Color Me Curious
Where Ideas Come From and Trusting the Process
Color is my latest fixation. I've been reviewing architecture and interior design images at work and I am so captivated by the interplay of color schemes, palettes, patterns, and textures in a space. It started in Paris last month. Tina and I saw two exhibitions that inspired us not only for their visual design but for their masterful use of color: Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light (Art Direction by Paul Smith) and La Galerie Dior. We highly recommend them if you are heading to the City of Lights this year.
While reviewing images at work, I save eye-catching colors in a folder using Canva's color dropper. So far, these are the ones I’m attracted to. I’m not well-versed in the terminology yet but I think these fall in the category of the mid-century modern palette.
Afterward, I apply these colors to my collage art. I've created two pieces in the past two weeks and I'm thrilled with the results of my first attempts.
Neil Gaiman in Masterclass gave a perfectly good explanation of where ideas come from. I am paraphrasing here but he said it’s about confluence– it’s two things coming together. You’ve seen, known and thought about one thing and seen, known and thought about another thing then coming to the realization that you can collide these two together. It resonated with me. I saw similarities to his process when I am thinking through my own ideas. When you examine the two collages above, You’ll notice that I used some of the elements that inspired me from the exhibits together with my color palette collection.
I don’t know where this will lead but I am following my curiosity. I love this quote from Elizabeth Gilbert:
The trick is to just follow your small moments of curiosity. It doesn't take a massive effort. Just turn your head an inch. Pause for a instant. Respond to what has caught your attention. Look into it a bit. Is there something there for you? A piece of information?
For me, a lifetime devoted to creativity is nothing but a scavenger hunt — where each successive clue is another tiny little hit of curiosity. Pick each one up, unfold it, see where it leads you next.
Small steps.
–Elizabeth Gilbert
Creating collage art and working with color is a great source of joy for me at this time in my life. I'm eager to pursue it further. Also, it's surprising how much I've come to appreciate color and architecture photography, two subjects I previously had little interest in during my time at Brooks. This goes to show that we should never say never.
Sometimes, doubt creeps in and I wonder whether all this jumping around is detrimental in the long run. I ask myself, why don’t I just stay in the photography lane? This week I heard
in a podcast called Mind Love where she talks about tackling a new book project.Every book you make will have a different kind of plan because you have a different kind of life. – Cheryl Strayed
That made so much sense. I pursued street photography because it was the genre that fit my life while working at several hotels in the city for over a decade. Now that I am home most of the time and working remotely, collage art is the medium that allows me to continue exploring my creativity. It’s still image-based and I know that I will apply these techniques in my own photographic work someday. Eventually, everything is connected. I am willing to trust the process.
Your turn, dear readers, do you have a favorite color or color palette?
Do any of you feel like you’re fleeting from one thing to another and how do you navigate through it?
For those who would like to share your thoughts, I’d love to hear them in the comments section below. If you would like to send me a private message, you can email me at stellakalaw@substack.com
See you all next Sunday!
You might also be interested in these posts:
Thank you for reading, Daniel! Lol on the espresso auto correct. Subliminally, I think that’s it. I also grew up in the 70s and those colors were part of that landscape. Our wallpaper was avocado green. I’m actually surprised that interior designers continue to apply them but more as accents to the subdued grays and browns from concrete, metal and wood.
I also flit around. When I was travelling a lot (work and leisure) I was also doing a lot of street photography. Now I’m home a lot more, and I don’t have heaps of time to dedicate to creative pursuit so I paint in watercolours (quick to dry, can do smal pieces and explore lots of different ideas).
When I was a student and had more time to dedicate to reading literature, I wrote poetry a lot more naturally.
When I had a studio I would focus on big pieces do canvas using acrylic or oil paints. That’s just unrealistic right now.
But the point is I’m always doing something nurture my creative spirit and it pays off in the other areas of my life too.