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Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.
Oscar Wilde [Irish poet and dramatist, 1854-1900] Gilbert, in The Critic as Artist, pt. 2, published in Intentions (1891)
Photo from CMG Worldwide
For more quotes about color see Quotes on Color
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The popularity of chocolate brown continues for fashion and home but who would have anticipated the growing popularity of brown as a color for flowers?
One saavy couple from Washington state bet that brown plants and flowers would catch on. Marie and Bill of the Chocolate Flower Farm combined Bill's love of chocolate with Marie's love of gardening to develop a unique niche in the world of gardening with their unusual chocolate brown flowers.
Other flower fanciers have also found brown intriguing.
An article in The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "Plenty of chocolate cravings were aroused at this year's Chelsea Flower Show, London's influential showcase of landscape design and plant trends. One of the most popular gardens was the bronze medal-winning Roald Dahl Foundation Chocolate Garden, inspired by Dahl's classic book (and upcoming movie), "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Like the black plant craze ignited by Karen Platt of England a few years back, rich brown plants are capturing the fancy of flower connoisseurs everywhere and growers are beginning to make dark chocolate flowers and plants available to florist.
Dark flowers add drama to a garden or floral arrangement. Combine that with the appeal of chocolate and who can resist these unusual blooms?
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When I was growing up my mother planted petunias every summer and I always seemed to be given the chore of removing the deadheads. I'm not sure why but I remember hating the job and for this reason I haven't ever chosen to use petunias in my own garden. However that all changed yesterday.
Although I entered the nursery with a plan in mind I was no more than a few steps inside when I saw hundreds of shell pink blossoms beckoning. Soft as the delicate pink of a newborn's cheek they called out to me and with the innocent charm of a baby won me over.
My color scheme changed to "Pretty in Pink" and I rearranged pots until I was pleased with the blend of shell pink, medium pink, bright fuschia and green foilage. The results were even more stunning planted against the crisp white rails that surround our deck.
As I stood there enjoying how wonderul the colors worked with each other I realized that perhaps my sudden interest in pink was not just a momentary inspiration but had been influenced by the images I poured over as I reaquainted myself with the interior designs of the remarkable Dorothy Draper.
Interiors can be wonderful inspiration for garden planning. If you have an interior color scheme you love but might not be ready to use in your home your garden is a wonderful place to try it out. So get bold! You can't go wrong with flowers.
Pictures from rave-wave.com
One of my favorite summer escapes is to sit on my deck among containers and hanging baskets brimming with plants and flowers in varying colors and textures. Of course getting the plants to the deck and planting them can be a bit of a chore.
So even though I enjoy the results sometimes I need a bit of motivation to get me started and having a few fun tools to use is just the boost I need to get going. Pulling on a pair of orange polka dot gardening gloves from Hable Construction will make cultivating more enjoyable and more fashionable.
Grabbing an ergonomically designed the soil scoop from CreateaGarden in a coordinated color will do the trick. The patented spoon-shaped blade with a sharply
pointed tip and serrated edges can dig holes, make furrows, weed,
cut roots, even open soil bags. Of course what caught my attention first was the brightly colored grip
material around the handle but the unique design is what sold me on this item.
Okay just sharing these neat gardening tools has gotten me in the mood to get started so I'm off to the nursery. 
If these tools don't help you to find your own inspiration you might want to just browse over to Hable Construction's decorating section and select a dozen floral pillows to surround yourself with instead. I promise with these beauties there is no digging or watering required.
Pictures of pillows and gardening gloves from Hable Construction website
Picture of garden scoop from Create A Garden website
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gardening tools, gardening, hable construction, createagarden
...A local tour-guide told him that the reason why homes in Curacao were painted in pastel colours is because in the 1700s a Dutch governor suffered from migraine head-aches which he believed were triggered by the reflection from the stark white buildings. He ordered that all buildings be painted in muted, pastel shades to help prevent his migraines. Have you ever heard of this legend?
ANSWER:
What your friend shared is an often-told legend from Curacao. It is believed that their early 19th century Governor-General Albert Kikkert suffered from migraine headaches, which he thought were caused by the bright sun reflecting off the white-painted buildings in the Dutch Caribbean's capital city of Willemstad.
While it is unlikely that this was the source of the problem bright or glaring lights can often be extremely irritating to someone with a migraine headache thus the Governor-General issued a decree in the early 1800's that the citizens of Willemstad paint their structures any color but white. The result are the
wonderfully brilliant pastel colors of the historic buildings.
Curaçao, the largest island in the Netherlands Antilles has buildings dating as far back as the 1600s still stand today. Since it is located outside of the region affected by hurricane belts hundreds of historic buildings have been preserved and over 750 pastel-colored building have been restored to date.
In 1997 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an organization that seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity recognized Willemstad as a World Heritage city.
Lower right photo from Doctors Shopper website
Upper left photo from www.curacao-tourism.com
"Dorothy Draper was to decorating what Coco Chanel was to fashion." says Carleton Varney, who took over the Draper Company in the 1960's. "She brought color into a world which was sad and dreary. Today...everyone wants color around them again."
If you aren't familiar with this legend a revived interest in Dorothy Draper affords many opportunities to get acquainted this year.
