color of daylight.

As artists, colorists, visual makers of any kind, and humans upon this earth…we will always come back to our response to color, how it is perceived or rendered through light, its effect on our interior and exterior environments, and upon our hearts, minds and souls, to say nothing of our work. Color, and thus light, are a frame of reference for our physical and emotional  experience as we move through our lives.

I hope these posts have shed some light on the color in your life….and that you walk in beauty…and illumination.

 

Color Temperature

Color Temperature

What is “Color Temperature“, and how does it relate to CRI, or the Color Rendering Index?

We know CRI to be an international measurement scale or rating of how accurately an artificial  light source renders, or shows the color of an object (often called its “color appearance” ) as compared to daylight, which is capable of depicting, rendering or showing the widest range of colors. Thus, CRI rates, describes or measures how the  colors of objects  appear (compared to daylight) under a specific light source…IE, in a given light.

Color temperature however refers to the actual color and type of  light emitted by a particular light source.  High color temperatures, those over 5,000K (K = Kelvin) are termed cool colors  and are bluish white, while lower color temperatures (2,700–3,000 K) are called warm colors  and are yellowish white through red.

Yes, counter-intuitively, the higher color temperature describes a cooler color, while a lower color temperature describes a warmer hue. When considering interior lighting,  color temperature can play a significant role in how we feel and function in a space.  A warmer light, which has a  lower color temperature, can  promote our relaxation, while a cooler  light with a higher color temperature may enhance or help to increase our concentration.

Thus, color temperature refers to the color of light, and CRI refers to the ability of a light source to render the color of objects in a manner comparable to the way daylight does/would.

Whew…what a mouthful!

The rub?  The color rendering index can be used as a basis of comparison between light sources only if they have the same color temperature. To compare light sources, or to compare an artificial light source to daylight, said artificial light source must have the same color temperature as the daylight to which it is being compared.  Remember, daylight renders, or makes visible, the widest range of colors…and there are yet many more colors in the light spectrum that we cannot see with our naked eyes.  We are not able to see the entire light (thus color) spectrum. Light values beneath the visible part of the spectrum are referred to as infrared, and above the spectrum as ultraviolet.

CCT, or Correlated Color Temperature  is expressed in Kelvin, and describes whether a white light source appears more yellow/gold, or more blue.  Thus, it  is  a numerical description of a  light’s color appearance.  It can be used as a means of correlating the color of an artificial light source with the color of daylight. “The correlated color temperature (CCT) is a specification of the color appearance of the light emitted by a lamp, relating its color to the color of light from a reference source when heated to a particular temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin (K).  –http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/education/learning/terminology/cct.asp

Here, we bring our discussion of Color Temperature, and its relationship to CRI to a close, at least for the moment.  It is a complex subject, but one that can come into play when dealing with any matters of color and light in the realms of photography, film, video, interior design, theater, the visual arts, and many other areas.  Good for us to have some idea of what the terms mean!

 

I hope that this series of posts on the relationship between Color and Light has helped to demystify it for you…at least to some extent. As much as we can learn, observe and discover, we will never know it all…and maybe that is as it should be.  Some things, such as the majesty and magnificence of the natural world should retain some mystery…no matter how much physics we attempt to wrap our minds around.

 

 

 

Rendering Color II

Rendering Color II

“What is color? No object of itself alone has color.
We know that even the most brightly colored object, if taken into total darkness, loses its color. Therefore, if an object is dependent upon light for color, color must be a property of light.
And so it is.”
Paul Outerbridge, Photographer 1896 – 1958

In the post, “Color Rendering I”  I delved into the nature of color and light…as Paul Outerbridge  says above,  color is a property of light…the color that we see an object as “being”, is in essence, light…the wavelengths of light it reflects, as opposed to absorbs.

In this post, I am seeking to clarify CRI…what does that mean?

