As a designer and artist, I'm always looking at colors. And the colors can come from anywhere or anything. You might find it amusing from where some of my inspiration comes when working on Dunitz & Company designs.
Some of you may know that I took a lovely vacation for two weeks, not too long ago, mostly spent in the north of Spain. It was so fun discovering locations I'd never been. The art, architecture and food did not disappoint. Maybe the food was just a little bit too inspiring. Ha. Here are a few pics that boast excellent colors. In no particular order, here are a few pics from my trip that give me pause for thought.
The art museum in Oviedo was absolutely amazing. And huge, I might add. It was absolutely impossible to see and digest it in it's entirety. You'd need days, we didn't have. This portrait by Luis Pardo definitely inspired me. I adore the way he used green to communicate the stubble for his mustache and beard. For me this is such an excellent combination of colors. Black, Green, Beige & Grey.
I'm addicted to sugar. This translates my having eaten A LOT of desserts on my vacation. Yum. The first cookies I ate on my vacation came from this batch. I'm sure it's the colors that spoke to me first. Brown, Red & Beige.
On our last day of Spain we traipsed through several parks including the
Parque de El Retiro. This park was enormous and was very close to the
backside of the also enormous Prado Museum. It seems odd to travel all
the way to Spain for the "change in leaves." As it turned out, that is
what we experienced. Every color in the earthy rainbow. Green, Gold,
Brown & Rust.
Discovering Santander was fantastic. For most tourists, this city of approximately 170,000 is definitely off the beaten path. It was lovely strolling along the coastline and taking in so much beauty. Randomly I looked left, when most people would be looking right - right at the water. What I discovered was a huge vehicle for recycling. I actually watched a woman carefully dumping things in the glass section, then the paper section, then the old clothing section and other sections. Yes to the people of Spain's efforts to taking care of the environment. And check out the various shades of green. Blue Green, Lime Green, Sea-foam Green, Yellow-Green! Nice for Spring jewelry, don't you think?
Exploring Basque Territory was fascinating. I can see why the rich and famous adore San Sebastian. It's a gorgeous resort. But gee whiz, I sure was attracted to Bilbao which was a bit more gritty. The Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry is a site to be seen. For jewelry color combinations, random painted buildings in Bilbao seemed a bit more inspirational. Here's a cool stretch of buildings with excellent colors. Beige, Pink, Blue & Garnet Red.
If you follow my
personal Instagram, you probably know I'm a nut for street art. I'm often inspired by the color choices of other artists. This random drawing on a store gate is no exception. This was snapped in Madrid. Pinky-Beige, Ruddy Brown & Sea-foam-esque Blue. OK - that was a bit specific in my description of color. This piece of art wasn't created with just any shade of blue or brown!
In my past, I've been accused of being too monochromatic and having a love of neutral colors. This has never changed. I was traveling with a friend and when we couldn't choose which giant cream filled cookie we wanted to share, we opted for one of each. Chocolate Brown, Pale Beige, Snow White.
When in Spain, do as the Spanish do. Eat lots and lots of tapas. And it varies from city to city. Endless tapas. And often these beautiful, small pieces of art are so easy on the eyes, you hardly want to sink your teeth into them. Or perhaps you do! Yes I love anchovies and they are lovely in color. Browns, Salmon, Grass Green, Olive Green, Yellow. (I'm inclined to not add the white white of goat cheese to my color combos!)
This is all you get from me today on my honing in on colors. But you get the gist. I can't encourage you enough to pause and check out the artistry and color of EVERYTHING! Want to know what will inspire some of our new color combinations for the next season of
Dunitz & Company jewelry? It might be lodged in one of the photos shared here. -ND
Discovering Santander was fantastic. For most tourists, this city of approximately 170,000 is definitely off the beaten path. It was lovely strolling along the coastline and taking in so much beauty. Randomly I looked left, when most people would be looking right - right at the water. What I discovered was a huge vehicle for recycling. I actually watched a woman carefully dumping things in the glass section, then the paper section, then the old clothing section and other sections. Yes to the people of Spain's efforts to taking care of the environment. And check out the various shades of green. Blue Green, Lime Green, Sea-foam Green, Yellow-Green! Nice for Spring jewelry, don't you think?
