Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published June 26, 2002

Imagine a world without color

Can you imagine a world without color? The nearest I can come to an answer would be a deep winter day all black, white and gray. Even then I remember the bright red cardinals that come to the bird feeder adding a splash of color. Humans respond to colors. We redecorate because we need to be soothed or stimulated by the interior of our homes. Color it blue, color it green, color it your favorite hue. Whatever the choice a swish of the paint brush transforms, camouflages, banishes shadows.

Some years ago I accompanied my sister, an interior decorator, to the January Home Show in blustery Chicago. While she was doing business I attended a seminar on color planned for journalists. Color specialists who work behind the scene in the world of color, whether paint or fabrics, were featured. All were deeply concerned about what the consumer wants in color whether their title was color coordinator, color forecaster or color consultant.

Sherwin-Williams' coordinator of decorating ideas said, "There is really nothing new in color. It is all in combinations and new ways to use color. We sell backgrounds and set the mood for the total environment. Our products are the things that are changed most often in the home."

The color expert at Pittsburgh Paints spoke of how much nature affects color choices. She said natural, more subdued colors soothe. They are clean, clear and remind us of the wonders of nature and they give relief from pollution.

Part of her responsibility is coming up with descriptive titles for the many colors. She explained the company has a very large book with all the names ever used on their paints and a name listed there can never be used again. She said, "I study bird and flower books for colors. It isn't unusual for me to waken at night with a name and I jot it down on the paper I keep beside the bed." She was flipping through a color chart as she talked and laughed at some of the names. "I must have been hungry when I named these. Lemon lime, lemon peel, lime sherbet."

Emilio Pucci, known for his vivid, splashy colors in his fabrics and prints, said, "Color, I believe, is a dimension in itself like space and light. I wonder whether a better understanding of the importance of color will not cause architects, decorators and designers in the future to give a greater amount of importance to the quality and the changing intensity of light in order to fully accentuate the importance of color."

He continued in a philosophical vein, "Color, consciously or unconsciously, should carry us back to nature, to the open air, to rivers, lakes, streams and mountains and the skies - clear or stormy as they may be." In conclusion Pucci said, "Color around us is an unconscious reminder of a civilization which is more and more technological and mechanized. We are human beings who belong to a lonely, manmade world. Color is the link between man and nature and space - between the split second in which we live and eternity."

After those thoughtful words, Dr. Joyce Brothers gave some psychological findings on color. She said, "Women perceive more colors or respond more to color. We don't know which but we do know a woman has more words for color. Those facts explain why she can drive a painter crazy!"

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.