CRI, or the Color Rendering Index, is a scale that measures not color, not light, but ” the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source”.–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index

The ideal or natural light source being daylight, because “it (daylight) displays (1) a great variety of colours, (2) makes it easy to distinguish slight shades of colour, and (3) the colours of objects around us obviously look natural.” –P.J. Bouma

The International Commission on Illumination  (which is usually abbreviated C.I.E.  for its French name Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage), the international authority on color, color spaces, light, and illumination, has defined CRI as the  “Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant”.

Is the concept and definition of CRI becoming any more clear?

Trying to explain CRI reminds me of trying to translate from one language to another, in a manner that makes the meaning of a phrase in one language, comprehensible in another.  It isn’t enough just to translate the words…the whole meaning, context, and  sense of the phrase must be understood.

How’s this:

  The closer the red of your child’s red beach ball inside, under the light of say, your dining room chandelier, looks to the red the same ball appears to be outside, on the beach, under the sunlight, the higher the CRI is of that dining room chandelier illuminant.  CRI measures the ability of a light source to reveal, render, depict or show color the way daylight would.

Put another way, the color rendering index describes the  effect of a light source on how the color of an object appears to us.  It is the measurement of how much an object’s color appearance shifts when illuminated by an artificial (other than daylight)  light source compared to the color appearance of the same object when  illuminated by a “reference” light source (daylight), of comparable color temperature.

Whoops!  Color Temperature!?!  Suffice it to say, right here, right now, the CRI of a light source can only be determined when it is being compared to a reference illuminant, (natural light/daylight), with the same, or comparable color temperature.  The role of “Correlated Color Temperature“  in CRI will be discussed in a future post.

So…until then chew on the above…and I hope the light bulb goes on for you about what Color Rendering Index is.

May both your days, and nights be illuminated with light sources of the highest CRI!

Rendering Color I

Rendering Color I

“What is color? No object of itself alone has color.
We know that even the most brightly colored object, if taken into total darkness, loses its color. Therefore, if an object is dependent upon light for color, color must be a property of light.
And so it is.”
Paul Outerbridge, Photographer 1896 – 1958

As Mr. Outerbridge so succinctly states, color is a property of light…or, otherwise put, a function of light.  Color and light are intrinsically entwined…part and parcel of each other… mystic twins, or co-dependents, depending on your point of view.

Sunlight, or white light,  is the combination of the entire electromagnetic spectrum ( a light source’s spectrum is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength, and most light sources emit light at many different wavelengths)..in essence, all the colors of the rainbow.  Their combination creates white light, while  lack of light, no color, is perceived by us as black.  Though artists may see black as a color, it is actually the lack of color: a state of no color.  We are discussing color, and color mixing from the point of view of light wavelengths, not color mixing as regards to paints.  This is physics…the physics of light and color.

The terms “color” and “wavelength” here may confusing.  Our eyes will perceive the color based on not only the wavelengths of light that the object we are viewing reflects or absorbs, but  also on the actual measurement of those wavelengths…measured in nanometers. We can see the reflected colors of light which lay in a very small region of the electromagnetic spectrum called, aptly enough, “visible light”.  We cannot see color wavelengths that are absorbed by an object or surface.

Wavelengths ranging from about 400-750 nanometers make up the visible spectrum of light that can be perceived by the human eye.  When light strikes an object certain  of its wavelengths are absorbed by that object, and others are not. Those that are not, those wavelengths of light which bounce  or are reflected off an object, are perceived by the human eye as color.   In essence, “An object appears a certain color because it reflects certain light wavelengths, which are then  perceived by the eye.”  –http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-color-rendering-index.htm

Surfaces we see as black absorb all of the wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum which reach them.  All the “color”  thus is absorbed, and we see no color, and thus black. Surfaces we see as white are reflecting, or bouncing back to our eyes, (specifically, the rods and cones -photoreceptor cells- within our eyes), all of the wavelengths of visible light which reach them.  Thus, as all of these visible wavelengths are being reflected “to us”, and their combination, as discussed above, creates white light, as white light (discussed above)  is the combination of entire electromagnetic spectrum, or all the colors of the rainbow!  (Mind you, if you mix a wide spectrum of varying paint colors together, you will  not get white! We are discussing color in reference to light only in this post!).

