Painting

A good friend gave us a pack of canvases for Christmas - nice, square ones that we could paint.  There was one for each of us.

So the other day we broke out the acrylic paints and went to town.  I showed the kids some "inspiration" beforehand, but each came up with their own ideas.


Bennet did this one.  I think he was inspired a bit by Kandinsky

Lisel did this one, she was going for something like Kandinsky too.

Josephine did this one, she painted exactly what she wanted - no inspiration necessary.

Matthias did this one.  He was inspired by Josephine's.

And Tommy's was really neat looking, but then he kept painting over and over with new colors of wet paint.  We like it just the same.

And I did this one.  It was sort of inspired by Georgia Okeefe - but I didn't manage to get the flower huge enough.  The background was the most fun to paint.  Now I just want to paint abstract repeating patterns all over :)

I think this the first time painting canvas for us all -- and we had a blast!

Isn't that a terrific gift?!

Oh, and I started a new blog.  It's over here.  Each week I challenge myself to set aside a bit of time to create something with a theme, and invite others to join it.   This week's theme is to create something inspired by an Artist or a work of art.  So I'm entering this on my other blog. 

On beyond colors

Not that I've figured out the color thing.  Au contraire.  But I have made a good deal of progress in otherwise defining my style.   (In reality, I've made good progress in figuring out color too, I'm just still a good ways away....)  And I wanted to take the time to share with you a checklist that I found really helpful.

She does a terrific job in the video and in the post (which is long), defining style with eight parameters (none of which are colors, though one is number-of-colors).  I'm not going to re-iterate her definitions, as I think hers are clearer than I could write them.

But I've been thinking about them, and I think they've really helped me define "my" style.  Or at least some idea of what I'm comfortable in.  It's also helped me identify ways to push the envelope style-wise, if I choose to do so.

Please, read the article and let me know what your style choices are in these categories!
(And if you opt not to read the article, the rest of this post probably won't make much sense to you, because I'm just responding to her material).


Silhouette:  I like my shoulders to fit at the shoulders, and my tops to be somewhat fitted on top (i.e. not too baggy around my bust, but not tight either).  I like extra room around my flabby tummy, but not so much at my hips.  I like my pants to not be too slim at the bottom (to balance out my larger top).  I often like my tops long (tunics, almost).  But I've found that I like a short cardigan really well, at least sometimes -- something that hits just at the bottom of my rib cage, where I'm actually slim.  I like puffy shoulders, but it's not a "must", and I don't know why I like them, since I'm already top-heavy. 

Color: I usually wear solids.  I feel the most sophisticated in a monochromatic outfit with an accent.  My favorite outfits are same (or similar) color top and pants with a second color (maybe even a print) accent.  I also like two solid colors with a print accent.  I like my colors quite warm, or very saturated if they're cool (navy blue, aqua and even some purples).  I find that my usual colors (when I feel sophisticated anyway), are near each other on the color wheel, but if I wear a print as an accent, then it must have my monochrome color in it, and usually has the opposite color in it too.

Prints:  I like small to mid scale prints for accents.  I don't think I own a single large scale print, but I don't know why.  Maybe I should try some?

I do like detail: interesting drapes, pleats, a few ruffles, pin tucks.  For me, these really jazz up a solid color. 

Drape:  I generally like my clothes drapey best.  But I don't mind crisp clothes if they don't wrinkle easily.  All the crisp clothes I have do, and I go out feeling all spiffy and professional in them.  But when I catch a mirror later, I'm just a big sloppy mess of wrinkles.  I haven't found a way to do fitted, crisp and not-wrinkly.  Am I missing something?  Anyway, because of the wrinkles, I think I prefer drapey.  I'm a little worried that it adds pounds though.  I'm not sure.  I really do wish I knew how to do crisp without wrinkling.

Texture:  I really am attracted to rough textures (tweeds, knobby, chunky knits).  To me, these are almost a "detail", and I like to only wear one interesting texture, having the rest be rather smooth and matte.

Style References:  Hmm... In the past, I often made Indian or African style references.  Now I almost never do.  My current mental style icon is Kate Middleton.  Elegant and Classic.  I think I probably reference French style a bit.

Accessories: I rarely accessorize, though I dream of one day wearing funky necklaces and/or gorgeous scarves.  I would start, but it's intimidating to me.  My shoes are very functional, hardly interesting in the least.  I would wear a bracelet, maybe, but not big rings.








 
Since this is already long, I'm saving my "How this all plays out" for another post, on another day.

For the one or two of you that read my musings here, how does your style fit in these categories?

Question of the Day

Do browns look professional?  Can a brown suit, for example have the same impact as a black one, or a charcoal gray one?  How about a Little-Brown-Dress?  Do you have any pictures or links to places that this color really works in a professions type dress?

