I continue my exploration of the Colors of India with a stop in Jodhpur.
Here a sea of aqua blue houses is beautifully juxtaposed against the dry browns of the desert that surrounds it.
But beautiful blue is only one of the many colors that you will find in Jodhpur.
Journey along with me through the streets to see more of this colorful city…
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I just returned from a long, warm and windy week in Southeastern New Mexico. While there I experienced the thrill of blaring a country music station while driving aimlessly through the desert, being surrounded by the most hummingbirds I’ve ever seen in one place, scoring a zebra print bandanna from the biggest, best Walmart ever- for 92 cents!, eating dinner, surrounded by senior prom couples, at a restaurant where the owner walked around from table to table with a wireless microphone crooning Sinatra, making Mexican tissue paper flowers at a local school carnival, realizing my need to one day own a vintage pickup truck, chocking on the hottest salsa I’ve ever experienced, making some new friends during an unexpected layover in Dallas- and oh yeah, surviving the loudest, craziest dust storm I’ve ever seen!
All in all, another colorful trip out West!
Must own a 1970ish model truck soon… a puppy with the coolest eyes ever- one crystal clear blue, one dark brown
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I just returned home from my first visit to Charleston, South Carolina- or as I like to now call it ” the best quaffed city in the United States”.
All I can say is- wow! The belles and beaus of this southern gem sure know how to make an exterior style statement! (after all how could I not fall in love with a city that has a street nicknamed “rainbow row”!)
Being a huge fan of all things garden, I took off on a dreary, gray New York morning with great expectations of landing in a warmer, more colorful land.
Charleston, in the midst of it’s spring blooming glory, did not disappoint. (more…)
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I woke up last Sunday to the gloom of dense clouds and howling winds. I tried to close my eyes and think of sunny Spanish beaches and bright Paris studios, to no avail. So, as a resourceful girl, I called up my best girlfriend and planned a trip to MOMA. Where better to see the colorful world displayed than in a museum?
The Museum of Modern Art is 7 blocks from my apartment but I hadn’t been there since their grand re-opening 2 yrs. ago (except for an exciting catering job I did for the premier of the NY Film Festival opening film “The Interpreter”).
The center of the enormous space is flooded with natural light - it actually seemed sunnier inside than outside.
We decided to see the Georges Seurat drawings first , as the exhibit was closing soon. Most of the pieces were done with black ink but WOW were the shadows and figures he created, very powerful. We both agreed that our favorites were the circus and cafe series. There were some seascape oil paintings that were lovely blues and greens - very cheery.
Then , we headed to our faves- the paintings and drawings. The first painting I see is “The Ohio Gang” by R.B. Kitaj. He gained fame in London then came back to live in NY. The yellow and orange stripes of color almost take your eyes off the bare breasted woman above a baby stroller. Something almost sinister about this painting…can’t put my finger on it.
My eyes follow the frames until I get to Picasso’s ” Les Moiselles d’Avignon.” Naked women again, but this is a celebration of life. I want to be one of those women standing before Pablo- even if it’s the wolf faced lady. His other 2 paintings “Woman Dressing Herself” and “Girl Before A Mirror” are intimate but more lively. He has taken a solitary experience of a woman’s day and glorified it with his exuberant palettes. I believe it takes a Spanish gentleman to appreciate the true beauty of all women. (Or at least a Spanish cubist living in France).
Claes Oldenburg’s “Giant Soft Fan” bring us to our Swedish sensibilities. Who else could create a giant blow up plastic fan- the fog is finally lifting.
I don’t care how many times I see Van Gogh’s Starry Night - it thrills me. The lovely swirly clouds and stars seem to be dancing in the indigo sky. It’s shocking to me that he was in an asylum , in Saint Remy France, as he painted this - I hope he got as much pleasure from it as I do.
Through another gallery and I’m back in Paris. By way of Russia , Kandinsky enters my view. He’s my dad’s favorite artist- probably because his paintings look good in every room (every color in one painting). I know that Kandinsky has very heavy themes (The Apocalypse and political unrest) but his forms are pure and easy joy.
The gleam of Constantin Brancusi’s” Mademoiselle Pognania” proves that “All that glitters is gold” or bronze. I love the shininess of this beauty. She has a cute hairdo and looks both shy and coquettish at the same time. His travels from Romania to Paris seem to have been worth it.
