The Art of Reflection

The Art of Reflection

Compelling design, part of a work of art of stained glass, at the Woodlawn Mausoleum

The seasons they are a-changing.

It is Autumn, the season of cooling weather and quickening hearts. The end of fluid Summer, and beginning of the school year, another stab at academic rigor, goal setting, focus, and pushing forward the vision. Perhaps re-visioning the vision.

After a bout of white-hot Los Angeles weather, I awoke recently to a cool(er) gray Santa Monica morning, and walked to the Woodlawn Cemetery & Mausoleum.  As I strolled through its spacious corridors, punctuated by magnificent stained glass windows, I was entranced by their reflections spreading pools of colored light across the smooth floors.

I was struck by the nature of reflection. Fascinated by these “secondary” works of art, a byproduct of the stained glass works they mirrored, I first photographed just the reflections, marveling at what was created by the transitory meeting of light with and travel through the colored glass.

The reflections reflected light itself.  They were transitory. They would change with the changing light. But that fact didn’t make them any less real. I was compelled to document them as I was privileged to see them right then, right there, on an overcast day, wandering alone in the Mausoleum. 

Here they are.

Double reflection..on both the gleaming floor and the wall of niche spaces.

An extraordinary place for reflection…of all sorts.

What are You reflecting on during this time of seasonal change and transition?

Green, Green, My Heart is Green

Green, Green, My Heart is Green

Here’s looking at You kid…with the greenest eye.

Inspired by a post on ORANGE, written by Anna Nahman of L’Essenziale Home Designs, and a little walk i took today, I decided to write about that most Life Affirming of all colors…Green.

It is the Fall season…Autumn…a time in many locales of oranges, rusts, sometimes brilliant reds, and greens that are fading into yellow…but here in Santa Monica, green, bursting at the seams and filled with blooms of color, abounds.

Fall is also a time of new beginnings…new school year…projects, growth and cycles of all kinds.

Therefore…join me please, as I celebrate the glory , growth, and greatness of Green!

3C Marketing Group gets Green Power!!

Green gradations on exterior architecture can brighten even the San Francisco fog!

And the Los Angeles “version”…bright light, Chartreuse.

Bulls eye…Kelly green seen between two buildings hits the visual mark!

The tart, green apple “taste” of this yogurt shop, (in terms of Synesthesia) stirs up the appetite!

Green paired with its opposite/compliment red (or in this case, pink) makes for a striking interior image.

The complimentary red ladybugs stand out against the green background, making a strong statement.

Soft, weathered greens flow across wooden poles which form a fence, and blend naturally into the landscape.

Verdigris is  the natural patina which forms on the surface of  copper, bronze, or brass as it is exposed to air and water, wind and weather over time.  It’s aqua-green tints work well in natural settings.

Greens don’t have to be brilliant to be beautiful…a soft grey green exterior punctuated by a wooden door melds perfectly with the dark  green vines which trail over it.  There is a melancholy to Autumn…after all.

But…let us not end on a melancholy note…let’s end with the glory of green…

pushing its way through the grey pavement, a go-getter…growing…growth…grown…it just won’t stop, or give up.

And neither should we.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Our Color Daze: ColorPlay for EveryDay

Color Daze: ColorPlay for EveryDay

If you were trying to assign a color for each day…what would it be?

Cool Down with Seablue Pearl

In the heat of Summer, or in our case in the Bay Area, Fall…cooling down may take place in a seablue pearl guest room…and since you are the guest, you can relax, dreaming of sky and water.

Sunrise, Sunset...Shorter get the Daze...

Sunny days yield magnificent sunsets which burn into night. Tricky to create this purple sunset sky on the ceiling:  it has to be both soothing and stimulating for the little girl who inhabits this bedroom. Enjoy the days, and minimize the daze, please.

Color me Primary

We are blessed to experience beautiful, bright, crisp fall days here by the Bay…blue skies, liquid gold sunshine, sparkle, and the red edge of Autumn.  The primary triangle is everywhere we look,  filling us with restlessness and energy.  We know the earth is preparing for hibernation, but we feel crisp and alert.

Hallway Heat: Purple Can be Hot

We revel in the heat of Indian Summer, with its rich expression of color…golden sun, sinking into brilliant orange and then deeper purple, at the end of the day.  The air feels hot, and the colors seem to burn.  Our perception of color can actually cause us to feel a 5-7% degree of difference in our body temperature.  Color Power made manifest.

Hot Ceiling: Color Power

During conditions of  Rain, Fog,  Overcast… so common Ocean-side, we can use  some Hot Color to Warm us UP!

Compliments of Royalty

No accident that the complements of gold (yellow) and purple (violet) are the colors of royalty.  The juxtaposition of the complements does not lull us to sleep, it wakes us up, with a sharp edge of contrast: the zing of  citrus and the sweetness of plums.  Complementary couples, much like cymbals, clash together to “make a joyful noise”.  We are startled awake, and though the earth may be settling down  for a long snooze, we wake up,  we are enlivened,  we know we are alive.

Viva Les Colours!