Color My World

A few years back, most of my work (and most of my teaching) was coiled vessels made with natural materials I grew or gathered myself. I spent more time then with other basketmakers who also worked with natural materials they grew or gathered themselves. This is a group who knows how to celebrate the richness of subtle shades -- brown, golden brown, orangey brown, rosey brown, reddish brown, greenish brown...

Even though my work has branched off in another direction, I still love these natural colors. But to work with a broader palette, I've had to learn a whole new set of skills.

In my studio, I have a shelf of books devoted to color (my favorite is Deb Menz's ColorWorks: The Crafter's Guide To Color)  and three color wheels. Yesterday, this post from Design*Sponge started other wheels turning in my head (the usual ones about different people at different times having different perceptions of the "same" things).

Design*Sponge linked only to Part 1 of Jude Stewart's two-part post on The Wonderful Color Wheel at Imprint. I enjoyed reading Part 2 as well.

After that, I couldn't help poking around at bit at Imprint. Which led me to this post about wild cucumbers -- and back to natural materials. Back to brown. And to this reflection:

We love what we love.

Take a look in your closet, your yarn stash, your fabric stash, at your walls, at the photos you take, at your other artwork. What color tells your story?