Expressing Personality with Color
Each color has own personality whether it was happy or sad, old or young.
Dusty colors are sad, because they make us think of old, feeble people living in dreary, dusty rooms because they can't see well enough
to keep things from looking run down. But so many people willingly choose to live with these dirt-camouflaging colors because it is safer
for them to have no clear colors than to expose their inner world. If you really like dusty, musty colors for your rooms, you must understand
how much your mood and energy will be influenced by them.
If you want to be less cautious, less afraid, now is your chance to sparkle. If you found yourself in a dark room with orange and black
napkins on the tables after a carefree day at the beach, filled with the colors of the sea and sky, it would seem unconscionable. House paints
have a full range of muted shades many people think are appropriate for room interiors.
Who, in the clear light of a sunny day, wants to be in an atmosphere that is clouded over? Just by being inside, you are deprived of ninety
percent of the light of brilliant sunshine. You need clear fresh colors and lots of white to counteract the partial darkness cast
by your walls that diminishes the energy from light. Americans are most comfortable in a spic-and-span house, yet they accept dirty colors
on their walls, floors, and furniture that dampen their spirit.
One of the serious decorating traps people fall into is ignoring the opportunity for sunshine, choosing a dull beige-gray palette because
they feel it's safe or creates a presumably sophisticated look.
The burnt-earth pigments - ochre, umber, and burnt sienna - are the very colors that daring Impressionists abandoned in their depiction of
nature, escaping the somber, pompous aesthetic of the Academy. Organic objects that are naturally earth-toned are energizing, such as
butcher-block counters, antique furniture, marble top tables, and cork floors.
You must gather the hues and tints that give you the most pleasure, inspiration and, ultimately, life. If you are a city dweller and work
in an artificial atmosphere, you'll want to bring ecological elements into your interiors so you will benefit from nature's energy.
Color-Love
How can you have more color-love?
You have to wrap your heart, mind, and soul around pure, vibrant hues, and look to nature and
artists who see life as a beautiful place for inspiration. And you have to trust your intuition when selecting colors for your personal
color palette. Don't look at fashion trends or be guided by what's displayed in showroom and stores. So-called experts may try to convince
you that bland, artificial, "neutral" tones are calming, whereas in reality they are more likely to shut down, not soothe, the human spirit.
The human eye can distinguish approximately ten million colors. Why have dreary colors that make you think you're drowning in the murky,
muddy, polluted waters of Alligator Alley? How do these light absorbing, flat colors make you feel? How long can you sustain your energy
and optimism in these artificially dark, draining atmospheres? There's a reason cheerful, inspiring people live with fresh colors. They
recognize instinctively the powerful, emotional feelings colors evoke.
There is naturally plenty of brown in the rooms of your house. You probably have wood floors, paneled doors, and brown-stained furniture.
It is easy to be passionate about antique wood, caressing your antique pieces as you wax and polish them. What interior spaces cry out for
is clear, unmuted tints of color, to contrast with and highlight the natural beauty of wood and counterbalance the graying down of their
freshness because of all the unavoidable shadows.
Go to the heart of a primary color, red, yellow or blue, and tint it up to divine light with white. The beauty of a space stems from
architectural correctness combined with a cheerful eye for color. You feel the divine energy within when you are in a yellow room because
of the pure white mixed with chrome yellow. You absorb all the vitality from the wavelengths of energy as though the primary color were
the sun or fire. Every five years you can repaint to recreate the freshness of your confident vision. Far better to have a pale, fresh
tint than a heavy dull color. Age naturally tones colors down, but you should always start out fresh.
Choosing Colors
Think of color as a mystical force that can enhance and stimulate your non biological self or depress it.
While certain colors elevate your personal, vital energy, others darken your spirit. Think of yourself as an alchemist capable of
transmuting base colors to radiant, golden light.
In color you have a magic wand that you can use in hundreds of ways every day to create more joyful moments where you feel you
are living in pure light.
Choose only colors that carry positive associations for you.
- Look through decorating and gardening magazines to explore what colors attract your eye.
- Study the palettes of Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard, and Henri Matisse.
- Remember how colors speak for you and about you. Your personal color palette is your integrity, your voice; it should never be compromised.
- Let your colors refresh you, uplift you, and caress your inner light. Become a colorist and an artist who paints with life-sustaining
colors that bring hope, increase faith, and make everyone feel happier.
There is a superiority in clear, saturated colors. In art, textile design, and other objects, colors should make your heart leap for joy.
If there is no luminosity, no refreshing crispness or childlike clarity, chances are the colors are for someone else.
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