Each light source emits different wavelengths of light, thus the way we perceive colors varies depending on how the object we are seeing is illuminated, I.E., the wavelengths of light it absorbs and reflects.

Ah..now we begin to get to the heart of the story…the Color Rendering Index, or CRI.  It will take a second post on this complex subject to further demystify it.

“The Color Rendering Index is an international measurement scale that describes how colors are rendered under an artificial source of light. The standard against which artificial lighting is compared is daylight, because daylight renders the widest variety of colors. Artificial lighting, by contrast, can render very many or very few colors, depending on the nature of the light source. The color rendering index has many applications, especially in art and photography.” –http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-color-rendering-index.htm

“The Color Rendering Index (sometimes called color rendition index), is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. Light sources with a high CRI are desirable in color-critical applications such as photography and cinematography.^[1] It is defined by the International Commission on Illumination as follows:^[2]

Color rendering: Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant.

The CRI of a light source does not indicate the apparent color of the light source; that information is under the rubric of the correlated color temperature (CCT).” –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index

Because of the complexity and relative “thickness” of this subject, I will delve further into the Color Rendering Index, Color Rendering itself, The International Commission on Illumination, and Correlated Color Temperature, in a subsequent post.

Until then…I am wishing you much light and color in your life.  May your spirit be illuminated, and your soul rendered…in all the colors of the rainbow!

Seeing the Light: Metamerism II

Seeing the Light: Metamerism II

To support my  attempt to demystify the baffling phenomenon of metamerism, and enhance our understanding of it, let us review the four types of metamerism described in the previous post, “Seeing the Light…Metamerism”.  We can then  move on from there to deconstruct some of the formal terms used in their definitions, specifically, spectral reflectance distribution, and spectral power distribution, two terms/phenomena that are inter-related, but not the same, and which play an integral part in metamerism.

Sample metamerism: What we think of as “metamerism” is actually one type, sample. When two color samples appear to match under a particular light source but do not match under a different light source, this is called “sample metamerism.”   Sample metamerism has to do with differences in each object’s spectral reflectance distribution, or its response to light, characterized by the wavelengths that it primarily reflects. When the samples respond to different light sources in different ways, reflecting wavelengths of light (which is the color that our eye sees: we see the wavelengths of light that are NOT  absorbed by an object…IE, the wavelengths of light that ARE reflected by an object) differently, they will be seen by our eyes as different colors.

Illuminant metamerism: Easily confused with sample metamerism, illuminant metamerism occurs when the spectral reflectance distributions of the two color samples (which, as mentioned above, is their response to light, characterized by the wavelengths that they primarily reflect)  is identical, and the spectral power distributions of the various light sources under which they are seen, differ. When two  identical samples are seen under different lights sources with differing spectral power distributions  (the output of a light source, characterized by its relative strength at each wavelength), their color will appear to differ, even though as regards to their spectral reflectance distribution, they are exactly the same.

Thus, Sample metamerism occurs as a result of  differences in the reflectivity (ability to reflect) of the color samples (objects/surfaces) themselves , and Illuminant metamerism occurs as a result of differences in the output, or strength of the wavelengths of the light source itself, under which we are viewing the color samples.

Complicated?!

Indeed!  But when we read the definitions carefully, and break them down so that we understand the terms and what they are referring to, we can begin to understand how light, color, and sight work together.

Illuminant metamerism is not often seen, unless  the observer use a  light box to see identical samples illuminated by both light sources separately, yet simultaneously.  Again, this type of metamerism is created by differences in the strength of the wavelengths of the light source only, not in the samples themselves.

Observer metamerism: Do we all see color differently?  It is commonly agreed upon that we do, assuming that each individual  possesses adequate color matching aptitude. Observer metamerism can occur because of differences in color vision  from one person to the next. Again the process of seeing is complex, but for the purposes of this post, suffice it to say  that the physical act of seeing, what happens in each person’s eyes and brain when they see an object in whatever light, can alter  their color perception. A common source of observer metamerism is color blindness,  but it occurs with the “normal-seeing”  as well.  In the case of observer metamerism, two lights or surfaces  may be a color match for one observer but not for another.

