Continuing with my "What I'm Reading" book recommendation series, and in the spirit of our focus on transformative education here at Nectar & Bloom, I’ve selected a playful and fascinating book all about one of the elements we utilize most as floral artists, the design detail that is most linked to emotion and visual impact — color!
As a poet and former professor of literature and writing, I love books, and I truly love to read. I also find spending time in the world of the written word to be essential to expanding my views and increasing my knowledge, not to mention how books enrich us all with inspiration and broadened perspectives. This book, which imbued me with a vivid array of history and cultural lore about colors across time, is The Secret Lives of Color, by Kassia St Claire.
A BIT ABOUT THIS BOOK
This is playful book of visual delight and endless inspiration. The Secret Lives of Color, by Kassia St Claire, is a fascinating collection of short, vivid essays, each on a specific color, such as “Dutch Orange” or “Prussian Blue,” all beautifully arranged in color families that paint the page edges of the book as you read and flip through. The color families and colors themselves are printed such that you can flip through the book and select a color from the printed margin of the page, making the whole experience of exploring the book a colorful delight.
A BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kassia St Claire is a writer who “specializes in telling gripping stories about the overlooked and the everyday,” as her website describes. She has assembled in this book an intriguing and brightly enriching array of tales and details from fashion, art, and history that are associated with each of the 75 included colors. It feels like a great book for connecting with the nuances of color and the worlds of stories behind their expression and use.
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THIS BOOK
As a floral artist steeped in the world of color, and as a poet in love with the evocative nature of words, I enjoyed this book both for its amusing anecdotes and for the inspiration it stirs for palettes and meaningful creative projects. As a Reiki practitioner and student of Ayurveda and yoga, I’m also fascinated with color and energy frequencies that align in the chakras of the body. Color is such a powerful element, not just in art and design but also in healing and wellbeing too.
Side note, this book also makes a lovely coffee table or artful book shelf addition, as it is hard-back and a delight to flip through visually and intellectually. There's even a fascinating introductory section all about how color exists, how we perceive it, and how tints, tones, shades, and spectrums of color (all wavelengths and frequencies behind how colors show up!) have everything to do with it. Great creative food for thought and brain nourishment too.
Happy reading, if this one calls to you! You can explore all past "What I'm Reading" recommendations here.
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