Why Choose Colour ?

Colour is all around us; it is an intrinsic part of life that we may take for granted until we attempt our daily colour choices. What shirt to wear? What coloured shoes? A new toothbrush!  A new car! What colour will I choose?

I have always loved colour, I have painted, cooked, eaten, read and studied colour in textiles, cooking, design, art and architecture. 

I haven’t however had the opportunity or good fortune to work with colour colour design for long or to run my own colour business  due to having a large family and the all - encompassing nature of raising children and involvement in a family business.

I did however take the opportunity when my youngest son went to high school to focus on learning more about colour and being creative which led me to the International School of Colour and Design in Sydney. I thrived in this environment for three years among an enthusiastic and inspiring group of people with a like-minded interest in colour and design

I thrived in this learning environment for three years among an enthusiastic and inspiring group of people with a like-minded interest in colour and design.

I came away from my colour study with three diplomas and an 'Award for Excellence in Visual Arts'. I acquired a wide range of skills from artistic abilities, knowledge of colour theory and psychology, colour palette design, colour-mixing techniques to the broader field of styling, interior design, surface design and colour consulting for architectural developments and real estate.  As often happens in life I was unable at that time to pursue my own colour design business and went off to work in business management in a large public company in Sydney, colour still remaining my true passion and way of viewing the world.

The launch of the  ‘Tickled Pink - Colour Design’   is a new opportunity for me to combine the skills I have learnt over the past ten years in management, with my underlying passion for colour and design.  My involvement in the blogging platform has also provided me with a sort after role in the public sphere that as Jill Walker- Rettburg describes as an opportunity to not only articulate and learn but allow our internal self to be more predominant (  Walker - Rettburg, 2008 )

My aim is to expand my online writing from Kitchen Heirlooms  to  ‘Tickled Pink -Colour Design  a long-held dream and aspiration that I envisage being engaging, thought provoking and informative.
Join me next time for an Introduction to Colour In Web Design  Cheers  Diyu

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

(With the exception of the Avatar and Parrots Image)

© The Avatar image is copyright to Ramneek Narang All Rights Reserved 2013

© The Parrot  image is copyright to Mike Jones All Rights Reserved 2013

                            Many thanks to Ramneek Narang, Mocha UK and Mike Jones for the images on this post.

       

       

The Blue Bird

I spent the last week or so on twitter and being visually minded my first task was to upload and link photos from Pinterest and my blog then to update my profile. I then tweeted, retweeted, made some mistakes, organised my followings and added my avatar.

So, what did I think?

My experience has been one of intrigue followed by a sense of fun that would be easy to turn into obsession. Scrolling through and sorting the promoters from the real deal I found an eclectic assortment of items to read, view, save and comment on.

I had not used the hashtag before and after reading an article by academic danah boyd and discussing twitter with communications students I concluded that I am not alone in this or in not knowing exactly the correct way to use it. There appears to be a tendency not to bother with hashtags and varied often conflicting use of retweeting techniques abound (boyd, Golder and Lotan, 2010). I also found that although twitter is popular and very wide-spread I have yet to find one real person in my life who is using it as most of my immediate circle prefer Instagram. I heard from close family and friends that twitter was considered to be for old people and marketers and no longer cutting-edge !

Not to be distracted from my task I persevered and each day have added new followers from 1 to a 13 people in a week so I considered this a promising start.

My topics were colour and design so I added the # tag to Colour, colour design, colour in web design and I also looked for technology, #web design, #new media, #writing, #creativity and #art. Although I observed that many posts I read I had seen via blog feeds or were redirected from Pinterest and facebook. I came across quite unique charity drives such as ‘own your own colour’ for UNICEF .

Diyu Anand ‏@diyu1088 May

Tickled Pink #own a colour# a fun way to promote a great worthy cause http://www.ownacolour.com/share/f91e9d 

I have kept fairly minimal in my #tags and retweets usually by just adding a few words and deleting unnecessary text. I am according to danah boyd fairly typical of a twitter   user in that I often retweet to amplify or spread tweets to new audiences, to make my presence as a listener visible, to publicly agree with someone or to validate by drawing attention to an article.  Also I may retweet to save a tweet, to   support someone or purely for self gain to find followers (boyd, Golder and Lotan, 2010). An example of highlighting a favourite blog or supporting someone else is this tweet for Design Seeds.

Diyu Anand ‏@diyu108

8 May

Another design seed# colourscheme # to adapt to web designcolours # http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/summer-citrus

My conclusion is that it is a fun way to keep up to date quickly on topics that are of interest, an opportunity to comment on just about anything and a fabulous way to while away time if you need to and be engrossed in uncovering new interests.  Even without personally knowing my followers there is a definite sense of shared value and engagement. A feeling develops of wanting to keep people in the loop to highlight what you are uncovering. The nature of the tweets being so short is, that the topic stands alone and does not require much input which is an added advantage and helps to make it fast and diverse in nature. Since linking twitter to my blog along with other social media platforms I have had 800 hits to Tickled Pink over the last month, so the value speaks for itself.

Join me in my next post as I uncover from the experts some great tips on tweeting. Cheers Diyu

Red Rag To A Bull As Authorities Turn Beige

In response to

http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/about-town/transperth-not-so-tickled-pink-over-perth-color-run-20130214-2efmp.html
Colour has been the hot topic of the week across the Nation as thousands enjoy the Swisse Colour Run in Perth. Over east in Sydney the colourful footpath rainbows are being chalked up in local communities as protest agaisnt the removal of the Darlinghurst Rainbow crossing. 