Geometric metamerism: The angle, distance or light position from which identical colors are viewed may change the color that we see. The distance between a woman’s eyes is, on average, slightly less than a man’s.  This slightly different angle of stereoscopic viewpoint may be why men and women have been known to perceive colors differently!  Most of us have probably had the experience of  two samples appearing to match when viewed from one angle, but then not matching when viewed from another angle.  Examples would be the color variations that appear in pearlescent auto finishes or “metallic” paper. This may be something to think about when using specialty finishes in interiors, fashion and works of art.

Now, let’s explore,and attempt to define both spectral reflectance distribution, and spectral power distribution, and their curves, and see if this process illuminates our understanding of ” magical” metamerism!

The spectral reflectance distribution of a sample (object or surface) has to do with its response to light…to the light  wavelengths it reflects, as opposed to those it  absorbs.  The color that we see is composed of the wavelengths (which compose white light) that are reflected…not absorbed by a surface.  In essence, what we see is really not a “tangible”  part of the object or surface we are looking at.  We do not see absorbed wavelengths…they are no longer visible. We see the wavelengths that are reflected. The spectral reflectance distribution is a quality, or ability of an OBJECT or SURFACE…not of a light source.  Light sources, whether natural or artificial,  provide light, they do not reflect it.

The reflectance spectrum or spectral reflectance curve  is the plot of reflectance as a function of wavelength, which can be charted graphically.

Spectral power distribution  is how much power a light source puts out, “characterized” by its relative strength wavelength to wavelength.
It is a quality, or ability of a LIGHT SOURCE…not an object or surface.  As stated above, objects or surfaces absorb and reflect light.  They do not provide light.  Light sources provide light that is then reflected or absorbed by an object/surface.

A spectral power distribution curve  ” provides the user with a visual profile of the color characteristics of a light source. They show the radiant power emitted by the source at each wavelength or band of wavelengths over the visible region….” –http://www.gelighting.com/na/business_lighting/spectral_power_distribution_curves/

Whew!  Is this…physics?

I know that  I have  repeated some of this information several times.

I have found that only by repetition, reading and rereading, sometimes even  out loud, can I begin to wrap my mind around these concepts. I hope these efforts help YOU understand metamerism and its inherent phenomena, and that your color practice, consultation, choices, play and enjoyment is enriched.

Happy coloring!  Try it outside the lines…maybe you will make a colorFULL discovery!

Seeing RED

Seeing RED

Green master bath and red master bedroom form a complimentary pair

Red door = energy

Rich red layers of glaze create a dining room “intime”

San Francisco’s Dress for Success Boutique uses the butterfly as a symbol of transformation

Benihana’s Restaurant in Cupertino, CA is transformed by bamboo imagery reflecting its interior wall coverings

More cream on white…this time wall covering in a Parisian-inspired San Francisco SOMA District interior

The Benihana mural transforms as it moves across the overhang

Red creates a luxuriant backdrop for dark wood, bright artwork, and mirrors

Red creates pop which animates the bar, and the room

Layers of glaze create lend depth and sensuality to a personal space

Red door = energy… in  The Soulful Pilates Studio, San Francisco

Green frames red…bringing the outside in

Seeing the Light…Metamerism

Seeing the Light…Metamerism

Metamerism, commonly defined as the optical phenomenon of colors seeming  to match under one light source, yet appearing different under another, is fascinating, and perplexing.  Why and how does it occur?

Well, the answer, from my research, can get pretty complex…involving such things as CRI, or color rendering index, SPD, or spectral power distribution,  spectral reflectance distributions  and  reflectance curves.

I became interested in metamerism afresh after viewing a webinar on the subject created by the paint company Sherwin-Williams.  I must admit, I watched and listened to this recorded webinar several times, took notes, and then watched/listened to it  again. Light in tone, with fun images, and plenty of humor, the webinar contained information that has taken me time, focus, and further research to even begin to understand.

