Color is made of light. It is vibrational and energetic in its true nature. And so somewhat elusive, especially when we wish to apply it to solid, material surfaces. We are actually attempting to translate what color is, in its most dimensional sense, into a flat, paintable color. In order to do this we are accessing an energetic memory we hold in our own bodies. It sounds highly esoteric, but I guarantee you it is wholly human and even pragmatic. It is something we already know how to do.
Each color holds a special relationship for each individual. You can find this out very simply by looking at color panels yourself. Certain colors will provoke a response in you: Some pleasant, some, not so pleasant. Some you will have had no idea you still retained. Our relationship to color is ‘colored’ by memories, feelings, time, pace and sometimes a tone. If we can expand our relationship with color to include all of our responses, we will allow a more holistic exchange than our mental processing, which wants to name and limit, can hold. How do we do this? It is that ‘trust your gut’ response we are looking for, an opening to information from our emotional bodies. We cannot really talk, or ‘name’ our way to the appropriate color. There is no replacement for the experience.
Living 'attuned' to color is one of the great joys of life. Feng Shui professionals have long influenced the ways in which people place furnishings, remodel spaces and even decide on color, to promote the greatest possible harmony for the inhabitants. They understand and interpret a balancing system of relatedness between elemental energy of place and habitation for good fortune. My work with color is focused on the same need for a harmonious relationship between space, light, color and people.
This is the heart of my Architectural Color Selection practice: I strive to enter a space inside or outside, and discover the colors that speak on the deepest possible level to the people involved, and the change they are manifesting. These are also colors which will bring out the best in the architectural style and location. Simple it is not, but we humans are up to the task. It is always a uniquely enjoyable exchange in my experience.
Careful color selection can help affirm 'feeling tones' in rooms based on the level of personal, versus public interaction taking place there.
For example: the entry is a welcoming gateway, a public transitional area of the home, with a very different purpose and 'feel' than a more intimate bedroom or a master bath. A meditative study would have a very different tone than an active kitchen or family room; a dining room might be lively and light filled or formal and subdued and so on.
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Warmly welcoming Gottfried Home Entry
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The colors we choose to surround ourselves with- to live with, have a profound affect on the ways in which we think, feel, relax, carry out business and relate to the world at large. Your rooms attune to the way you live your life just as the exterior of your home or office reflects your response to and alignment with your neighborhood.
We have a complex, 'holistic' - mind, body, spirit response to color. Choosing from a myriad of color swatches can be frustrating or confusing for our logical selves. Color is really about the body, our sensory selves. Because the main component of color is light, the way in which your space is lit and the color of that reflected light is very important to consider.
Contemplating a change in your color environment requires forgetting what you 'know' about color and letting yourself 'feel' your way to the right tone. You may find you feel very contented in a room painted with a hue you would not normally resonate with in clothing or furnishings. All of your color reference points, including the uncomfortable ones, will give us a starting point for working with painted or surfacecolor.
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