Color Inspiration - EMP Lobby

I chaperoned junior high students to Seattle's EMP (Experimental Music Project) - who knew there would be so much color?! The light always changing, and reflecting off of the curved metal walls; people becoming part of the decor. A lovely triad of color in the depths of the saturated wheel.

Color Inspiration - Hot Orange Lily

The sun is out in Puget Sound (finally!) throwing strong rays of light across my garden. The saturated colors of this lily look so sumptuous against a deep blue ceramic pot in the background.

Shop News!

My shop is closing for the summer this week - last day to place orders for beads, books, color wheels, photos, instructions is Wednesday, June 27.

www.gilbertdesigns.net

(I will reopen after Labor Day)

Color Inspiration - Magenta Iris

Nature's paintbrush is so vivid - just a thin splash of bright yellow to balance all those luscious magenta hues. Even the dark purple iris bud in the background adds depth to her palette.



Boysenberry Bead Soup Collection

Another Chapter

Last day teaching art... after 6 years of volunteering for 5 classrooms (about 1200 volunteer hours), I'm moving on. But so sad to leave such amazing kids who have given me so much inspiration, motivation and artistic confidence. Thank you for the beautiful reception you threw for me yesterday, the cards, the speeches, the hugs all mean so much!

About the photos above:

We always use card stock for our palette boards (easier than cleaning up 125 plates each week!). Then mix and swirl the left over paint to create backgrounds for the next project. The pear was painted on top of an old paint palette.

Color Inspiration - Hand Blown Glass

A gorgeous hand blown glass given to me by my fabulous aunt - swirling with a soft, warm palette.

What images do these colors bring to mind?

Color Inspiration - Orange Beach Glass

Who said seaglass only comes in shades of blue?

These gem-like little nuggets of glass are nestled inside a 'Nuttallia obscurata' (purple varnish clam) shell creating a lovely expanded complementary color palette.

Some bits of color fall on the saturated wheel, other shades have cool earthy undertones.

Color Inspiration - Seaglass on Picnic Table

Can you guess what's on my mind? Beach, summer, sun... we don't ever get tired of filling bowls and shells with sea glass and other treasures (and yes, we've found all this glass)!

Bright sunshine on the glass makes this palette more saturated than the prior palette, the blue and taupey brown adding depth and a cool loveliness.

Does one of these Seaglass palettes call to you more than the other?

Color Inspiration - Sea Glass in Sea Foam Green

 One of my sea glass photos is the backdrop for a full page Martha Stewart Living paint ad in the July MSL magazine (pg 24 for those interested). The colors are tweaked and the image is zoomed almost out of recognition - but rather exciting all the same!

Seed Bead Soup Collection - Lichen

And on the heals of seeing it in print, how could I resist creating a palette for sea glass?

My colors are a little more subtle than what Martha did with the sea glass - well into the Cool Earthtones, with lavish amounts of grey tying the tumbled glass, clam shell and window ledge together.

Hmmm - just noticed that our entry walls are the color 4th from the right... so yummy!
Enjoy!

Shop News!

 25% June Book Sale

 Photography now For Sale

 Bag of Color 14 - Encrusted Pendant Kits

My shop will close for the summer on June 30...
So I'm packing a lot into the next couple of weeks:

• 25% off June Book Sale
• Photography now for sale - over 30 different prints to choose from!
• New Bags of Color - the last of my Encrusted Pendant kits

Color Inspiration - Cornflower

I love these giant cousins of the Bachelor Button with their center glow of pink flowing to forked petals of bluish purple.

What's not to love about purple and green? And expanding it into the pink tones provides added lusciousness!

Color with Kids

Fusion of photography and poetry - a day at a local nursery with 53 Fifth and Sixth graders armed with cameras!

We started with 3 photo assignments designed around compositional elements I use when taking photos - each student accumulated around 200 photos full of color.

The kids also wrote poetry inspired by their photographs.

At the end of the day, we pulled both together using PowerPoint (they all had it on their Netbooks) to create gorgeous mosaics.

If I could only show you the artwork they created - beautiful and insightful... I wish we had a week together with our cameras instead of just a day!

Color Inspiration - Orange Bar Stools

Colors glow on a night time stroll in Milwaukee at the Bead & Button Show

 Clasp from Wanderlust Neckpiece in Nebula colorway

Seed Bead Soup Collection in colorways: Burnt Orange, Paprika, Cabernet and Nebula