Fascination with Color (Series 4 out of 5)

This is the fourth from a series of five blogs highlighting my painting inspirations and the process I undergo when beginning a painting. I decided to use this blog as a writing exercise to clarify, even for myself, the questions that come my way about these two topics. With this in mind, I’ve come up with these five “categories” to elaborate on my inspirations, but know note there is often some overlap between these categories! And, because I believe each “category” deserves more than just a few sentences of explanation, I will create a separate blog for each inspiration; this blog covers my “Fascination with Color” paintings.

• Practice/Exploratory Paintings

• Current Disposition Paintings

• Capturing Memories Paintings

• Fascination with Color Paintings

• Commissioned Paintings

Fascination with Color Paintings

I have always been fascinated how my memories are associated with specific colors and color’s effect on my temperament. I often find emotions can be conveyed through color in my paintings in ways that I often find difficult to express with words…  And…who doesn’t associate specific colors with childhood memories? I associate bright orange and yellow with the basement of my childhood home. The yellow and orange shag carpeting, orange wallpaper depicting bar scenes and overhead fluorescent (ugh) lighting… This color combination will always take me down memory lane and evoke memories of slumber parties, my brother’s matchbox cars racing along the cleverly arranged orange tracks, competitive obstacle course races with friends using bar stools, the bar itself, pillows and sheets , etc., etc…

As importantly, these colors evoke feelings of excitable energy, the angst my middle-school years, carefree laughter, fondness and a sense of melancholy linked to family events, the list continues…

Conversely, I love a deep shade of navy blue for its calming influence and it’s associated memories. During my collegiate study-abroad program in London, I traveled to the Greek island of Kos. While on a boat ride in the Aegean Sea, I was entranced by the deep navy shade of the water and resisted with difficulty the temptation to jump into the inviting sea…  

To this day, my heart feels like it literally is doing a flip/flop motion and yet simultaneously, I feel content by images of this same navy color reminiscent of the Aegean Sea. In my former home in Austin, TX I painted the hallway a similar paint color by Sherwin Williams called Blue Midnight. My studio was painted a calm, grey (with undertones of blue) by the name of Stone Eagle (again, Sherwin Williams) and I found it a welcoming and subtle color to surround myself with while painting. 

Enough of me…and yourself?  

…have you considered which color(s) that you personally connect with?

…which colors do you naturally gravitate towards for your home and/or clothing choices?

…how do you incorporate color into your life to serve as a way to bring a sense of excitement, calmness, melancholy, etc., etc. to your personal space?  Working space?

…how can you begin or continue to surround yourself with colors that reflect your own unique personality?

I find that selecting colors for my paintings is highly influenced by either my 1) current temperament or 2) emotions I am seeking and knowing full well that the tactile experience of painting with specific paint colors will result in a sense of those desired emotions.  When I seek calmness (which is often due to the many challenges of 2020), I reach for my nearly full tub of blue paint.  When I seek the peacefulness found in nature, I’ll add shades of green that remind me of forests.  When I need to feel a bit more cheerful and hopeful, I’ll select a combination of bright, cheerful colors and let the “happy” colors affect my outlook.

I love discovering color combinations in the oddest and/or unexpected places: woven fabrics, rusting appliances, peeling paint, moss on a sidewalk, yarn displays, peeling bark, discarded rags and palettes, quilts, etc.  I find myself taking photos for inspiration…whether the photos end up as a painting or serve as comfort…it doesn’t matter.  What does matter to me is surrounding myself with colors that soothe, ignite positive energy and/or are calming and reflects my personal history and interests.

~Dawn Winter