The Museum of the City of New York exhibits "the High Style of Dorothy Draper" until August 27th and shows Draper's influence on America's view on interior decorating. From the museum website:
Dorothy Draper was a pioneer in interior design, dominating the field, not only in New York but nationally, from 1925 to 1960 when she was named the most influential tastemaker in America. Extending her influence far beyond residential interiors, Draper made her mark on big-city hotels, resorts, offices, department stores, and apartment buildings—she even styled automobile and airplane interiors. And she was thoroughly modern in today’s terms in that she approached design as entertainment —a themed experience that ranged from a room's architecture to its furnishings, menus, and matchbooks. That she was a woman makes her achievements all the more remarkable, succeeding at a time when she had few counterparts in the business world.
Benjamin Moore sponsored the event and created a limited edition collection of colors featuring fifteen of Draper’s signature paint colors which capture her keen sense of color, dynamic color schemes and self assured sense of style.
The colors on the Dorothy Draper Color card include the following and can be viewed at your local Benjamin Moore paint store or online Personal Color Viewer:
Cat’s Meow 1332
Little Angel 318
Gondola Ride 602
Cactus Flower 1335
Grappa 1393 At Sea 666
Pretty in Pink 1334
Apple Green 2026-40
Neon Red 2087-10
Ballet Slippers 1331
Mountain Mist 868
Jade Garden 2056-20
Romance 1333
Blazing Orange 2011-20
Jamaican Aqua 2048-60
In the Pink: Dorothy Draper America's Most Fabulous Decorator was recently published by Varney and Varney also has created a line of furniture in the style of Draper for Kindel and a line of fabrics for his own collections Carleton V and Carleton Varney by the Yard.
For more online information The Museum of the City of New York, Dorothy Draper: Creating the Bold and Mischevious Style or Dorothy Draper at Wikipedia are good places to start. But if you're in a hurry The New Yorker Magazine's article titled The Draper Effect sums up her style in six quick points.
Pictures from the Museum of the City of New York website
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Throughout time man has used color to enhance himself and the world around him. Colorful World beautifully reveals to the reader the colors of the world; not the colors found in the natural surroundings but rather the colors selected by man to express something about himself and the community in which he lives.
Amandine Guisez's photographs transport the reader around the globe where she "discovered a passion that knows no political frontiers." She also discovers that "those who deal with colour speak the same launguage, a language concerned with the intensity, brilliance or depth of a particular tone, value and shade."
The 200 plus photographs are divided by color and supporting text touches on the meaning of colors and how different cultures have viewed colors through the ages. This book is "a celebration of human creativity" and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing each page.
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color meaning, Colorful World, color, colour
I'm off to the 2006 International Polo Classic which is being held at a beautiful private
estate in The Plains, Virginia. The Polo Classic features a
U.S.-Argentine match, a wonderful seated luncheon under the VIP
tent, Jack Russell Terrier Races, equestrian
demonstrations, and a victory party featuring the tango!
My colorful friend Carol Randolph is a co-chair and the talented Robert Duvall is the honorary chair. We are looking forward to an enjoyable day and evening but I'll be back tomorrow with more musings on color.
"The possibilities are endless" was a phrase often used by one of my favorite professors in college to encourage me to expand my exploration of art and design and it was that same phrase that popped into my head when I discovered the delicious tiles whipped up at the Color Bakery.
The intense color and texture baked into each piece created by the husband and wife team of Glen and Mindy Sommers certainly prove that the possibilies are endless when it comes to 
creating tiles.
Their tiles will satifsy your hunger for color when incorporated into murals, backsplashes, room borders or decorative items such as mirrors or table tops.
But if all you have room for right now is a little taste that's okay because Color Bakery offers smaller bites of color in their fresh baked keepsake boxes, coffee mugs, decorative plates, shelves, frames, and many other imaginative items.
Simply yummy and best of all these are baked goods with zero calories!
Pictures from the Color Bakery website
The appeal of gemstones is in large part is due to their rarity. Historically these eye dazzling beauties were the result of several of nature's elements coming together perfectly to produce their rare color.
Today many of the stones we see in jewelry stores are not the result of nature but rather the result of enhancing techniques that are used to produce the color. While these processes produce some beautiful results they take away a bit of the mystery and magic of these precious jewels.
Recent controversy over undisclosed treatments has had a negative impact on the the value of some colored stones. While there is nothing wrong with a treated or enhanced stones the skepticism has risen out of this fact not being disclosed.
If someone wants a rare gem it is fair to expect that they would want to know whether or not the stone has been treated. As in anything people don't want to pay for a rarity of nature when what they are getting is something produced in a lab.
Even if you are not soley in the market for a rare gem you might like to have an untreated stone. For a selection of dazzling "naked" stones visit Out of Our Mines where you can find all of the colored gems pictured.
One thing to remember is that regardless of whether the jewels you wear are natural or enhanced colored gemstones are a wonderful way to show your "dazzling" personal style
Michael James: Art & Inspirations
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Amadine Guisez Gallienne & Hilton McConnico: Colorful World ~My Review of This Book~
Victoria Finlay: Color : A Natural History of the Palette
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P. Allen Smith: Colors for the Garden
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