Just curious.  If I find some, I'll post them here.

I found this old photo of myself a few days ago.

I love this photo. It makes me nostalgic.  And it reminds me to pray for this dear dear group of friends in New Jersey, (almost all of whom tried to marry me off to their grown sons, ha!).  And it makes me want to go shopping in an Indian market again!

I still have this sari, by the way.  The bodice doesn't fit any more (twelve years and five kids have changed my figure somewhat).  But I love the color, and I think it looks okay on me.  I'm thinking that I want to cut it up and make a floaty top or two from it.  But I haven't bit that bullet yet.

Some style-blogging type observations, since I'm still in style-blogging mode:

• The color of the sari is not far at all from the color of my veins in my wrist. 
• I'm wearing lipstick.  Since when have I ever worn lipstick?  
• The lipstick doesn't look super awful.  Maybe I should consider wearing it occasionally?  
• Nah.  
• Maybe tinted lip balm though.
• I have henna in my hair in this photo too.  And it looks sorta fake, just like my henna now does.  I guess not much has changed.  I used to think it looked so real.  I still like the color though - maybe looking sorta fake isn't all bad?
• Rebecca says here and here that we should wear colors close to our face that have a similar value to our hair.  (That is, if you imagine the color in a grey-scale photo, they would look the same color)  So, I (and you) look better in colors that are about the same darkness value as my (your) hair, because they provide the same level of contrast from the skin.  I hope that's not as confusing as it sounds!  I have dark hair and light skin, so to frame my face well, I should wear darker colors - similar in darkness to my hair.  This particular sari meets such criteria, I think.

How's that for blogging three times in one week?  I don't blame you if you don't bother to read because I'm chattering so much.  It's the Anne of Green Gables influence, I think.  (It's so delightful to listen to that audiobook in the car, but my, she's long-winded!).  Yeah, I'll blame it on her :)

Oh, and color-style-skilled friends with good visual abilities:  Do I look like an autumn?  Or a winter?  Oh, never mind.  I may as well give up fitting into that box.  I don't mind being an out-of-the-box girl in yet another way.

How to find colors that look good on you (style blogging continued)

If you read Pioneer Woman, you know that occasionally she goes through phases where the blogs on a topic, or in a particular style for a few weeks, just to get it out of her system.

I think that's what style blogging is for me. So bear with me while I indulge and get it out of my system. So here goes.

The Color me Beautiful system, like a personality survey, works because many people do in fact, fit into broad categories. Many, but not all. I have always been one who doesn't quite fit into categories on coloring, Either that, or I don't recognize that I do. I'm not sure which. (Incidentally, on personality surveys with only four categories, I also don't fit. But if you expand to 16 categories, I fit rather nicely as an INTJ).

Several years ago now, I asked my husband to teach me how to draw. He set out first to teach me how to see. If you can see something that you want to draw, not as a 3D object, but as a pattern of colors, you can draw it. I think that learning what I look like, and what looks good on me, must be a similar discipline.

Word Lily has a naturally great visual and artistic sense, and in the comments pointed out that all of her natural coloring (the colors in her eyes, hair, skin and such) were present in her seasonal colors from the "Color Me Beautiful" system. My jealous side wishes that I not only fit into a season nicely, but that I could actually recognize what colors look good on me! But, I'm, slowly learning to see, and perhaps eventually I'll recognize a color that looks good on me without having to ask my poor husband (who has a much better developed visual sense than I do).

Rebecca, in response to my comment asking about how to find my "green", suggested that I take paint chips in my natural coloring colors, and then look through greens to find one that looks good with them. I'm sure that would work splendidly if I had much of a sense of what colors look good together. But Word Lily, pointed out a perhaps easier method.

I'm still thinking about this. :D It's interesting to me that:

a) the colors I get when I use this system are basically all part of what I get when I follow the Color Me Beautiful system/theory. Have you tried that one? I found a quick online quiz earlier this week ...

b) My most favoritest colors to wear all show up when I follow these rules

c) I already wear almost all of these (still not sure how to best determine the "red," though)

For her all of her natural colors were already present in her seasonal category. Someone else had done the work of figuring out what other colors and color groups fit with those natural colors. My guess is that her Zyla colors are the super best on her, and the remainder of the ones in her season also look terrific on her, but are a half-step down from the super best ones. But since they coordinate well with her super best colors (are you tired of super best as an adjective? I am. Sorry), they'll look great in her outfits.

It makes me wonder if I can find a season that incorporates all of my natural colors, and then just use their analysis to do the work of finding my perfect green, and other coordinating colors.

Of course, if we all embraced Rebecca's wear-mainly-one-color theory, we may not have to worry about finding so many coordinating colors. Maybe just accents?

