When you think of peace… what color comes to mind?
What color is joy?
respect?
dignity?
trust?
reciprocity?
community?
contentedness?
grounded?
conviviality?
I love color… the colors of the natural world. The color of place. And when I think about the places that are dear to me… it’s in color.
“Color is the first principle of place” ~Nan Shepherd
Whether it be the purple of springtime…
the blue-greens of a beach far, far, away from “here”…
a pop of red and flash in the last hurrah of the fall…
or the crispness of winter set against a brilliant sky.
all colors of peace…
A wall of wool at Brooklyn General Store. Jamiesons Spindrift (Shetland yarn)
One of my top reasons I knit is for the color…I choose yarn that represents the landscape…
Knitting is a story… not one word at a time but a stitch at a time. A story about place, or love, or compassion.
Peace nugget #3
Today is art day! I have long had the desire to paint. It’s one of those persistent dreams… learn to paint. I’ve taken workshops and set “goals” only to have all of it fizzle away. It’s not that I don’t like it it’s just that I have other activities that always come first… knitting, reading, writing…
Years ago, I went on a long bike ride. Before cell phones (maybe even before the internet)… by myself for 2 weeks along the Washington and Oregon coast camping all the way. I wanted a way to creatively express the beauty that was everywhere. In my paniers, I’d packed a few I colored pencils and I began making color swatches…
the bursting purple of the blackberries alongside the road… a scribble of purple
the depths of richness of the Pacific Ocean… a scribble of blue-green
In the photo above, I made a “mood” panel. I swatched five colors of how I felt that day and made little notes.
Let’s make a peace panel…
five colors that represent peace …
the possibilities are limitless.
You don’t need many supplies… crayons, colored pencils, watercolor pencils (my favorite), paper, etc.
And if you don’t have those supplies, get creative. Maybe you want to make some peace panels with fabric scraps, or yarn left-overs…
Leave a comment… what color is peace to you and why?
Other…
Thank you for all your comments about the birds. Truly inspiring. I love reading how birds have made an impact on your lives.
If you want to read more on color and knitting, check out the work of Kate Davies and Felicity Ford (scroll down to read her blog posts about a color project throughout Advent).
My friend Dotty from The Net Loft offers lots of online watercolor workshops at no cost.