One Week to Go . . .

Aqua, Tiffany blue, Robin's Egg blue

(My favorite colors)

As our countdown to The Summer of Color concludes, I wanted to share with you a bit about the feelings and emotions associated with color . . .

What color inspires you the most? Are you passionate and daring? Introspective and conservative? A little of each? The following list of colors and their meanings may also describe a little about us and our personalities . . . What does your favorite color say about you?

White
Peaceful, virtuous, tranquil, serene, seeker of enlightenment.
Blue
Motivated, dynamic, refined, youthful, introspective, conservative and patient.
Purple
Spiritual, passionate, regal, unconventional, observant, tolerant and witty.
Green
Relaxed, compassionate, prestigious, efficient, seeker of new life and growth.
Red
Powerful, passionate, persistent, determined and strong.
Pink
Upbeat, healthy, friendly, compassionate and calm.
Orange
Happy, courageous, enthusiastic, bold, adventurous, warm and welcoming.
Yellow
Anxious, alert, optimistic, confident, expressive and intelligent.
Brown
Reliable, relaxed, approachable, stable and earthy.
Black
Dignified, elegant, authoritative, impressive and mysterious.

Thanks to Google and websites such as Care2.com and AskAndyAboutClothes.com for the information and insight.

As we turn the bend towards The Summer of Color, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have already made this such an exciting event. The support and enthusiasm for the art party to come has been tremendous, and much more than I ever imagined. People are blogging about it, sharing the event with their friends and posting buttons on their sidebars. I can feel the excitement and am sincerely honored by the support.

As you may have noticed, there is also a new link on my sidebar to The Summer of Color on Facebook. Trisha Trixie from the beautiful blog Art a Day Keeps the Crazies Away was kind enough to contact me and offer her support in putting together a Facebook page for the event. She has gone above and beyond to help make this a fun and successful adventure for us all. Now, in addition to the link party here, you can also share and support those in the group via Facebook who will be taking The Summer of Color journey together. You can post photos, ask questions, offer advice and link to other items of interest just by joining. I will be checking in regularly throughout the event as well. Thank you Trisha, I'm so grateful for all of your help!

As of next Monday - June 6th - you will find all the information you need to participate. We will discuss options for sharing your art - in whatever form that may take - and how to link to the group. We will have a flicker group established and discuss the ways in which you can participate there as well. We will begin our link party (don't worry, the first week is easy-peasy) and you will find out what the first week's giveaway will be (and it's a good one ;). The conclusion of the post will also tell you all about the first color we will be working with. . . . It's gonna be a beautiful, bold, colorful Summer, and I for one can't wait!

See you then . . .

Kristin xo

Sweet Saturdays

Western Union Telegraph, 1952

Free to use

As we approach Memorial Day here in the States, I thought it appropriate to share a vintage Western Union telegraph from a serviceman to his little girl on the occasion of her birthday. I think that this is so touching and sweet - and is my contribution this week to Diana Evan's Sweet Saturdays. 

Please feel free to take it and use it as your own . . .

Kristin xo

Somerset Studio Gallery!

Somerset Studio Gallery - Summer 2011

(Page 33)

(Page 165)

I love my mailbox! What a thrill it was to open yesterday and find that I had been sent a contributor's copy of the newest Somerset Studio Gallery! I had no idea that I would be in it, and as I excitedly fumbled through the pages to see what they picked, I noticed not one, but four pieces in there (I've pictured 3 of the 4 above ;). If you're not familiar with the Gallery edition, it is chocked full of art. Page after page, there is a feast for the eyes and it has always been one of my favorites from the publisher. If you want to learn more about it, the link for the Summer issue is here. . . 

Wow. What a good day. Thank you for letting me share it with you.

Kristin xo

Two Weeks to Go . . .

Trippy Paint-Spill Painting - Artist Holton Rower

As our countdown to The Summer of Color continues, I wanted to share with you one of the coolest videos featuring a group of artists working with color that I've ever seen . . .

I had the seed of an idea for a Summertime color event when I came across Sharmon Davidson's fabulous blog, True Adventures of an Art Addict a couple of months ago. She'd written the most beautiful post about the symbolism of color and included this video of artist Holton Rower along with it.

As soon as the seed grew into an actual event, I asked and was kindly granted permission to post the video again for you here.  I hope you'll find it as inspiring as we did.

Check back next week - our last before the event begins - for a bit of trivia based upon what our favorite colors say about us . . .

Kristin xo

SPA: Stork

"Dreams"

6 x 4 Postcard

I'm honored to play host this week over at Sunday Postcard Art! It may not come as a surprise that I choose a theme near and dear to my heart, Stork. . . .

This postcard was created using several collage elements including decorative paper for the background, vintage floral wallpaper for the cloud and vintage baby shower greeting cards for both the baby bundle and the stork. Both buff and titanium acrylics were used to keep the piece soft and several charcoals, wax pastels and wax crayons were added for depth. Final touches included a vintage poem by Harriet Dustin Buffum, Stickles glitter as a lining to the cloud, a few sprinkles of german glass glitter to represent stars and a single Swarovski stone on the Stork.

