The Contrasts of Winter
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I’ve been consulting with the Color Muse this past week, the first of 2005. It is Her hope that color lovers receive more of Her abundant gifts and learn more of Her many secrets this year.
The true color lover sees how light constantly changes and shifts. Visually, the colorist can see every week of the year as its own season because they pay close attention to detail. Imagine being able to visually discern the beauty of 52 seasons a year! Now that’s a new year’s goal!
This time of year there are many who throw a blanket over winter, dismissing it as nothing but colorless greys and blues, and suggest using citrus colors indoors to warm things up until spring arrives. As if the palette of winter is one big "Bah Humbug!".
Not me.
I prefer to revel in winter’s myriad of stark contrasts, for there, in its cold austerity, resides a silent majesty.
When I see angular, dark branches outlined against flat expanses of grey-blue, I get a feeling of life pared down to its essence, a purity, that turns me inward to contemplate and dream. Anything dusted in frost becomes magical, and I thrill in watching the frozen layers transform plants into alabaster sculptures, causing their colors to deepen or become luminous, or even opaque. The contrast of cloudy greys against translucent tints are everywhere. Winter also presents distinct textural contrast to enjoy, such as soft snow against hard, crackling ice.
Be inspired by this mysterious season of promise nestled in subterranean sleep. Try colors that are muted, and tints with just a hint of color. Use beads of lustre, pearl, AB, alabaster, and satin finishes to invite the crystalline magic of winter into your palette.
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