Our videos from Houston are UP!
People and Portraits – SAQA and IQA
Pets and Wildlife – SAQA and IQA
National Parks with Donna Desoto
Marianne Williamson Retrospective
Japanese Quilts (Handmade & Hawaiian)
* CUBA ARTS TOUR *
Registrations for my tour to Cuba are now OPEN for May 8-15, 2016.
Visit this page for more info and the detailed itinerary, and have fun with some of the photos I took on this trip!
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I Love Color.
Color has been my constant trusted companion through the different chapters of my life, and I’ve been thinking about the parade of distinctive colors along my storyline, as I grew into the person I am today. From small town girl to big city fashion designer, from Colorado to Los Angeles – Hong Kong – New York City, and back to Boulder, from single career girl to business owner, wife and mother…every chapter had a different main color… like a theme song!
I have always been fascinated by the research showing how we are affected emotionally and mentally by color, but especially how our physiology is changed by certain colors. At the CMG conference we were reminded of Baker-Miller Pink, which was shown to reduce violent or aggressive behavior. That is an extreme example, but it points to the fact that we are affected by colors, whether or not we are conscious of that idea.
It has always seemed obvious to me that we crave colors, the same way our body can crave foods that provide a particular nutrient. In the past our society imposed a lot of rules that disconnected us from this intuitive connection to the healing power of color, but fortunately every decade has peeled away more layers of these silly rules.
Today we wear White after Labor Day, men wear Pink, and we don’t rely on a color consultant to tell us what colors we can and cannot wear. Dark tones are worn in Summer, and brights are worn in Winter, which is the opposite of the “rules” that were imposed when I started my fashion design career in 1980.
The most luxurious color one can have in a big city… is White. My NYC friends have explained this to me. They come home, remove shoes and clothes, take a shower, and then they can relax in their Pure White living space. We used to think of an all white space as being boring.
Last night I was watching a TV series set in the late fifties in Australia, and the main matriarch character was wearing a rich Rosey-Mauve suit. “Wow! Look at that color!” I remarked to Paul, and then the other character said to her “You have really gone wild – you even are wearing purple!” – which was a great illustration of how color has made a bold statement about our social position throughout history.
How does this apply to quilting? First of all let me say that our customers are not only sewing quilts, but also sewing fashion, home dec, crafts, etc. Our business has always been about selling Art and Color on fabric, and we know that when you buy something over the internet from our huge, but highly curated collection, it is because the image or color really spoke to you. Whether you put it in a quilt, or another type of sewing project, it is about you intuitively being drawn to the color for a variety of reasons. You don’t have to figure it out – just take a bite!
Whether you crave chocolate or carrot juice, broccoli or blueberries, and whether you take in physical nutrition or visual color stimulation, all that matters is that you allowed yourself to recognize a craving and took action. Of course with fabric there are no calories, only the joy of plumping your stash and having a bigger color palette from which to plan your next project!
Right now I am craving a certain shade of Wasabi Green… how about YOU?
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