Because I find the subject so complex, I have decided to devote a series of Artissima blogs posts to metamerism, and attempt to break it down into comprehensible chunks…siting examples and resources along the way which I hope will be helpful.

Color involves light, the object illuminated, and the observer of the illuminated object.   As color is a function of light, very simply put, the color that we (the observer) see  is  reflected light waves.   In essence: “Visible light is made of seven wavelength groups.  When light hits objects, some of the wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected, depending on the materials in the object. The reflected wavelengths are what we perceive as the object’s color.” –http://www.devx.com/projectcool/Article/19954/  Put another way; “Objects affect light by selectively reflecting or absorbing light of different wavelengths. So an object that absorbs most blue wavelengths and reflects most red wavelengths will usually appear red to our eyes. The actual color it appears to us is dependent on the spectral composition of the light reflecting off the object.” --http://photoshopnews.com/2005/04/20/metamerism-%E2%80%93-friend-or-foe/

Let’s  look at four kinds of metamerism…

Sample metamerism: What we think of as “metamerism” is actually one type, sample. When two color samples appear to match under a particular light source but do not match under a different light source, this is called “sample metamerism.”   Sample metamerism has to do with differences in each object’s spectral reflectance distribution, or its response to light, characterized by the wavelengths that it primarily reflects. When the spectral reflectance distributions of the two samples (the objects themselves) differ, the color of each will look different in different lights.

Illuminant metamerism: Easily confused with sample metamerism, illuminant metamerism occurs when the spectral reflectance distributions of the two color samples observed are identical.  These identical samples are seen under different lights sources with differing spectral power distributions  (SPD,  or,  the output of a light source, characterized by its relative strength at each wavelength)

Thus, Sample Metamerism occurs as a result of  differences in the reflectivity of the color samples themselves, and Illuminant Metamerism occurs as a result of differences in the output of the light source itself, under which we are viewing the color samples. (Confusing…I think so…but with careful study of the differences, they can become clear)

Illuminant metamerism is not often seen, unless  the observer use a  light box to see identical samples illuminated by both light sources separately, yet simultaneously.  Again, this type of metamerism is created by differences in the light source only, not in the samples themselves.

The complex phenomena of SPD/Spectral Power Distribution,  Spectral Reflectance Distribution, and Spectral Distribution Curves will be discussed in greater depth in a subsequent  post on Metamerism.  It can take fortitude to keep them all straight!

Observer metamerism: Do we all see color differently?  It is commonly agreed upon that we do, assuming that each individual  possesses adequate color matching aptitude. Observer metamerism can occur because of differences in color vision  from one person to the next. Again the process of seeing is complex, but for the purposes of this post, suffice it to say  that the physical act of seeing, what happens in each person’s eyes and brain when they see an object in whatever light, can alter  their color perception. A common source of observer metamerism is color blindness,  but it occurs with the “normal-seeing”  as well.  In the case of observer metamerism, two lights or surfaces  may be a color match for one observer but not for another.

Geometric metamerism: The angle, distance or light position from which identical colors are viewed may change the color that we see. The distance between a woman’s eyes is, on average, slightly less than a man’s.  This slightly different angle of stereoscopic viewpoint may be why men and women have been known to perceive colors differently!  Most of us have probably had the experience of  two samples appearing to match when viewed from one angle, but then not matching when viewed from another angle.  Examples would be the color variations that appear in pearlescent auto finishes or “metallic” paper. This may be something to think about when using specialty finishes in interiors, fashion and works of art.

I hope this post on Metamerism has lit a fire in your belly to know more about it.  I know will be continuing my research, and delving further into the subject to help demystify it for both YOU and me.

The subject of color, light, and the relationship between the two is so vast, multifaceted and complex, that it will never be demystified completely.  Thus we have a lifetime of color mystery and magic to look forward to.   We can join in the efforts of fearless color explorers through the ages, and add our own special hue…ah, I mean, view (!), to their findings, while enhancing our own knowledge base and experience.

