Feeling blue? not exactly!!!!

Sometimes, we artists are drawn to a particular colour..  Although I do  paint or create using a variety of different colours, something inside me begins to celebrate whenever I use blue, in all its varieties.  I love the richness of royal blue, the tranquility of turquoise, the lightheartedness of pale, limpid blue - all blues in fact.    I also enjoy  red...but there are certain feelings that red stirs in me, which are not always tranquil!  Ia am sure that many of you respond favourably to certain colours, and less favourably to others.  There has been much exploration of the psychology of particular colours and the human reaction to them.  This is just one small paragraph I have found about blue:

Blue is the colour of the mind and is essentially soothing; it affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have to red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication. Blue objects do not appear to be as close to us as red ones. Time and again in research, blue is the world's favourite colour. 

It is good to have a favourite colour...but do be a little careful not to use it relentlessly or unthinkingly- I have seen many a painting, for example, where the shadows are all painted with the same shade of purple, regardless of the objects those shadows fall upon. Yet, shadows are transparent and therefore have to contain something of the colour of whatever they fall upon.  Using a favourite colour "for shadows" is simply using a formula.

Today I plan to show you a few recently-created pieces. All of them blue.  Or bluish.  Or blue-green.  Even the landscape - I simply do not like khaki green or yellow green or sludge green, so I lean towards the blue-green spectrum for my landscapes.

 These pieces are available for sale if any of them resonate for you - just drop me a line and I will give you a pre-Christmas sale price!

Here is a pastel painting just completed, one of my "foxglove" series.  It can be sent out unframed, rolled, covered in Glassine paper, so that you can frame it yourself or have it framed to your taste. It means I am able to provide an original for far less than you would pay in a gallery, so it is a rather special opportunity.

This chunky "Whirlpool" bowl of gorgeous turquoise blue glass, with its swirling bubbles trapped inside the glass, has a textured underside and a smooth surface inside.  It is 9" wide and about 2" high at the rim.  It is a one-of-a-kind piece, very unusual and very different.

I love this little enamel on copper trinket bowl.  The colours really sing.  On the outside, a fascinating mix of blue, white and turquoise, the colours flowing into each other like sea foam and ocean depths;  inside a soft, cloudy mix of gold and minty green.  It is 4" wide at the top, and 2.5" high.

Finally, here is a Lace Glass bowl...A bowl with holes - not so good for soup but great for just-washed grapes!!!  Wash the grapes, pop them onto this bowl, put it onto a plain plate and any remaining drips will fall thro the holes rather than sit in the bottom the bowl.   If grapes are not your thing, then you can use it for wrapped candies, or just leave it on a table for guests to admire - everyone wonders how the holes are achieved in GLASS!  It is really pretty, with flashes of rich blue and turquoise, along with soft white swirls in the glass. 9" wide, and just under 2" high at the rim.

Blue may not be the primary colour of Christmas, but a blue Christmas gift will always be welcome.