What's new about placid blue?

It's not a new color at all. It has always been with us. It is what we want to see when we get up in the morning and look out the window at the sky.

It is one of the top ten Womens's Pantone Colors for Spring 2014, which makes it noteworthy.

See the Pantone fashion color report for Spring here

Placid Blue is a soft pastel that is a wonderful compliment to the strong and bold Dazzling Blue. Pantone describes it as a picture perfect, tranquil and reassuring sky that induces a sense of peaceful calmness.

     Placid blue bracelet upcycled from artist palette


What is great about placid blue:
It is calming.
It works well as a background color.
It harmonizes with soft pastel greens and violets.
It is a great solution for "what to wear with jeans"

Here's a recipe for placid blue, according to Bustanoby's Color Manual, copyright 1939:
It was called Forget-Me-Not Blue

"Slightly neutral tint of blue, resembling the delicate blue flowers, with yellow centers, of this perennial herb, which grows in wet or damp places in the United States, Europe and Asia."

16 parts Zinc White
2 parts Cobalt Blue

Forget Me Not flowers

1 part yellow Ochre
Trace of Burnt Umber

From this list of ingredients I can tell you that placid blue is mostly white with a little blue, and the yellow ochre and burnt umber would act to tone it down. So it is a tint of blue with a bit of its complement added, making it a gorgeous gray blue.

What will you wear with placid blue this season?

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Winter Work

Now that my show season is over, it's time for what I lovingly call winter work. Winter work is studio time. It's when I light the fire in the wood stove and sit down at the drawing table and/or easel, both of which are pulled close to the wood stove. It's winter work because when the weather cools off and the leaves fall, the studio is the most inviting place in my life. The warmth of the fire and the smell of the wood and the blank slate on the easel are what inspire and motivate me to work. At one of my shows I bought this glorious coffee mug from Paige @rockbottomceramics. It sits on top of the woodstove and keeps the coffee warm for hours. It's a studio staple. There is purposely a blank canvas on the easel, or in this case, a smooth panel which will eventually be gessoed and painted with an expression of light through leaves. The blank canvas is self care. It's a sign of hope for my future. What will go on ...

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Parts of Art

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