August 31, 2006

Looking for Color

I've often been asked what is the color basis for some of my creative pieces. Mother Nature is one place to look for unusual and expressive colorways.

New England in the Fall has beautiful, soft, warm colors that blend together. Think bronze with soft tans and sage greens. Although she lives in New Orleans, this is a Bev Herman palette all the way.




Even Louisiana swamps have a distinctive color scheme.








I did bead the LA Swamp
into a freeform bracelet.







Arizona, on the other hand seems to have very vivid colors against the drab, sand color of the desert landscape. Using a base of matte black with hot reds, oranges & yellows would be outstanding.









I've seen some beautiful and unusual mineral specimen colors when I visit the Tucson Gem Show each year. Turquoise with a silvery gray would look very "Southwestern".








This is an oak gall that I had to pick up the other day to look closer at the unusual colors. Yellow-green with splashes of a deep garnet magenta is a combination that I think I would like to try out.









Native NH viburnums pair green with a pale mauve and magenta. Variations on this theme seem to be a favorite in nature.










This kale from a friend's garden has similar color combinations.........







as does the magenta and green pokeberry. The intensity of color varies, but the overall effect is much the same. Notice how the brighter colors just seem to go with the green backgrounds?

All of this is because I need to get out some different colored beads and start another project. I was looking through my photos to see if anything would spark some creativity. Now I need to see if any of these colors are in my bead collection.

2 comments:

  1. Judith you have some wonderful pictures. I love all the different colors. You sure have my color palette pegged!!

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  2. Some great color ideas, Judith - it's funny that I posted yesterday on my blog with about the same lines!

    Great minds think alike.

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