NEW WORK— SPRING 2006 — CHOOSE LESS, ENJOY MORE

Color Theory as a Metaphor for Life

Although images with bright colors have traditionally captured the buying public's interest, the ethereal quality of a screened back grayscale image continues to delight and inspire me.

Look at the group of five images to the left. Each one of the grayed out images is wonderful in its own right. Looking at them, you are struck by the forms. They are calm, orderly, elegant. You may have never noticed the shapes in just this way. The reality of the image recedes in place of other thoughts.

But then, the last one is a full color image. This does not fit with the others. Your attention changes. Your mind was focused on gray, and here is color. You become focused on it. The patterns are interesting, the colors are beautiful and they compliment each other. Just a moment ago, you were thinking how beautiful are the gray images, but once noticed, the color image stands out.

From this, two ideas emerge:

• One, take the color out of an image and you to see different things like the lovely lines of the grayed images.
• Two, a quiet image like patterned bark of a Jeffrey Pine with its muted grays and oranges, ordinarily hardly noticeable, becomes dynamic here among the gray images.

Less can be more

Both of these points lead to a similar idea. That less can be more. OR, take the color out, see new things. When surrounded by low value images, the Jeffrey Pine bark picture stands out. Simple beauty, otherwise overshadowed, is exemplefied by limiting the color palate.

In this demonstration of color theory, the most striking realization that I hope to convey is that this concept can be applied to life itself. That experiences of life can be enhanced by limiting the palate, so to speak.

Click on a thumbnail to demonstrate the concept. The Color Theory—life link will bring you back to this page.

Choose less, enjoy more