Prompted by pieces peppering a pastel presentation for an artist’s opening reception entitled Resilience we held here at PATRICIAN DESIGN last Friday evening, I was pondering this week’s topic when PINK peeked into my thoughts.
Pale pink is an unsung color – often considered to be insipid and lacking ooomph, it really is quite satisfactory. Pounced on by millennials, with their popular color trend “Millennial Pink” passion for all things in fashion and home style, pink has made a bit of a splash in recent years.
Last Friday, with the creation of the display window featuring pottery shards scattered along the floor, artist Helen Atkin’s peachy pastel pink and soft coral glazes melded together against the soft geometric woven textile resulting in a confection of comfortable color and texture.
Helen Atkins’ shards and little dishes sprinkled in the east gallery window at PATRICIAN DESIGN.
I awoke today with this color on my mind. Swirling thoughts, so often the case, as one thing leads to another and I thought – I wonder how much of that most satisfactory and pleasing color I have here in my immediate world. So, I set-forth to find out.
Gathered on the nightstand in the guest room, this cluster of dried flowers is a fragile collection of soft pink tones.
Walking around the house, I came upon so many examples that I really was quite pleased. The re-discovery of each made me feel content. I realize that although they are seemingly insignificant that they are really quite sentimental pieces gathered through the years and each so distinctly different from the next.
One of my first purchases when I moved across the country was this discarded, damaged Tamarind print of a large nearly psychedelic strawberry from the famed print-making institute where rejected failures spoke the language of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and it was mine to adorn my new, naked, New Mexican walls.
Generally referencing feminine imagery and romance, pink is delicate yet full of depth and variation – as with all colors – the range is limitless for value, tone, blending of shades…Contrasting warm yellows and cool blues frame pink so well.
Detail of one of several of my Gerhard Lehner lovlies, I Still Sail to the Virgin Islands. As the artists explains – “An original like-etching a la poupe arrived from drawn textural lines and painted effects which allows the poetic ink to transfer to the fine rag paper.”
Detail – Fine Craft and Dance by Gerard Lehner
Bold floral brush strokes sweep through the pinks and peach, coral and rose, accented with the contrasting vessel in a brilliant cobalt blue, Peggy Zuris was a master of color and style.
Memories of the warm glow of the pink roof-tiled, painted and plastered buildings along the Puerto Vallarta coastline absorb and reflect the rising and setting sun during all exposures of the day.
Detail – watercolor featuring iconic Our Lady of Guadalupe church by Victor Torres Tellas
Meandering from room to room I encounter so many pretty pink things. I obviously gravitate to this amidst my many other colors as a necessary element woven through my comfort zone.
Detail – Fantastically French floral oil on canvas by Anne Sandry
And I adore this finely detailed hand-colored etching showcasing a foreground field of pink lupines,bought decades ago in the artist’s studio at The Torpedo Factory.
Detail of etching by Lyndia Terre
Then I came upon these book bindings stacked unconsciously atop a mahogany dresser , resulting in a study in pinks presenting a pleasing palette.
I realize that I was exposed to the priority of pink at an early age as my mother’s interior design palette incorporated pinks and soft greens in the more formal areas as well as outside on our screened porch and patio beyond, to the gardens with magnificent mounds of screaming pink azaleas blooming and their explosions of color every spring. Surrounded by lush verdant foliage of the woods where we lived, pink contrasted well with the many shades of green into which we were intimately nestled. We were comfortably punctuated with pink. Therefore it was not a foreign color and complimented the transitions into other darker green tones and yellow accents throughout our house. The original scrolled wool wall-to-wall carpet was a medium pinky-clay color. Quite unusual, yet neutral, providing an earthy grounding. Mom also enjoyed the vibrant introduction of designer Lily Pulitzer onto the scene in the 60s and peppered her wardrobe with Pulitzer pinks from carnation to hot fuscia contrasting with chartreuse green. Today her classic iconic colors and patterns still make significant design statements. Mom has never been afraid of color! I inherited that fearless foray into colors of anything fun and fabulous
This handcrafted New Mexican church (birdhouse – having never been outside to host a bird) sports an eclectic array of enchanting elements using pinks to perk up the collection of colors. I realize as I tour these rooms of colorful artwork, that I love the combination of pinks with blues and yellows!!
and also the appreciation for the soft subtleties too. These two magnificent oil paintings depicting New Mexican scenes with the oh-so-pleasing pinks.
Detail – oil painting Church at Golden by Marilyn Yates
Detail – oil painting Moonrise by Bruce Piel
This has been a fun and illuminating exercise. I’ve determined that pink is essential to me.
Why not a pink cabbage plate on the guest room duvet cover dotted with woven clay-pink slubs?
It occurs in so many things that bring me joy.
A heavy, luminous hand-blown glass vase.
Speckled vintage vase – a touch of fun!
As my dear friend Corinne aptly named her shop, it is The Color of Joy. Pick a color – any color – and go around your interior spaces and see what you discover – perhaps you will find your essential grounding color. It just might be a surprise. Find what brings you joy.
