Most everything in life can be split into two camps – heart and mind.  In all art there is science, in color one can experience a Kettle Pond of emotion so deep it seems limitless, and so steeped in theory it boggles my beautiful brain.  “It makes my down go up.” (a slightly modified version of a lyric by Eric Church…a current obsession!)

Eric Church . Mr. Misunderstood Album

Color mixing, and visual effects of specific color combinations is a study based on facts, for which the heart responds.  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary – Lightness, Saturation, and Hue all play a role in what we find pleasing.  Who the heck started all this studying?  Well apparently a dude did.  Not just any dude though, a Roman named Leon Battista Alberti.  Who I am tickled pink to report was born on Valentine’s Day in 1404.  A Humanist, Artist, Author, Poet, Architect, Priest, Linguist, and Cryptographer.  He wrote about color theory. Leonardo Da Vinci made it a topic of his literary efforts too, and wouldn’t be outdone by Leon.

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.  They went out and happened to things.”  Leonardo Da Vinci

Considered by many to be the greatest painter of all time, he was also an inventor – the tank, helicopter, and parachute are attributed to Leo – a Sculptor, Architect, Scientist, Musician, Mathematician, Engineer, with additional interests in geology, botany, writing, history, and cartography.  Together these “guys” are known as Polymath’s, Renaissance Men….Universal Geniuses.  I ask you, is there anything sexier?  Talk it over.

A Valentine’s Bouquet – Lucky Tiffany!

As a tradition, Color Theory really took off in the 18th Century, and is widely practiced and taught today.  Me, I fall in love with color, its power to draw you in, eliciting heady sensations.  It’s true not all the feelings that get stirred up are good but I enjoy the process of testing color combinations, picking palettes, and experiencing that bubble of excitement that rises from my belly over a belle jolie compilation.

While I had selected my base colors for the living room, I had not settled on accent colors, until I awoke from a recent dream, and knew with certainty, that they would be chartreuse green and violet.  I’ve placed my faith in these hues.  I’ve decided to lean toward, tip into, dive, submerge, surround…breath in, and become breathless.  I think you know which camp my pretty polished toes reside.