my friend susan has been reading this book on color and i’ve been writing the section of my book on color theory and it has me thinking.
i have an interesting relationship to color. i’ve spent my life saying that i don’t really have a favorite color, which I don’t. if i see a rack of the same shirt, one particular shirt will the best on the rack for me because it seems the most interesting color on that shirt. i’ve also spent my life thinking that others were silly to have favorites (i think i just don’t like the concept – if it’s better in a different color, it’s better in a different color). i’ve also spent a good deal of time in arts classes where people would say things like, “my real love…” or “my real passion…” is color. What does that mean? Who are you people? but then again, i’m always a bit frustrated in classes, being a grumpy learner and all :)
but seriously, when i put things into my dye pot, they all have an equal chance to impress me when they come out. they all have the equal chance to be used in interesting and challenging ways. when i paint, i have many colors on my palette and mix them together in numerous ways, and use all or most combinations.
that said, i’ve come to the conclusion lately that the color green (at least the murky shades) is a part of me, deep down inside. it’s in my bones. i wouldn’t say it is my favorite because I don’t want everything to be green, i don’t only buy green things and I certainly don’t want others to only buy me green things. But the more I think about it, the more I know that it has been green for me for a long time. I have a feeling that my mom could have told you that years ago…
here’s a early cosy knitting story. back in the winter of 2002 i wanted to start knitting so i asked my mom to buy me a scarf kit for christmas. she went to the local knitting store and couldn’t decide what colors to buy so she told the lady that i liked ‘ugly’ and ‘pukey’ colors! i think the lady probably looked at her like she was crazy. and, if you ask me, neither of them could figure out what ugly colors were to save their lives… because my first scarf was beautiful (and no, it wasn’t pukey green). i think part of noticing that i am so attracted to green is noticing that other people weren’t and thinking that was preposterous. susan says every once in a while, ‘i’m usually not attracted to that color, but…’ and as you can imagine, my mom and i have very different color tastes.
it all makes me wonder why we are attracted to the colors that we are. i wonder if i internalized the greens and browns of my montana environment. i do very much like to be outside and with trees. i wonder what green means to me. does it make me feel relaxed? i don’t dye more in green than other colors. my wardrobe is none the greener for it… probably because i’ve kept it so well under wraps for so long… so, unlike me, i assume this won’t be so hard for the rest of you – what color are you irrationally drawn to? any idea why?
p.s. i was not paying attention when i was writing this and capitalized in all of the right places. i definitely had to go back and de-capitalize! it’s entirely too shocking to change the way i write my blog now, this far in.