Humors, Hues, and Healing: Color Symbolism of Yesteryear

Humors, Hues, and Healing: Color Symbolism of Yesteryear

Sunday July 15, 2012, on our Color Muze  for Artistically Speaking Talk Show, the Blog Talk Radio brainchild of artist and entrepreneur Rebecca E. Parsons, we delved into the mists of antiquity to explore what my teacher, Frank H. Mahnke, of the IACC-NA (International Association of Colour Consultants/Designers Seminars) has called, “Mystical Color Symbolism.

Rebecca interviewed my old friend and colleague, Joy Conway, decorative painter extraordinaire, owner and lead artist of  Funwalls Studio in Albuquerque, NM, a division of her evolving, green  artistic enterprise, nmVerde. Joy is also part of Vintage and More,  selling vintage items and antiques as part of a collective effort.  Although “vintage’ is not necessarily “antiquity”, we found plenty of tie-ins!

We “muzed” about the four-fold system devised by the ancient Greek physician  Hippocrates,  (b. ca. 460 B.C, often termed the “Father of Western Medicine”,  which connects the four major “humors” (human bodily fluids) with the four “temperaments”  (one might term these, personality types) and their color counterparts.

Bear in mind that the hue of each  humor, IE, black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm (this is not for the faint of heart!) does not necessarily correspond to the color related to it.  No, blood/sanguis, even though physically  a shade of red, is related to the cheerful color of yellow, and element of air.

The  term for a cheerful, optimistic, hopeful personality…or, temperament is sanguine!  Perhaps this humor, blood, runs healthily through the veins of one of this temperament, helping them to be positive, and upbeat!

Let’s take a look at the this fascinating  four-fold system.

The humor yellow bile, or “cholos” is associated with  the element of fire, and the  choleric temperament: passionate, touchy, quick, violent tempered, and active. The choleric temperament is strong, faster changing, a tensed mental state directed towards the outer world.  It’s color is red, in modern systems symbolizing  aggressiveness, activity and strength.

The humor black bile, or “melas cholos” is  associated with  the element of earth (not water, as one might intuitively expect given our natural association with blue) , and the  melancholic temperament: sad, with a tendency towards melancholy and depression.  The melancholic temperament is strong, but slower changing, a tensed mental state directed towards the inner world. It’s color  range is  blue, blue-violet, and black. It’s counterpart in contemporary color symbolism would be “feeling blue”- IE, sadness, melancholy, and depressiveness.

The humor blood,, or sanguis” is associated with  the element of air, and the  sanguine temperament: warm-hearted, lively, cheerful, impulsive, with a positive approach to life.. The sanguine temperament is weaker, faster changing, a relaxed mental state directed towards the outer world.It’s color is yellow, which in our modern system symbolizes cheerfulness, vitality, and high-spiritedness. Yellow, in the Hippocratic system relates to the element of air, and the humor of blood,  is the color of the sun, and sunlight…perhaps the “life blood” of our planet earth?

The humor  phlegm  (we all know that one, yes?!) is associated with  the element of water (which makes sense when you think about the relationship of phlegm to dampness) and the  phlegmatic temperament:stolid, calm, reserved, and hard to rouse to activity. The phlegmatic  temperament is weak and slow changing, a relaxed mental state directed towards the inner world.  (Think about when you have a cold, and just want to curl up in bed and let the world go by). It’s color range is green, green-blue, and white. Green, in more modern color symbolism, can express withdrawal, quietness and reservation.

