I live in the Pacific Northwest. We don’t have the same kind of fall leaf season that I grew up with in the Northeast. I remember as a kid coming up over a hill and seeing a panoramic view of mountains lush with color. The colors were so bright I remember thinking, “The leaves are all the colors of Fruit Loops!”
In Oregon, our mountains are evergreen - with just occasional spots of autumn color. We don’t talk about the leaves the way someone on the east coast talks about the leaves. I don’t ever hear the words “peak color.” Thankfully our neighborhoods put on a quite a show – at least until the rain knocks all the leaves into the streets.
I’ve been traveling on the East Coast for the last two weeks and wondering when I would see some gorgeous fall color. It finally happened as we drove through the mountains of western Pennsylvania. It was stunning! Just like I remembered.
My anticipation of finding peak color led me to a few fabulous websites for tracking fall foilage. The Foliage Report has leaf maps for the Northeast, Southeast and regions. The WeatherBug site has a leaf tracker map and an article on the science behind peak color. Its interesting to know that orange, yellow and brown leaves come from the pigment carotenoid and red and purple leaves come from pigment anthocyanin but I prefer not to think of the science of it all and just be awed by the amazing beauty of our world.
“Namaste” from Kumari, Ambikha, Sharmila and Kopila. Color is connecting us all over the world!
Wendy Moore, an Australian rehab therapist and artist, is working with the non-profit group Summanat Nepal to help women who have experienced domestic violence. Cynthia Tinapple is generously building their website and through PolymerClayDaily we are now linked to this new sisterhood of polymer clay artists in Nepal.
After seeing Carol Simmons magnetic board idea and reading about naming colors based on personal responses, Wendy recently sent this email to Cynthia.
“We had a funny day confirming colour recipes and thinking of colour names. Getting the ladies beyond “green”, “red” (and good lord wasn’t that an all-encompassing one!!??) “yellow” etc was tricky but now we have our own version of the Simmons chart with (in Nepali):
green (ocean which none of them have actually seen)
green (parrot)
green (rice paddy)
green (main)
blue (main)
blue (sky)
blue (the colour of the stuff you put into white clothes that is meant to make them white but consistently makes them mauve but continues to be used faithfully by generations of mothers of white uniformed school children-in Nepali “nir”)
red (tikka)
red (brick) etc
Oh it was so fun!”
When I showed this to a good friend she gave me this poem:
Colors - My skin is kind of, sort of, brownish, pinkish, yellow-ish, white. My eyes are grayish, blueish-green, but I’m told they look orange at night. My hair is reddish, blondish brown but its silver when its wet. And all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.
Thank you to Wendy and Cynthia for sharing this beautiful and inspiring work! They are bringing us all together.
My mother’s favorite color is blue. She collects blue glass bottles and displays them in the windows of our house in Ohio. She prefers cobalt blue but all varieties of blue make it onto the shelves.
Over the years many of the bottles were accidently broken – one time a whole window’s worth came tumbling down! – but Mom was always very philosophical about the loss. I’m sure she feels some sadness over the breakage but she always quickly forgives the breaker.
I just spent a lovely week with my mom and dad and I want to thank my mom for teaching me to accept everything and forgive everything and thank my very gregarious dad for being so curious about everything.
Blue: A History of a Color by Michel Paotoureau is a beautiful book. Since I am not buying anything new this year, I bought it used for a reasonable amount on Amazon. Gorgeous!
White is light. All color comes from light.
The Flickr collection of white photos has many, many beautiful images showing all the variations of shadow and light that give depth to white. Many of the photos are by photographer Mr. Luke Harby.
White Polymer: Dan Cormier’s necklace is a gorgeous example of working in all white. When I first saw this piece on Susan Lumato’s site I thought, “What a great way to explore texture!”
Sherry Bailey’s white on white necklace won second place in Polymer Clay Central’s textured bead challenge last year.
White Associations: White symbolizes different things in different cultures but overall its association is with purity, innocence and peace. It usually has positive meanings but, like all colors, it also has its negative side.
Good white:
- White as the driven snow – pure, clean, innocent
- White knight – someone who comes to another person’s rescue, someone perceived as being good, noble
- White list – list of good or acceptable items
- White elephant – rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
- White horse – the noble hero’s horse
- White hat – worn by the good guys
- White dove – symbol of peace
Bad white:
- Whitewash – cover up, conceal
- Whiteout – zero visibility
- White flag – surrender
- White lightning – moonshine, illegal whiskey
- White elephant – rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
- White knuckle – something that is fast, exciting, or frightening
While searching for more all white pieces in polymer clay I came across these explorations by Minnesota architect/designer Martha McQuade of Uniform Studio playing with all white polymer clay to make simple, elegant jewelry.When you limit yourself to just one color, you focus on form.
These pieces 
remind me of the modernist sculptures by the famous ceramicist Ruth Duckworth whose body of work over the past 60 years included many all white pieces.
New Year’s Eve in Brazil. Two million people gather along the beach in Rio every year on New Years’ Eve and everyone wears white. According to the national tradition, white symbolizes peace in the coming year. If you want to be prosperous, you can add a touch of gold or yellow. If you want passion, you add some red. Green symbolizes hope.I can just imagine how beautiful it must be to see that sea of white set against the dark water. And how amazing it must feel to turn to the ocean just before midnight and chant along with millions of people “10 . . .9 . . . 8 . . .7 . . .6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . .3. . . 2 . . .1 . . . Happy New Year!”
