Be not afraid of colour, as it is thy friend

Colour is an integral component of what draws ones eye to a design or what causes one to turn away from it. Even though you might like a colour combination in theory and think it to be very fetching, the colours you are attracted to and wear reflect your personality and mood - some one in a sombre mood is highly unlikely to choose a gaily coloured outfit and vice versa. Designers have always found picking a fashionable colour a difficult choice to make, and anyway, fashion victims are those who wear the 'colour of the season' without caring or indeed knowing whether it suits them or not. This spring, the colours mooted by the fashionistas are tangerine and yellow - which is good for me since I like brights, and these colours can be mixed and accented using all sorts of others from different areas of the colour wheel to great effect.

Some colour combinations work and others look absolutely terrible; this is a subject that anyone interested in design knows only too well. I have learned through trial and error, and sometimes I set out to make a particular piece with a certain set of gemstones, beads, etc, only to find that other elements have snuck into the final piece and it has taken on a life of its own. I sat down and did a bit of research, more to understand my instincts than to consciously design jewellery - I think I prefer to let my instincts take me where they will. 


Colours that are on the opposite side of the colour wheel from each other are complementary . e.g. yellow and purple or orange and blue. . The main difficulty with this scheme is finding the balance of colours, as using such strong colors can create a very gaudy appearance. I  think I prefer offsetting complementary colours with one or two little shots of a contrasting colour - that seems to make the design pop out at you and grab you!

A monochromatic colour scheme involves a single colour used in combination with it’s tints and shades. If you lighten a colour, you obtain it’s tint. If you darken a colour, you obtain it’s shade. The disadvantage of this scheme is that it often lacks contrast - not as vibrant as the complementary scheme.

Colours that are next to each other on the color wheel are analogous colours. E.g. Purple and dark blue - they can be used very effectively to create an overall warm or cool feel.
Three colours equally spaced around the color wheel - The triadic colour scheme offers high contrast while retaining harmony. This arrangement I think really appeals to my sense of colour, and makes many appearances in my designs. So far, I have thrown colours together instinctively, but after this, I will pay more attention to what I am doing.

Although in theory the monochromatic image above of the pebbles in black and white with shades of grey is soothing to the eye, I would not be able to resist adding a slosh of red or bright green or perhaps a peacock blue - that would satisfy my need for colour! I have in the past bought pretty, monochromatic clothes and jewellery, (mainly at the behest of my mother who is a simply dressed but sophisticated lady, happiest wearing white with very little adornment ) only to have them languish in my wardrobe until they went to the charity shop almost unworn.

, I now know I love colour passionately - and making jewellery gives me permission to indulge myself as much as I like. Now that I am at a 'certain age', I dont have to conform to anyone else's views and can go as crazy as I like! - and guess what, I have found a number of like minded people who like what I make, and even want to own a piece made by me - why, the word 'creative' has been used as an adjective in two unsolicited descriptions about me ( I wont tell you the others!!) just this week - I never thought that would happen - eep! now I have something to live up to. But I found this little vignette, and I edited it and jazzed it up to show you my views on colour! You decide which one you like .................

The original

My jazzed up edited version - which one do you prefer??

Gingko Biloba

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is one of the oldest living tree species and its leaves are among the most extensively studied herbs in use today.  A single tree can live as long as 1,000 years and grow to a height of 120 feet. It has short branches with fan-shaped leaves and inedible fruits that produce a strong odour. Ginkgos are tough, hardy trees and are sometimes planted along urban streets in the United States.It has been used in the prevention of various diseases - it seems to me to be fairly ubiquitous - like the aspirin of the ayurvedic world! Ginkgo extract has been credited with all sorts of benefits in Alzheimers disease, and other neurological disorders - yet other studies show no benefit at all which is par for the course - most medicine is not evidence based.
I, however am more concerned with the prettiness of the leaves - bilobate ( well, that stands to reason) on fine stalks, and a pale green, they are some of the prettiest leaves around - almost as nice as maple leaves. I tried to recreate them in polymer clay - and I hope you will agree with me, that they look pretty. I had one half of a large dry ginkgo leaf that I painted with precious metal clay and fired in the kiln - now that it has been buffed and polished, it is ready  to be turned into a bail for a pendant - one of these days!

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Silver Gingko leaf bail

The silver shows the imprint of the veining on the back of a dry, torn ginkgo leaf, I liked the tear in it - thought I would wire a gemstone into the tear with a headpin - perhaps even a pearl - not everything has to be perfect to be pretty.

As I researched the ginkgo leaf, I found that loads of people had been drawn to it - for instance, look at the picture across, from a fashion designers blog - she kindly gave me permission to reproduce this image with credit to her.

Artists impression of a ginkgo leaf

From Alice Zoe Daphne's blog with thanks

I called this necklace Dew Fairy Dreams after a poem I found, written by Tommy Garrison on www.tommygpoetry.com/dewfairydreams.html
For someone who has been going on about the use of colour, this is a very sober piece, but I think the juxtaposition of the leaves with the pearls works well and appeals to my femininity - I thought about using rose quartz, but by the time I made the piece, it looked like this. I wonder if I will ever be able to sit down and draw something, conceive all its elements and make them so they will fit - working with Precious Metal Clay and making mixed media jewellery will certainly be a challenge for me. Soldering would be so much easier, but I have never made things easy for myself, and obviously, am not about to start now and let myself off the hook! It took simply ages to make this piece - sometimes random placing of wire and beads is more challenging than weaving a regular pattern.

I spent some time on my blog this week and refurbished the website - my friends have been complaining that there are no prices on anything, so I have tried to price up a lot of pieces - mainly necklaces - I love necklaces, and make and wear them a lot, consequently have quite a few to put on the website. I have also put them on my Facebook outlet with a 10% reduction in price for my 'likers' as promised. Some people have said that the Facebook outlet isn't working - please let me know via the Facebook page - I suspect it is Facebook being erratic with it's new app and with the conversion to Timeline and all will be ironed out in the fullness of time.In the meantime, if you have clicked the like button, I will sort out the discount if you contact me.

Have a fab week and I will catch up with you all next weekend.