Blue…

January 31, 2020#amwriting, #excitingauthors, #Indiewriting, #pruebatten, Blue, Prue Batten4 Comments

Blue and myself are soulmates.

Blue has a place in every room of my home. I wear blue. The same sweater might be selling in every colour but I always reach for blue.

For me, blue has meant many things – it is the colour of the Virgin’s robes in classic art,

 

…it is the pigment made from lapis lazuli, a stone that was mined in Korasan (Afghanistan) in the medieval era.

The pigment was then used to create great depth in magnificent illuminated manuscripts, and Islamic and Hindu miniatures. It is the colour of one of the most beautiful mosques in the world…

…of Islamic tiles

…of Delft wear, of porcelain from China. It is the colour of the Ceylon sapphire, the gem my mother and I loved and which she wore as a ring and on her passing, is now a beautiful pendant.

 

It’s the colour of my brother’s and my first yacht. My own engagement ring – also a Ceylon sapphire and which was stolen in a house burglary.

And finally, and never least, blue in its million shades, is the colour of my beloved ocean.

This year, the doyen of all things coloured, the Pantone Company, has nominated Classic Blue as colour of the year.

They say: ‘A timeless and enduring blue hue … is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, (highlighting) our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era. Imprinted in our psyches as a restful colour, Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquillity to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser like clarity, (it) re-centres our thoughts. A reflective blue tone, Classic Blue fosters resilience.’

Goodness! That a colour can do so much for one! Do I now stop daily meditation? Do I resist the urge for solitude? All on the assumption that if Classic Blue surrounds me, that is all I need?

 

I read a fascinating article positing the idea that in ancient culture, there was no word for blue. Homer talked of a wine-red sea. I can only imagine it must surely have been dawn or dusk. I also thought how tragic it must have been not to have that word for blue. How lacking…

Mind you, they would never have missed what they didn’t have.

But so important is blue to me that I have created a Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.dk/pruebatten/a-little-blue/. Not only that, if I can change a piece of embroidery to incorporate any shade of blue then I feel an immense calm spread over me as I stitch. (so maybe Pantone’s lofty description is on the money)

I also remembering loving Nancy Bilyeau’s book The Blue (in fact it was the cover which drew my eyes in the first instance!), a fascinating historical fiction about the secret war between Derby and Sevres over the blue pigment they wished to use in their porcelain.

In fact, looking at Nancy’s website, I notice a preponderance of ‘blue’ covers. I wonder, is she a kindred spirit?

In the words of Henri Matisse: ‘A certain blue enters your soul…’

 

And in the words of John Lennon via Doug Parkinson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU2DSrY9A

‘The sun is up, the sky is blue … won’t you come out to play?’