Red, the most emotive of colours. Everyone knows what red stands for, it's danger, passion, anger and fire. It's in the flags of countless countries, representing blood spilled in ancient wars. And yet it's also the colour of love and passion.
Visually it's the colour that jumps out at us most, because of its longest wavelength and its position at the end of the spectrum. It is the colour that raises the pulse and energises us most. It's considered lucky in China and pure in India. The red front door and the red dress speak volumes about their owners. Look at me. Look.
Thinking about red, and writing this post, has made me wonder whether I need a little red in my life. I can't think of any in fact. It's a colour I've avoided without even realising it. But a little something that wakes my subconscious, speeds up my metabolism, energises my thought process, it might be just what I need. I've been wondering where it should come from. It's not an easy colour to live with, or to drop into the middle of a room. Maybe a picture, maybe a scarf. A few squares of a quilt or a beaded bracelet. Just a taste to nudge my brain in the right direction.
Tell me, is there red in your life? Do you find it energising and inspiring? I'd love to know.
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Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts, just click on the links below:
What is The Colour Collaborative?
All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and
share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of
them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its
parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own
monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our
ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.
We have a lot of red in our lounge - to me red is warmth and cosy and comfortable xx
ReplyDeleteI love red and you'll find it in abundance in our house, and my wardrobe, too. Not in your face like, but here and there. There are so many shades or red, I particularly love raspberry red, leaning towards pink. The shade of my Caran d'Ache red colouring pencil (1282) is a particularly soothing red. I don't like the rosacea acne red on my face so much. Try a red and white stripey T-shirt, a good way to introduce red into your life. xx
ReplyDeleteI love red too and there is plenty of it in my wardrobe including a red coat and shoes!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images of red in your collage dear C.J. I don't have a lot of red in my life, a three quarter length coat, a small decorative box, a lipstick, a nail lacquer and a beaded bracelet. I do like the warmth of the colour.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
Wonderful photos. I love that red front door, it really stands out because there's no other colours beside it. I used to avoid red but it's one of my favourite colour now, not that I wear much of it actually, I must make more of an effort.
ReplyDeleteRed was the colour that was lacking in my annual bed last year. I am trying to remedy that this year
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I also seem to avoid red. Don't know why. Maybe I should try to add it somehow into my life.
ReplyDeleteIf someone had asked me what colour CJ is, I would say sea-green. Certainly not red. But a red apple placed on your kitchen table might highlight your tranquillity.
ReplyDeleteThe aqua-blue door in your photo is particularly beautiful, with the leaves that look a slightly pinkish red on my screen. That's the one you'd live behind, if any.
I am now wondering if I have been subconsciously avoiding red all this time! It's such a strong statement of a colour, isn't it, I'm never sure if I can pull it off. But I am not afraid of wearing or decorating with bright green or yellow though, so it's not as if I shy away from colour, but there's something about red which makes me wary.
ReplyDeleteYour collage is beautiful by the way. xx
Beautiful red photos. I like little bits of red but find too much of it slightly overpowering. I am quite partial to bright red woolly tights though! Have a great weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteOh yes, red features in my life but I think it is a colour to be cautious with. I have plenty of pops over it here and there though!
ReplyDeleteS x
I have a red cardi. I wear it when I need to, if that makes sense? xx
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of red to be found in a garden including apples, radishes, roses and tomatoes. I did own a red Mini once. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteI think you'd look really nice in red. Do you ever wear red accessories, like scarves or hats? I have a floaty cotton scarf, red with white dots, which perks up a lot of outfits. I don't seek out red things much, but I do like a little now and then. I really enjoyed your collage in this post; the red things are really interesting taken together like this.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of red as a "favorite" color of mine, but I noticed recently that I DO have a lot of it. I have a red purse. DH drives a red car. And, because our college school colors include red/maroon --- we WEAR a lot of red.
ReplyDeleteRed scarves and shoes here, and the leather of our living room sofa and chairs is sanguine red, aka blood, though more dried than fresh arterial ;o)
ReplyDeleteI love red ! and always have. I just opened a quilt shop in Richland, Iowa USA and I am on Etsy www.etsy.com/theredhenshop and the door to come in is painted a beautiful deep red to match my red hen. When my husband and I first moved to Iowa decades ago and bought an old farmhouse I wanted to paint the door fire engine red, he was not thrilled with this idea but came home one day and it was painted and grew to like it as much as I did. Such energy! With your beautiful coloring you would look lovely in it! thank you for such a lovely post!
