Funny how one thing leads to another. I saw an article about restoring a ruin in Provence while thumbing through the latest issue of Veranda. The designer is Michel Biehn, a Frenchman who has an antique shop in the picturesque village of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue which has a wonderful market where you can find everything from an armoire to zucchinis.
When we were there Ashley got so interested in tasting different flavored honeys that she left her camera on the vendor’s table but we were lucky to realize it just a few stalls away and retrieved it.
I checked the Internet to see if M. Biehn had a web site and he doesn’t but I found that he had written a book titled The Colors of Provence. I ordered it and couldn’t put it down after reading this description on the book’s jacket. “Under the bright Provencal sun, the colors of earth, stone, trees, fruits, and flowers give this region its unique character and beauty-from the deep purple of lavender fields to the radiant yellow of sunflowers, and from the bright red of vine-ripened tomatoes to the earthy blackness of fresh truffles, the essential elements of Provence are unfolded chapter by chapter and color by color.”
The first page of each chapter is in the color to be discussed with a relevant quote from some luminary. One thing leads to another when thinking of the color red, the first thing that comes to my mind is Roussillon with its ocher hues, wild poppies, and Casart red Faux Padded Harlequin removable wallpaper which seems to echo those hues.
There are other colors of Provence like the lavender always pictured in the fields at Abbaye de Senanque, and the blue shutters on so many of the buildings. But the color I associate the most with Provence is yellow. That yellow of sunflowers and scotch broom and lemons.
In a letter to his brother, Theo, Vincent Van Gogh said, “In the room where you (or Gauguin, if he comes) will sleep, I want to decorate the white walls with big yellow sunflowers, and you will then see these large paintings with bouquets of twelve or fourteen sunflowers filling the small room, along with a pretty bed…”
And that one thing leads to another — to think of Mary Douglas Drysdale and her love of the color yellow. Mary was recently interviewed by DOXA Home and had a bit to say about the use of color and yellow in particular.
Now Ms Mary, while you work beautifully within the entire color spectrum, it would be impossible to interview you without asking about your favorite yellows!
Colors from nature which wow me. yellow roses, daffodils, daisies and sun flowers. Squash, grapefruit, lemons….Yellow is a color which is hard for many to work with it they are inexperienced. Once you have it up on the walls, the color reflects on itself so much that is has real energy. If you are thinking of using yellow, make sure to paint a large wall or at a minimum a 4 X 4 sample and look at that sample in the morning, afternoon, and with evening light. It is a color that changes (which all colors do) and the only way to know that you have the right color is to look at it in these various circumstances.
One of the things I like most about yellow, is that it is such a warm optimistic and color. And it is a color that works everywhere, unlike other colors such as Purple or Red or Pink. Often my favorite kitchens are yellow. They always me of the wonderful kitchen and garden of Monet. It is a color which welcomes – is not the least pretentious….it is a cozy, fresh, wonderful, cheerful and elegant tone.
AND yellow is wonderful in an Entry Foyer, Lining Room or Dining Room. It is a perfect color, bringing a sense of sunshine and optimism, even when it rains.
And that is how one thing leads to another!
– Lorre Lei
And another…Day 67 after that “tiny spill in a big ocean”.
In this week’s Gambit, the Thinking Out Loud commentary column is titled We Aren’t the World and asks where are the the stars of the music world? We’ve received almost no response from the international music community. Where are the Bonos and the Stings? Why haven’t we heard a word from the Springsteens and the Mellencamps? A group of locals put together a concert in six days to benefit the Louisiana coast. The impromptu concert, “Gulf Aid”, raised $300,000 for the families affected by the BP oil catastrophe. Amy Makowiecki, of the Green Music Group, a “large-scale, high-profile environmental coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans” told Gambit they “are working through our well-established artist relationships to raise awareness about the disaster in the Gulf Coast.” Gambit’s reply to that...”With all due respect, we don’t need to raise awareness; we need to raise money. If dead and dying animals were washing ashore in Malibu or Martha’s Vineyard, we know the response would be different.” We Are the World and more recently, Playing For Change brought musicians together to raise their voices in a united cause. That is the kind of effort we need now. We need “Somebody To Stand By Us”.
Stand By Me-Playing for Change
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