Just for fun…here is an excerpt (found on http://www.fisheaters.com/fourtemperaments.html)  from the 11th c. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, attributed to John of Milano, giving the basic run-down as to the effects of too much of one humor or another: 

	If Sanguin humour do too much abound, These signes will be thereof appearing cheefe, The face will swell, the cheeks grow red and round, With staring eies, the pulse beate soft and breefe, The veynes exceed, the belly will be bound, The temples, and the forehead full of griefe, Unquiet sleeps, that so strange dreames will make To cause one blush to tell when he doth wake: Besides the moysture of the mouth and spittle, Will taste too sweet, and seeme the throat to tickle.
	If Choller do exceed, as may sometime, Your eares will ring, and make you to be wakefull, Your tongue will seeme all rough, and oftentimes Cause vomits, unaccustomed and hatefull, Great thirst, your excrements are full of slime, The stomacke squeamish, sustenance ungratefull, Your appetite will seeme in nought delighting, Your heart still greeued with continuall byting, The pulse beate hard and swift, all hot, extreame, Your spittle soure, of fire-worke oft you dreame.
	If Flegme abundance haue due limits past, These signes are here set downe will plainly shew, The mouth will seeme to you quite out of taste, And apt with moisture still to overflow, Your sides will seeme all sore downe to the waist, Your meat wax loathsome, your digestion slow, Your head and stomacke both in so ill taking, One seeming euer griping tother aking: With empty veynes, the pulse beat slow and soft, In sleepe, of seas and ryuers dreaming oft.
	But if that dangerous humour ouer-raigne, Of Melancholy, sometime making mad, These tokens then will be appearing plaine, The pulse beat hard, the colour darke and bad: The water thin, a weake fantasticke braine, False-grounded ioy, or else perpetuall sad, Affrighted oftentimes with dreames like visions, Presenting to the thought ill apparitions, Of bitter belches from the stomacke comming, His eare (the left especiall) euer humming.

So, what does all this say about our use of color, and the use of color in the architectural space?

I can’t give a definitive response to this query, but take a look at these interiors, and let me know what you think!

Red for the bed…a couple’s romantic red bedroom.

Blue for you…this is where you will stay as a guest in this house…in the blue guest room.

Mellow yellow? The blue guest room’s yellow and deco bath.

Green for clean?  This green room is the complementary master bath for the red bedroom above.

What does it all mean? Have we changed that much since 460 B.C?  Certainly not our “humors”, nor their hues. If we truly peruse and analyze the ancient Greek scholars, we can probably discover methodologies and means timelessly revealing of the human body, spirit and psyche.  At any rate…it is a fascinating  area of study and contemplation, and one befitting our Color Muze,on  Artistically Speaking Talk Show and  Cre8tive Compass Magazine.

if anyone is interested in further humor-ous (or other) exploration, please consider checking out these sites for further fascination, fun and fancy…and maybe a few insights along the way!.

May YOU live long, and healthy.

http://www.greekmedicine.net/b_p/Four_Humors.html

http://www.thecolourworks.com/pdfs/Hippocrates%20the%20Four%20Humours%202.pdf

http://thecolourworks.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/hippocrates-galen-the-four-humours/

Surface-ing in Santa Monica

Surface-ing in Santa Monica

Right here in Santa Monica there is a house completely covered in mosaic…every surface touched.

The patio table top allows for dining on mosaic, while gazing upon mosaic.

A tree of life is flanked by trees of nature.

Aquatic life swims across the wall…

allowing a close-up view.

A doorway to the surely magical intrigues.

The wind is in the details

Not too far away, also in Santa Monica, is different sort of embellishment: a wall encrusted with crushed cans.

In the display case on that wall, folded paper cranes fly.

Around the corner is

an  entire wall of apartments surfaced with crushed cans.

People live here.

With all the accoutrements.

They barbeque here.

Lite transformed into art.

What other surface music is played visually here in Santa Monica?

One must stroll without a goal…play the flâneur...

Expect the unexpected….

And reap the delight.

Celestial Gaze

Celestial Gaze

As many turn their gaze heavenward to see the proverbial firework displays inherent in the annual Fourth of July celebration, let’s turn our gaze to the myriad of ways decorative painting  can celebrate the wonders of the heavens, celestial bodies and space…. and transform the environment we see everyday into magical spheres limited only by the imagination.

Moon, stars and planets on the “sky” of a child’s room know no limits.

