My one and only attempt at painting this year so far has not been particularly successful !
I am extremely distracted and wrongly assumed that I would be able to rush into the studio and create in between the chaos of celebrating matric results , the anxiety of waiting to hear from universities and the incredible turmoil of trying to organize a child leaving home to study in a different province.
The resulting painting is a mess but it can be painted over and I will begin again ! Which brings me to the point of using colour with confidence !
Because I was so unfocussed on my work, I was not painting spontaneously when I put brush to canvas. I was concentrating too hard on trying to “make it work”. I was not using the colours instinctively but trying to structure the painting with colours that by society “norms “should look good together.
Some artist may get it right, however, I never do. If I don’t paint from a deeper inner inspiration using the colours that make me feel good at the time, the work is not exhibitable.
I love colour, I thrive on it, and to me, living with colour happens instinctively. There are times though, especially when I feel stressed or when I have too much else on the go , that I let reasoning take precedent over instinct and that’s when the social “norms “of using colour come into play and mess up my work.
It has long been a trend to use “neutral “colours in our homes and for our dress codes because “neutrals” are safe !
According to Kelly Berg interior designer, colour consultant and writer, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve been trained to think that being neutral is a good thing. The word “neutral” has a mostly positive connotation in our society. If we’re neutral, we’re not hostile. We are not out to offend anyone. We are calm and under control. We go along with everything and are considerate of others. We don’t take risks, we don’t make statements, and we don’t express our true feelings. We do and think as we’re supposed to and in doing so we live in a safe and uncomplicated world.
For those of us who have been brought up with this belief , even we creative’s, it can be hard to feel brave about using colour whether we are dressing , painting our homes or creating a work of art.
Consider gazing over a beautiful green meadow sprinkled with wild flowers and commenting, “I love this landscape, but it’s just not neutral enough for me. I really would have gone with Tawny Taupe for the grass colour. It would be much more relaxing”?
Nature doesn’t care about being “neutral”, and neither should we. “Neutrals” were created out of fear. Fear of offending. Fear of committing. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of standing out and being different. But who wants to live in an environment built on fear? It’s time for us to
all say no to “neutrals” and happily embrace the hues that nature intended.
So to those of you who feel the desire to express yourselves in colour – BE BOLD ! Let go of what “should” look good or feel good and play with the colours that lift your spirit without giving thought to whether they work or not . My bet is that once you put the colours you love together, the look will work – simply because it’s no longer trying to be a “look”.
