Discovering the Nature of Color

The Gift of Sight

Sight. How often do we take this sense for granted? For those of us born with eyes that can see the world around us, we so often forget what a gift it is. To see color, to be transfixed by a setting sun. The sky moved from gentle blues to radiant reds, soft pinks and captivating purples.  Cherry juice stains our fingertips in the Summer sun, a deep striking red. Each color makes us feel a range of emotions, often different for all of us.  

“As I spent day after day capturing flowers in various points of their life cycle I became enthralled by the multitude of colors they were born into. The richest oranges and yellows, blues that mirrored the ocean on a clear day, whites that held such delicate purity." 

The Feeling of Colors

I found myself sitting with how each color made me feel. Which in turn became how each flower made me feel. 

The dahlias I worked with ranged from blushing pinks to rich lavenders. Dahlias were full of lessons, from the intricacy of their petals, to their unashamed presence, they had so much to communicate. Getting closer to some of their hues was a healing journey. 

Blush pink is known to create serenity for the mind. It is nurturing, kind, a maternal force. As I captured her essence, it seemed as though it would be an incredible print to have in a nursery or above a claw foot bathtub just waiting to nourish you. 

Lavender ripples held my attention for hours. Purity, silence, devotion, serenity, grace, and calmness are just some of the emotions that lavender often cultivates. Devotion is what I felt as I stood day after day getting closer and closer to the lavender dahlias with my macro lens. I imagined these pieces to be featured in a living area, a bedroom, an office space meant for creation. 

The dusky blues of genitians, lupines and hydrangeas. Captivating, awakening the imagination. More than just a calming breath in, blue holds so much wisdom in its ethereal beauty. When flowers bare this radiant hue, they seem as if they came from another planet all together. The mind becomes rich with metaphor and feeling. 

Warmth. The feeling of blankets around a shivering body. A fire roaring. Summer sunshine glaring through window panes. Yellow and orange have a sense of joy that traverses through the body and soul. A sense of being irrevocably alive. Working with sunflowers always left me giddy, remembering childhood, unfiltered expression. 

Then, there is the absence of color. White is not truly a color but a shade, defined by the way it plays between light and shadow. It is like working with a blank canvas, each position creating a completely new outlook on the same subject. There is a sense of constant innovation, rebirth, a place of beginning. 

An invitation to feel

There are over 10 million colors just from known shades and hues alone. So much to take in, to examine, to really see. 

“I want to invite you to close your eyes. Feel the gentle heaviness of your eyelids, the darkness of rest. Then think of a color that makes you feel joyful. Keep that color at the forefront of your mind and ask yourself how you integrate joy into your everyday life, into your space, your work, your self care routine. Where does this color show up?" 

I hope to bring color, feeling and an intimate view of nature into your everyday life with the pieces from Floriography.  So much to discover in every single stem. 

Thank you for going on a color adventure with me, I hope you take a moment today to truly appreciate the vibrant color all around us. 

With love,