I love the wear-mainly-one-color theory, by the way. I haven't decided what color I would choose if I implement it. No doubt, one of my Zyla 8. Four of which are brown. Could I really always wear brown? Maybe I should go for my "red".

Which, brings me to the question of determining my "red". Zyla covers it reasonably well here. I don't think it's super clear (probably because I can't quite tell what my "red" is either), but I don't have a better or more clear method yet.

I do wonder, could the color of your lips be your red? What do you think. Is your finger the same color as your lips when you pinch it? (I haven't tried this in a mirror yet, but I kind of doubt it -- otherwise, why wouldn't he just say to use the color of your lips?)

Update: I figured out why lips are a bad choice. They're too many colors. In my bathroom mirror, I can see at least four rather distinct shades of red in my lips -- then if I press them, or smile, many more. My finger, when pinched, is pretty much one color. It's in between all the shades of my lips.

In which I pretend to be a style blogger

Since this site has been sorely neglected for over two years now, I figure you won't mind if I update with random things.  It's never really had a theme anyway, it's just more of a journal.  (And I apologize for the blabbery style tonight -- we've been listening to Anne of Green Gables audiobook, and I'm in blabber mode, I guess.)

A little history:  Almost two years ago, in a bout of insanity, I entered a contest.  It was a contest to design and sew a dress with shirring.  Nothing too difficult or too fancy.  I didn't win or anything, but somehow got hooked on the process.  Before long, I remade that gown into a skirt and entered another contest, and more and more.  And my favorite. I even placed in one.  In retrospect, I probably got carried away.

About that time, I decided that designing and sewing clothes was so much fun that I should really start sewing some for myself.  Of course that included designing clothes for myself too.  Which got me started thinking about what in the world looked good on me, and how I could design clothes that flattered me, and such.

I don't remember ever thinking about fashion, what colors and styles suited me, and designing for my body before recently.  But I started up the learning curve.  I learned that my body type is an inverted triangle, even though I always thought I had narrow shoulders (turns out that I have a big bust - never thought that either - and it's mostly bust that makes me the inverted triangle).  I have a full tummy, no surprise there - I've had five kids.  I thought I was probably a "fall" as far as colors, but never could really figure that out.

About a year ago, I picked up came across this book at Barnes and Noble while browsing.  I perused it, and liked it.  Zyla makes the claim that colors which look best on a person are the exact ones found in their coloring.  Essentially, each person has eight best colors:

• The color of the ring around their eye, 
• the color of their blush (or their finger when pinched), 
• the color of their darkest vein in their wrist, 
• the color of their darkest hair, 
• the color of their lightest hair, 
• the darkest color in their eyes (not counting the ring), 
• the lightest color in their eyes, 
• and a skin-tone type color that blends their skin tones

Using these colors, and some personality traits, he gives you a season (I think he would probably place me as a "antique winter", if I remember the name of it right), and recommends even styles for you to wear.

Rebecca recently read his book, and reviewed it, then responded to questions here.  I really liked her review, and am giving more consideration to his idea that all your best colors are found in your natural coloring.

But, here's the problem.  Most of my colors are brown.  Now don't get me wrong, I like brown.  And I like the way that I look in brown.  But it doesn't feel very professional, for one, and well, I like more variety than just brown brown brown.

Here's a couple of pictures.  My hair is brown, but has henna in it, making it sort of orange-y, purple-y brownish.  After it fades, it looks almost natural, and I like the color that it would be if it were naturally the color that henna sort of makes it.  (Wow, how's that for a confusing sentance!).  What I'm saying is, I like auburn hair, and henna makes my hair almost auburn.  And it's cheap.  So sometimes I henna my hair.  It's henna'd right now, so it looks like this:

The flower in my hair is about the color of my veins -- somewhere near navy and indigo, but muted and softer than both.  The flower is made out of sheer curtains, and I like it.  Isn't it cute?  (They're so easy to make!).

And here's my eye.  It's surprisingly difficult to get a good picture of an eye.  The colors in my eye range from orangy-brown to rich chocolate brown, and the ring around it is charcoal.

If it weren't bedtime, I'd post a table of my colors. Perhaps tomorrow.

My questions for the blogosphere, who is not nearly as obsessed with my colors as I am, I know, are first: do I look like a winter? I'm having a hard time being a winter - it seems so harsh - yet when I read that section of the book, I was really convinced of it. And my colors are pretty much all dark. Hmm....

And secondly, I really like to wear green. I'm hoping to find a green that will go will with my colors, and if I post my colors (in html), perhaps it'll be easy to see what greens go with them, or perhaps you can make suggestions.

So that's it for tonight.

I have things I've made, by the way, to post. I just gotta get some pictures taken. And I want to tell you about my new working out thing. It's nice, and I'm getting stronger. I can even do push ups now.

Mulberries are ripe!

Can you guess what we did this morning?