The Experience Of Color

“Color can be experienced sparingly in a minimalist painting or a valley of poppies lavished in splendor.”

The world is a menagerie of experiences, full of beauty, wonder and even at times, overwhelm. One of these experiences, is color. Color can be experienced sparingly in a minimalist painting or a valley of poppies lavished in splendor. We are identified by the color of our hair, eyes and skin and enhance them by the colors in our clothes. Color can dominate our attention or soothe when we are in need, it can make us salivate or bring tears to our eyes.

“Think about the color orange, how does it feel, or the color blue or even, pink.”

Oxytocin, can be released by color, facilitating attraction of love and enhancing our sexual prowess, as it uplifts our sense of belonging. In our workspaces color can enhance focus, and in our homes, happiness and ease, buffering the challenges of contemporary life. We are like the bees and butterflies, instinctually drawn to color for a reason, its in our DNA, mind and emotions. Think about the color orange, how does it feel, or the color blue or even, pink. Each color has a universal emotion, but each is seen in different ways according to the viewer. Color also has its social implications of dogma, pink is for girls is a favorite. 

“Color is both sonnet and chords that loft in the wind, a call to prayer, or a whisper in a lovers ear, at the end of a night.”

To wrap oneself in a layering of favorite colors fortifies the mind and body, as vitamins do toward a better way of living. Picasso spoke of art clearing the dust from life, color then too, is that clearing. Color is both sonnet and chords that loft in the wind, a call to prayer, or a whisper in a lovers ear, at the end of a night. To suggest that color is all this is no exaggeration, creators of all kinds can attest, color is a deep rooted passion of inspiration and science.

“Color gives life its form, our lives its lift, our words their mindful implies.”

We are all drawn to color in all its variations of tones and hues, from the deepest of black, ethereal white and the hottest of orange/red. Color gives life its form, our lives its lift, our words their mindful implies. Color is as color seems to taste, nourishing as lemon yellow sorbet, on a summer’s day.

Human Condition

“This has always been our way of being, still gazing at the stars, reluctant to see what’s before us, or whose within.” 

As a collecitve, our struggle is with our need to find balance, the unreachable perfect within our imperfections. Our constant need to find inner respite drives economies but not the economy of self, often depleting our energies for the quest to find who we are, or what we need, to find who we are. This is the path of the human condition, the ebb and flow of ego and hope, our quest to find ourselves, though fearful of what we might dig up. This has always been our way of being, still gazing at the stars, reluctant to see what’s before us, or whose within. 

“Though we hold much knowledge, it is difficult to excavate under the layers of time, thick skin and hardened bones.”

The path of time is an etching of maps, fragmented and abandoned, a tangling of stories we’ve told ourselves and the generations that follow. The caves of ancient rock paintings show us the lives and beliefs of the past, as graffiti shows us our present: of what and who matters. The two tie together our perseptions of who we are, marking our place in time and mapping the infinite forward, as we attempt to express the inner landscape.

“This is not indifference but fear and denial of who we are, what we are capable of, both the beauty and the ugly.”

Our gratification is sought by instantaneous means. Hooked by gadgets and the allure of the new we seek the solace that can only be found within. Though we hold much knowledge, it is difficult to excavate under the layers of time, thick skin and hardened bones. Through time the body as vessel becomes the body as fortress, impenetrable even to ourselves. It seems as though we seek not to find, but to distract ourselves from ourselves, a little spit shine and were good to go. 

The world we’ve created is challenged, because we are challenged, blind to what we choose not to see. This is not indifference but fear and denial of who we are, what we are capable of, both the beauty and the ugly. Each generation has had its challenges, each there own beauty created, lessons learned and repeated. This is our human condition of choice, our human failure, way of learning and evolving. To this there is no clear answer, no silver bullet, only the will to find our way, to be the light: a beautiful determination. 

Created Lives

“We are biologically attuned to beauty and continue to build our world within it, while simultaneously trying to save it.”

Often I think about the work of creative minds, those who create physical work but also those who create with words. The creative mind inspires creative deeds, what has been created is not in fact in and of itself, it impacts those who use it, those who view and consume. The creative efforts of many, push the will of the mind and uplifts the spirit of mood, easing the body forward, moment to moment. We are biologically attuned to beauty and continue to build our world within it, while simultaneously trying to save it. We are creative beings, living in a created world. 

It seems these days all we have control over is our minds, bodies and where we live: a very insular way of being. But this is also a time to create as we can, new beginnings, new ways of living and thinking as we build toward a better future. Not easy perhaps, but within our parameters as we move through our day to day. Each of us creates our own way of living within a given cluster of choices both absolute and perceived. What we create within our circle of influence can be a beautiful thing, fostering ease, and the dexterity to manage the way we live now. History has shown us our difficulties as we lean in and look for the helpers, the doers and creators, clarity in life’s repeated lessons.

“Each nuance of word and stroke of paint has the ability to lift the spirit and free the mind, guiding us to where we wish to go, as compass and map.”

To live with what has been created, be it a painting, chair, book or bowl, is to be cradled within the inspiration of beauty and creation: supported by utility, lofted by the sublime. Each nuance of word and stroke of paint has the ability to lift the spirit and free the mind, guiding us to where we wish to go, as compass and map. Every created work can support who we are or teach us our lessons, raise our heart rate or ease us to slumber. A created object is an extension of who we are, holding and telling our stories, speaking for the maker and its keeper: captive and captor.

To move forward with ease is to appreciate what we have and what we cherish, while pushing towards goals, bettering ourselves and those around us. Depth and beauty of life is found when we realize that we create it, that we have a hand in its making, even when it seems that everything is out of our control. To submerge oneself within beauty and meaning is to buffer the challenges life brings, a place of respite for the mind, a pillow for the head. Beauty is transient, it moves with us in our mind, sits in the belly till fully formed and created. Its always accessible as negative is to positive, always there whether we see it or not. 

“There is no perfection even within beauty, no utopian island to which to run, only the here and now, our day to day choices of how we choose to live.”

Beauty is the full reflection of the individual seeing and creating it, as is the future coming, how we build it is how we choose to see it and how resilient we are to the unknown. There is no perfection even within beauty, no utopian island to which to run, only the here and now, our day to day choices of how we choose to live. The creative mind is a powerful tool, how we create and what we collect enables the building of a beautiful life, not perfect but worthy of effort, a reflection of who we are, light in the infinite game of life.