Yes colour colour is everywhere in our news, yet not everyone is bright eyed and bushy tailed with the colour revolution. Local authorities are being party poopers about the recent colour extravaganza and rapidly washing the chalk drawings off.

Whilst a Perth bus company is refusing to allow travellers from the Colour Run to hop on the bus unless they wash or change their clothes first.

I saw red when I heard this!  Do we stop landscape gardeners, builders and painters from travelling on the bus? What is next I ask ? An inspection on boarding public transport perhaps,  to deem if we are suitably dressed and clean enough or perhaps they could keep the plastic covers on the seats as my Aunty Beryl does!

Overall these two stories make for a very beige week and got me thinking about when it was that the world got so dour and we couldn’t enjoy fun. More and more we see that the Government and corporate business think that there is only one agenda –theirs! Are we all to feel forever like delinquent teenagers, that every time some delightful diversion from day to day life comes along; a chance to break the boundaries of our routines and have fun, it is crushed by the oldies?

What ever happened to that sense of exhilaration at seeing people enjoy life? Is a bit of free expression with chalk drawn on the footpath or road such a bad thing?

Is this a sign of things to come? Is fun and spontaneity in our community a thing of the past and are we doomed to a life of control and measured moments of distraction.

I fear not, as rather than dimming our colour sense the effect has brightened it and added an unforseen political hue.  The coloured rainbows have gone viral on social media and are popping up across the world. So rather than stopping the enthusiasm its spreading like wild-fire. I for one think it’s a win agaisnt the beigist’s.

Ever since The Wizard of Oz the rainbow  has come to symbolise the fulfilment of dreams and search for the intangible pot of gold. In more recent times it is a familiar symbol for human rights, equality and peace by the gay and lesbian community. Whether you appeal to the original idea of the rainbow or want to stand up to support the gay community lets get together and have a colour spree.

Life is short and enough distressing events occur daily that we can’t turn a blind eye to a bit of colourful fun and enjoyment even if we end up a bit dirty…it will wash off after all.

Katharine Hepburn "I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun"

1907 -2003

 "With all the opportunities I had, I could have done more.And if I'd done more, I could have been quite remarkable"

Katharine Hepburn

I came across this image and thought I'd share a few images and quotes of Katharine Hepburn as a reminder of a remarkable and inspiring women.Her first name is often misspelled as Katherine, it is actually spelled Katharine with a second A. She was known for correcting those who spelled it wrong.

Admired by millions, glamorous, witty, a silver screen legend, fashion icon, forthright and outspoken and full of class.  The intersection of East 49th Street and Second Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City was renamed "Katharine Hepburn Place" shortly after her passing in 2003 . Hepburn lived in a brownstone - 244 East 49th Street which is close to the intersection. 

I have always been captivated by Katharine Hepburn in her films and fascinating life as she was was extraordinary in so many ways.

I think of her as a strong women ahead of her time, eccentric, intelligent yet beautiful and appealing throughout her life and into old age.

I love her movies and unusual voice and still today I'm inspired by her dazzling  career and eccentric style.
She was one of the few great stars in Hollywood who made no attempt to sugarcoat her true personality for anyone, a personality that was blunt and feisty with natural red hair who proudly did all her own stunts because the stunt woman never stood up straight enough.

She was known for being an avid golfer, tennis player, and swimmer and also known for taking cold showers.

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get- only with what you are expecting to give- which is everything" 

Katharine Hepburn

 " As an actress, she's a joy to work with. She's in there trying every minute.

There isn't anything passive about her; she "gives" And as a person, she's real"

Cary Grant

                                 "Time with her was more than time well spent.
            A little bit with her was worth days and weeks and months with somebody else"
                                                               Lauren Bacall

Katharine Hepburn 

                                        

"There is nothing phony about her...She's really fascinating with a tremendous off-beat kind of sex appeal which throws out a challenge that not any hunk of a man can take up"

Humphrey Bogart

Katharine Hepburn is one of only five thespians to be nominated for acting honors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences over five decades: (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s). Only Laurence Olivier (1930s-1970s), Paul Newman (1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s) and Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep(1970s-2010s) have turned the trick.

Her performance as "Eleanor of Aquitaine" in The Lion in Winter (1968) is ranked #13 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Her performance as "Tracy Lord" in The Philadelphia Story (1940) is ranked #54 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

                                                       

                         " I never realised until lately that women were supposed to be the inferior sex"

           pocket101.wordpress.com

The Philadephia Story

                   
                                 











  



The average Hollywood film star's ambition is to be admired by an American, courted by an Italian, married to an Englishman, and have a French boyfriend"
Katharine Hepburn

the100.ru

"Kate is the most inspiring person I have ever met.....( she has) intelligence that has to do with beauty, grace, and
just dammed good sense" George Stevens

"You want me to describe the inexplicable, that makes people laugh and cry? .. And I have no idea of what to do, until you forget what a replica - and only then to know that I am on stage. Spencer has always told me: "Learn the replica - and more!" Is also considered, and Larry Olivier, and John Gilgud. Of all the talents of the game is the last place. Life - that′s what is important. Birth, Love, Pain. And then death. A game - it is the expectation of cake with custard. That′s it. "

                                  Henry Fonda with Katharine Hepburn On Golden Pond

In 1999 Katharine Hepburn was recognized as the most legendary American film actress with her record number of oscars  - 12
                           
Photos and quotes available from
"Katharine Hepburn
A Life In Pictures"
Pierre - Henri Verlhac

http://biographyzone.com/katharine-hepburn-biography
the 100.ru
http://www.imdb.com/