And it flies too…in the realms of the imagination!

A black hole in celestial space has a function…

enjoyed by some favorite young “clients”…and budding artists.

Up close and personal…stars from the heart.

Planetary glories…

can provide an astronomical teaching moment.

Stars bend onto the ceiling,

and a sun surrounded by”mini-mes” shines down beneficently from an illuminated corner.

Even the light switch plate gets into the act, playing a starring role.

“When you wish upon a star….” is an inspiring message for a young girl.

In a bath with a star-studded ceiling, you can star gaze while you shower!

On a portable mural, view custom planes whiz through glazed skies.

Or watch a stork carry a newborn home right on your very own living room wall.

Stencils, custom designs, glazes, color, murals of all sorts, lettering, and so much more can transform your walls and furniture into celestial realms that celebrate  the mystery and majesty of the heavens, and express your inner space in ways as  limitless as the outer…and as boundless as the skies.

HAPPY (albeit belated) Fourth!

Intuitive Color

Intuitive Color

I have a bit of a confession to make.  As a color consultant, I go with my gut first- (after full-out discussions with the Client of course, and an assessment of their needs, wants, preferences and desires for their space, business or brand, and its color design).

I take a look at all the information, and at the raw data: the space, walls, architecture, logo, or existing visual identity, and then let my imagination wander.   After I identify my intuitive, initial, and well, gut response, I delve into my source material…my guides, charts, chapters and information garnered from my course of study at the IACC-NA (International Association of Colour Consultants/Designers of North America).

I cross-reference my initial, intuitive, and gut-level response with case studies, hard data, and historical info, and  analyze the color  choices from a number of vantage points including the psychological/associative, the sensory and the energetic.

In other words, how do colors make us feel emotionally, physically, and psychologically?  What emotions do we feel, or associate, what physical sensations do we experience, or associate, and what symbolic associations do we make with any particular hue..or combinations of hue?

Can we be healed by color? All of these effects, issues and questions come into play when choosing colors for the garden, the built environment, or a business, institution or organization.  There is no one right answer when determining, choosing or analyzing colors or color combinations for any purpose.  There are theories, the color wheel, associations, and our felt experience.  All of these must be brought to bear on our color decision.  Let’s look at some evocative color combinations in art, nature and life.  Evocative of…what?  Well might you ask.

Sometimes a complimentary ( opposite each other on the color wheel) color duo is necessary to add punch, accent or contrast, even within a range of softer, pastel hues.  Pale yellow and periwinkle blue cross into yellow and purple territory, creating contrast, without becoming jarring.

 Analogous colors (those next to each other on the color wheel), can work together to communicate a feeling, a brand,or a niche based on associations with nature. The analogous combination of blue and green  is a natural to express tranquility, life, truth, growth and hope.

Combinations of two secondary hues, such as green and lavender can create a feeling of both variegation and  harmony. The colors are contrasting, but also related, as they share the common element of blue.

We can look to the associations colors have with emotions to  better understand our reactions to them. Hatred can be associated with both red and black. This may be mitigated by the addition of white and pale yellow. How much each color is used is also a factor in how we respond to the color composition  as a whole.

Blue and orange, another complimentary pair, combine the tranquil and noble associations of blue with the happiness and joviality of orange. Tension or balance or…both?  We are held rapt by a sky both ethereal and dramatic.

Perhaps the employment of all three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) is the most dynamic of combos.  These colors, in near pure form, happily vie for attention in all their aspects, creating a brilliant, dynamic harmony.  This image keeps us awake, stimulates our minds, and enlivens our senses..  Like visual acupressure, all the points are touched..

Coming full circle, we return to the gradated harmonies of sea, mist, fog and sky…with the silhouette of a tree branch and a distant piece of the red-hued  Golden Gate Bridge thrown in for good measure.  Don’t “analyze this”…just let it wash over you…and trust your intuition, your gut response…they won’t lead  you wrong with color…ever.  ” This above all: to thine own self be true,” in color, and in life.   Is there a distinction?