Salvador Dali was in Paris when he painted the 11 layered glass piece “Petit Theatre”. My eyes are fixated on the red shoe. To me , Dali is simply another sort of being. I can”t understand how he does what he does with paint - all I know is that he is proof of the Divine to me. I’d love to talk about Dali all day long….but there’s more to see. We are done with paintings.
After a brief stop for refreshments- we decide to head to the Design Area. Patrick Nortguet designed “Rainbow Chair” - very cool and rainbowy. I want to put this chair next to a bright window and stare at the colored stripes . I feel like if the designer Paul Smith made furniture , it would look like this. Tailored , colorful, and engaging.
The only thing cooler than the chair is the Capsule Lights - they look like oversized pills- very “Valley of the Dolls”.
The perfect ending to my MOMA experience is to see a shiny Airstream trailer. As a very vintage girl….I have had many dreams of driving Route 66 in one of these very American vehicles. I agree that this should be in a museum - it’s very simplicity and functionality represent the America I love ; offering a promise of possibilities. On the road of life - take time to smell the roses and take in some art. I leave MOMA oblivious to the clouds
I’m looking forward to some shows coming to the museum. Color Chart: Reinventing Color , 1950 to Today will be exhibited March 2nd - May 12th. And my favorite, Salvador Dali, will have his paintings and films available June 29th - September 15th.
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I expected a snowy wonderland…very Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in Narnia. So I packed furry hats and boots and warm wooly sweaters. I should have packed short sleeves and another bathing suit. The weather in Iceland is known for its unpredictability; unfortunately, I didn’t know it.
Read all about my colorful adventures in Iceland…
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I am so please that CMG featured my article on Marrakech in the Winter 2007 Color Chips. The photos they added look great!
If you’d like to read the article it is available on Sensational Color.
Also you might want to look back at Jaima Brown’s post Blushing Beauty which she wrote shortly after her recent trip to Marrakech.
Another great read is the blog My Marrakesh. Maryam does a wonderful job of giving us a view into an American families quest to build a guest house in Marrakesh. The pictures and writing are both inspirational.
Enjoy the journey to this colorful destination…even if only virtually.
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As if a few days of breathing salt sea air and sipping champagne weren’t enough to spoil me I had the added pleasure of strolling along Ocean Drive in Miami’s colorful South Beach.
South Beach has the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings anywhere in the world with more than 800 of these gems within a square mile.
Constructed mainly of masonry or stucco, their flat roofs, geometric patterns and rounded motifs give the many small, pastel-colored hotels a distinctly modern look.
Pastel and neutral painted buildings in beige, gray, cream, rose taupe, and butter yellow are accented with brighter pastels in peach, pink, aqua, and green, or with deeper neutrals such as charcoal gray or black.
Both the style and colors signaled a period of renewed optimism and confidence in the U.S. during the post-depression building boom of the 1930s.
Today the Art Deco treasures are being preserved and some newer buildings that complement the distinctive architecture of the area have been allowed to go up.
The show doesn’t stop when the sun goes down on this historic district. Neon and colored lights beckon in red, white, orange, blue and gold adding to the festive atmosphere of this international hot spot.
Can you blame me for not coming back to work until today?
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CMG’s International conference is going to be held in India next February so I wrote an article India — a Country of Symbolic Colors that is the feature story in Color Chips Summer 2007.
If you’d like to read the article it is available on Sensational Color
I’m already anticipating the journey and meeting with my colleagues from around the globe. Would you like to join us?
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For the launch of the new Volkswagen, international artists used graphic design, urban art, and illustration to turn Copenhagen’s Hotel Fox into the world’s most exciting and creative lifestyle hotel.
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Throughout time, man has used color to enhance himself and the world around him. Colorful World beautifully reveals to the reader the colors of the world; not the colors found in the natural surroundings, but rather the colors selected by man to express something about himself and the community in which he lives.
Amandine Guisez’s photographs transport the reader around the globe where she “discovered a passion that knows no political frontiers.” She also discovers that “those who deal with colour speak the same launguage, a language concerned with the intensity, brilliance or depth of a particular tone, value and shade.”
The 200 plus photographs are divided by color and supporting text touches on the meaning of colors and how different cultures have viewed colors through the ages. This book is “a celebration of human creativity” and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing each page.
Buy the book at Amazon.com
~View All Book Reviews~
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