Thank you for allowing me to act as your host this week. I look forward to seeing all your beautiful Stork creations . . .

Kristin xo

Quotable Color

Spanish Village Art Center

Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

"Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing?

Can one really explain this? No."

-Pablo Picasso

The Countdown. . .

True Colors: A Palette of Collaborative Art Journals

A Somerset Studio Publication

As the countdown to The Summer of Color begins, I wanted to share with you what I believe to be a must-have in any art lover's book collection. It is a favorite of mine, and one which has given me hours of inspiration over the last several years.

If you're not familiar with it, True Colors was published by Somerset Studio back in 2003. As event originator Lynne Perrella states in her introduction to the book, "One Saturday morning, in Spring 2001, I got the idea to gather a group of journal artists together to explore the significance of color in our lives. I suspected these artists had an equal regard and appreciation for the topic and would relish an opportunity to express and share their observations"(p. 7). In the end, not only did fourteen other amazing artists sign up to participate, but a beautiful book full of color and creativity was developed showcasing their results. 

If you're eager for our event to begin and want to get a jump start on your color journey, I highly encourage you to check it out. Of course, you need not have the book in order to participate, but if you find that you must have it like I did, you can find the direct link here. 

Only three weeks left until our own exploration of color through The Summer of Color blog event. . . check back next Monday to watch one of the most amazing videos of a group of artists working with color that I have ever seen . . .

Kristin xo

SPA: Dada

"Journey"

6 x 4 Postcard

I loved this week's prompt - Dada - over at Sunday Postcard Art. If you are not familiar with Dada, you're not alone. I had no idea what it was until Marion's challenge inspired me to check it out. Essentially, Dada was an art movement at the turn of the century that came to be known as "anti-art." It's strove to "buck the system" or create pieces which were political, humorous or in some was opposite of the traditional art forms at the time. In a way, it was an art sub-culture that ironically changed all art as we know it today.  

I loved the idea of creating something out of my comfort zone and for this piece, I challenged myself to dig into my box of scraps and just create. There was no preconceived notion of what I wanted to achieve, just some subliminal collage work going on. And I have to say, what I came up with surprised even myself.  . . 

"Journey" was created on a base of handmade papers (the pig's flying stamp sealed the deal), that was collaged with a magazine image and other ephemera. Her arm was "tattooed" with rub-ons and her eye was enhanced with a false lash barcode that came with the Journey transparency found on the bottom. The piece above her eyes is meant to represent sunglasses and the vintage text reads, "your failures, each mistake." Final touches included a Swarovski art "earring, " stamping and Stickles glitter.

Kristin xo

Announcing . . .

The Summer of Color! A blog party celebrating art in all it's hues . . .

What was that you said?

We're gonna have a party. Think of it as a blog block party centered around the beautiful, bold and luscious colors of the rainbow. It's the stuff we arty people dream of. 

Well, what is it?

It is a free 10-week blog event that begins here on Monday, June 6th. 

What will we do?

We will create. Here's the deal: beginning June 6th, you can log on here to see 8 weeks of color prompts sandwiched between an opening and closing week. The opening week will focus on all the ways you can choose to participate. The closing week will feature all the ways you can showcase the art you have created.  

Tell me more.

We all love color. And we all create differently. The Summer of Color will allow us to work in our preferred medium, based upon a specific weekly color. In other words, the sky's the limit. It is all about creating, connection and fun during the lazy days of Summer.

What do you mean by our "preferred medium"?

What you do with the week's color prompt is up to you. Create anything you want - including but not limited to - inchies, moo cards, ATC's, postcards, jewelry, greeting cards, scrapbook layouts, canvas work, altered books, journal pages, assemblage art, digital art and even poetry and photography. As long as it features the color we are working on that week. 

What then?

Every Monday from June 6th on, I will provide a color prompt on this blog. You will then have a week to create whatever you want based upon that week's color and link it to a widget that will be below the post. There will also be a Flicker group created specifically for the event.

Who can participate?

Anyone who has a blog or a Flicker account can participate. You may even choose to include the kiddies. And there is no cost. Just a lotta fun.

Anything else?

Glad you asked. I want this event to be successful. The only way to really meet and connect with new people is to have a lot of us participate. With that in mind, there will be a weekly giveaway for all who join in. There may even be a few bonus challenges in which you can be entered twice. The winners will be selected at random, via a Random Number Generator.

Did you say weekly giveaways?

Yep.

I can't wait! Bring on June 6th!

I feel the same way! Thank you for your excitement. Please feel free to pass it on - there's a fabulous button (I can say that 'cause I didn't make it - thanks, Michelle ;) on my sidebar if you decide that you can't live without it . . . And see you soon . . . 

Kristin xo

Stay Tuned . . .

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams"

-Paul Gauguin