Saturday, February 20, 2021

Color, clothes, and other casual musings

I've been thinking about color, and clothes.  And colors I like together and some I really really don't.  Not in nature, since all the colors work, nor in art, since color carries meaning and structure.  In clothes.

Yesterday I was wearing a lovely bright green knitted jacket, a sort of mixed green yarn, but very cheerful, with a white turtleneck (of course, it's winter).  And I got thinking about what I like to wear and see together in clothes.

I love yellow and white outfits.  I know some people say ew, fried eggs, but anyway.  And I can't bear blue and yellow together, sets my teeth on edge.  And purple makes bile come up in my throat.  In fact just now as I was thinking about a purple jacket I have, it was cashmere, it was cheap, so I have it, I literally started to cough because bile came up in my throat.  This is all about synaesthesia, I guess.

I love various shades of pink, don't like red at all.  And I really really don't like pink and purple together.  I love blue and tan, and white and tan.  And black and tan with white.

And I don't at all like blue and red together.  They set up an optical dazzle I find upsetting. And red white and blue, oh well, it's important to allow for it sometimes, but it's not my favorite combo.

Neon colors are not for me at all, in anything, even in "nature" where it's hybridized flowers created to have dazzling colors.  Noooooo, thank you.  Especially not when it's zinnias and marigolds.

Some dark yellows give me a bitter taste, but the buttery ones taste sweet.  Literally.

The funny part about colors I don't like is that people have more than a few times noticed an absence of say, red or purple, in my wardrobe and thought, oh, a good chance for a present.  And given me red jackets, and purple scarves and other such things.  Not realizing there's a reason I don't have them!  but it's kind, and thoughtful.  I did have a red skirt suit, very posh, at one office period of my life, which was chosen to make sure I kept the attention of the meetings I was at.  It wasn't because I liked it much.  But it definitely served its purpose.

And moving briefly to art, here's a large piece I created many years ago, painted on silk. 

 


 To me it's hot and anxious and a bit disturbing, but it was something I needed to say at the time.  To my amazement when it was exhibited, more than one person said, oh, how calm and peaceful that is.  I'd like to sink into that scene.  Huh? 

I think they were reading the composition, long horizontal lines, which do denote a peaceful atmosphere, and I was reading the colors, so there you are.  You learn stuff all the time.

6 comments:

  1. I once took a class in silk painting but I got busy with other things and never did much with it. I did enjoy the feel of painting on silk. Your silk painting looks dark to me, I suppose because of the dark blue.

    I love studying different color combinations. I've always loved blue and green together. My granddaughter wanted me to make her a quilt in yellow, white and gray. I was surprised how nice that combination was when it was completed.

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  2. Interesting how colors blend with our personalities.

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  3. I have always hated pink - or at least the 'baby' pink version. Fushia is okay. When I was about 12 my grandparents decided to buy me a dress for my birthday (remember Dan River prints?). My grandmother insisted I would like the pink one and my grandfather insisted that I would like the blue, so they got me both. I wore the blue one to death but the pink one never saw the light of day. I love all the jewel tones but have a hard time with orange and most yellows, and even some greens. Don't like yellow-y reds but love blue-y reds. Full on purple is great, but not lilac.

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    1. Interesting that your grandfather had a better idea of your taste. And how your color choices underline it -- jewel tones so different from pink!

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  4. This is an interesting post, Liz. You have some pretty serious reactions to some colors and combinations. I have a musician friend who has very strong physical reactions to some music - she has said it literally hurts her to hear music played badly. There is music I don't enjoy, and it is difficult to listen to poorly played music, but I can't say it physically hurts me. And it's interesting how people can have opposite reactions to colors. My thought about your silk painting was that it was calm, too.

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