Thursday 19 February 2015

The Colour Collaborative: February: Precious




I'm very happy to be this month's guest blogger for the Colour Collaborative; I really enjoy thinking about colour in terms of a specific theme or idea. This time around the theme is 'Precious'. Of course, I had a collaboration of my own based around precious things so February's Colour Collective is a good fit.

I suppose it would have been easy to assume all my precious things have been exhausted in terms of blog posts. But no. 'Precious' can apply to anything: objects, memories, people, imaginings... 

The thing I love about colour is that I find myself drawn to the same ones, albeit in different shades, time after time. Mossy greens, grey, lichen... and that seemed to tie in with the whole 'precious' concept. Greens: my collection of inherited 'Anne' books; a volume of Milton's poems (much read and referred to); ceramic decorations from Krakow. And most precious of all: my mum's Green Book.




Sepia shades: little candlesticks bought an age ago from a charity shop; the deer brooch (missing one or two stones but still loved); a collection of antique gloves from an old lady we knew who once owned a dress shop...




Muted pinks and creams: seashells gathered from many holidays both at home and abroad; tattered family photographs, my pile of old linens...




Silver and grey: bits of old 'dress' jewellery (diamante, paste, glass - no diamonds here) which are more precious because they're tarnished and tatty and have tales to tell. And the little crocheted pouch belonged to my paternal grandmother. It was used to hold dance cards.




The way I approached this collaboration was pretty straightforward. I just instinctively went for what I wanted to pick up from around the house and write about; no over-thinking (of course, the arranging bit took a bit of planning but it's exactly the kind of thing I love doing).

And what I realised is that, for me, 'precious' is not about expensive jewellery or valuable antiques. It's about family, sentiment and little things which evoke memories of happy times. Perhaps that's why the colours in this post are actually quite subtle and muted. Gathered finds from nature, old photographs and books have that faded quality about them which says, 'I've been loved and worn and passed down. I have a story.'

That to me is what 'precious' means.

P.S. For the Lynne Truss types (and yes, that would include me): I'm missing a few accents above the letter 'e' here and there but have no idea how to find them using Blogger - sorry!

Don't forget to visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts, just click on the links below.


What is The Colour Collaborative?

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.



15 comments:

  1. What beautiful photographs of some of your precious things. You're right about the colours I think, all slightly muted, natural, faded, there's a lovely sort of haze around those things of ours that our precious. A really delightful post. I can never remember where to find those accents either, but I have an email somewhere where someone kindly helped me with it, if I can find it I will forward you a copy. CJ xx

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    1. Oh, yes please! I'm a bit of a stickler for grammar and punctuation...
      Glad you liked the post :) x

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  2. What special treasures you have shared. The memories to be passed on from one generation to the next, a link to the past and the future.

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  3. You are right, precious things are not precious because they are valuable in monetary terms, they are valuable, and therefore precious because of the memories they hold and what they mean to us! xx

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  4. Money against sentiment? I'd take the sentiment every time. My most precious things are valueless to everybody except me.

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  5. I love old things like yours. The assortment of them and the way you've grouped them together is so interesting. This post is a real visual treat, thank you for sharing.

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  6. You and I share a love for the exact same colours ... I've been known to describe it as a graveyard palette ... moss, lichens, old stone, slate. Beautiful, beautiful post Sarah, thank you.

    The only way I know to add accents to letters is to do so in a document and then paste the accented letter into your draft post, that's how I managed Vicuña in my current post, and see, it works for comments too :)

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  7. Yes, a graveyard palette! Perhaps a moorland graveyard overlooking some water...
    Thanks again for inviting me to join you all this month.

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  8. I love the way we've all honed in on family in our posts, that really is the most precious thing for all of us. My colours were similarly muted but much less pretty. Your arranged vignettes are so very beautiful! x

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  9. Such lovely muted colours and so beautifully photographed :)

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  10. You have described some of my most favourite colours Sarah. Muted beautiful colours of nature. I love your photos accompanied by your lovely words. Bee xx

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  11. I really love how you've chosen your precious things. You've grouped them into such beautiful and complimentary colours. I do love your words..."I have a story" xxx

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  12. Lovely groups of art.
    I have some of the ceramic decorations from Krakow, too. I have never seen them anywhere else.

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  13. I completely agree with you. When my grandmother sadly passed away she left behind so much jewellery, but it was really the tons of photograph albums that we ended up treasuring!

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