Today is International Color Day! It’s a day to celebrate the joy that color brings to our lives. Color is my favorite design element. As kids, it is the first gateway drug of art – that rich box of 12, 18, 32 or 64 crayons with freshly sharpened points, arranged in arrays of the rainbow. Who can resist?

But when we begin to pursue art as adults, color can trip us up. What appears to be simple now becomes complex as we learn the names of each pigment, its properties from staining to opaque and its mixing habits.

Famous color painter Paul Gauguin said

“It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block.”

If you don’t believe him, just take a look at any tree with fall color. The hues don’t appear as singular shades. A single tree contains colors that  ripple from green to orange to yellow and maroon. 

Yet teaching students how to use color is one of the hardest tasks. Each of us sees color differently. And color behaves differently in differing lights, atmosphere and moods. We also use color so symbolically – in each culture it can carry different meanings. As an abstract painter, I’m most likely to use color as a symbol – but this week I took on a painting that explored color as an atmospheric phenomenon.

If you feel you could be using color more expressively, please join me for one of two workshops coming up!

November 4 – 8, Santa Barbara, CA: a workshop in memory of the late Skip Lawrence taught by 4 of his regular students. A few spaces remain!

February 5 – 15, 2025, San Miguel D’Allende: Color Confidence with Ruth Armitage. Space is filling quickly!  Contact me for more information about either class.

If you would like to read about the inspiration of my work below, read on. But be warned, a political rant is in your future.

My piece “Strange Light” is inspired by the light and resulting colors as thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornados approach. Watching recent news coverage of the storms caused by climate change has been nightmarish. And I’ve been thinking about creating a painting that captures the mood of our nation as we approach this election. I think many voters join me in feeling that the light of Democracy is changing to a horrifying and dizzying storm, regardless of who wins the Presidency.

There is a segment of society that supports a man who scorns the rule of law, refuses to accept any responsibility for his actions and encourages others to commit treason, lie and revolt in order to keep him in power. He will not accept anything other than a win. My prayer is that voters will see him and his supporters as the misogynistic, racist, egotistical, incompetent power grabbers that they are and vote them out.

I rarely comment on politics here, but the time has come to speak up if we don’t wish to see our country controlled by fascist bigots. I am not alone. Read this article from the New York Times with testimonials from 91 people who have worked closely with him, including other world leaders.

My painting describes my feeling of being caught in this maelstrom at a time when the world is becoming more perilous by the day. Comments are moderated – but welcome.