ReplyDeleteI think you should get red shoes. I should like to have red shoes. and apparently I'm too old according to the teenager girl. so I think a campaign to get all mums to wear red shoes should be started x or wellies. that would work too x
ReplyDeleteI am a late-comer to the colour red. I don't think I have ever had anything red in my wardrobe but this is because when I was younger my hair was bright red and I was always told red would not suit me. I now have a few splashes of red around the house - a red lampshade, a touch of red in some cushions and a rug. I think I am much more comfortable with soft muted colours. Maybe that says something about my personality!
ReplyDeleteI love red! I have red shoes, a red car, red in almost everything. Now I am wishing to pain out door red. :-) I think you should start with a bit of red in your life.. I think you'll love it. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteI am very drawn to red in nature and in food but not in clothes or home ware etc, I think it just seems too confident colour for me! But maybe I should dare to dabble in red this summer, and see how it works out! :) Katie x
ReplyDeletehttp://www.long-may-she-rain.blogspot.co.uk/
Red is such a warm, rich colour, I do like it, wear it and decorate with it, great photos and post :)
ReplyDeleteI love red and wear it often summer and winter: a red t-shirt with a fine ecru stripe in summer and a red merino wool cardi in winter are my favourites. I remember wearing red dresses to work and feeing fabulous. Photos of when my children were small show they wore a lot of red too. At home we have raspberry red curtains in the sitting room, a bit faded now as they are 23 years old, and we have lots of rugs which all have red in them to a greater or lesser degree, oh and the sofa in my work room has red velvet cushions. In the garden I have a crimson red camellia flowering behind a red-leaved acer and I adore red roses (I have Rosa Fragrant Cloud at the allotment specifically for cutting and it smells divine too) and red tulips (not bacon and egg streaky tulips but proper colour-saturated tulips like Jan de Reus. And food too: rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes and raspberries, lollo rosso leaves, all glorious mouth-watering shades of red. Yup, I love red.
ReplyDeleteI love your collage. You make red fun and approachable. I like red as an accent yeah. I had a pair of chinese style mary janes as a kid I loved. I wore them with denim and black pants. I recently donated a red cardigan that had begun to fade and therefore lost it's charm. I wore it with denim, black and gray and not I just wear red in my hair/pony tail bands I suppose. I have a dress with small red cherries on it, but it is fading too. Hmm, it's been interesting contemplating red with you :)
ReplyDeleteSome lovely images - I love a bit of red (cardigans and shoes, mainly) and do wear it quite a lot, but definitely have to be in the right mood for it. I think it can be incredibly energising and motivating. Raspberry/cherry reds are my favourites.
ReplyDeleteCathy x
Yep it definitely is one of those colors that screams look at me but boy is it worth it in your photos!! Just look at that goodness up there! Wishing you a lovely weekend with your crew my friend! Nicole xoxo
ReplyDeleteRed has been my default favourite colour for years. although it's getting harder to have just one favourite. I used to have red as an accent wall in my living room, with my (red) desk tucked into a corner by the wall. I found that I was getting irritated really quickly so overpainted the wall with a nice neutral stone colour. Mood problem solved. Now I keep it as an accent colour in my life (sofa, lamp, red spotty tablecloth). I'm most comfortable wearing denim/grey/cream but love my red Converse pumps for summer - just wish I could wear red lipstick but that would be far too bold! Good post, CJ - wishing you a lovely weekend! (Get your tomatoes in, it's going to rain!) Caro xx
ReplyDeleteRed usually pops up in our house in the form of chillies - my hubby loves them so they feature quite heavily on the windowsill, in the greenhouse and in our cooking (well in his cooking more than mine, I can't take too much heat). I love my one and only piece of red clothing, a cardi that jazzes up my somewhat bland wardrobe, but I don't think I could wear any more than that. Have a great weekend CJ. Jane xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post! I've bought clothes in red in the past but avoid wearing them because they do seem to say 'look at me!' so more often than not they never get worn! I have red poppies my garden, my favourite flower. I think they wear the colour better than I do. ;)
ReplyDeleteJess x
Similar avoidance (probably deliberate in my case) of red here. In fact, I've only spotted it on the book shelves and the kitchen radio (a gift from the mister and not the the colour I'd dropped hints about).
ReplyDeleteLove your collage. You know I have a Thing for collages...
ReplyDeleteAnyway. I like red in very small doses too. Maybe painting my toenails scarlet or wearing a small pair of earrings. Although I wouldn't say no to a pair of bright red Saltwater sandals. Oh, and my Hunter wellies are red too.
In the house there are one or two little details; my Dala horse and a set of Russian dolls. It's a very folky colour isn't it? Folky and festive.
Anyway, hope you're having a good weekend thus far :)
S x
I like red but I don't wear it very often. I think you would look good in red, a darkish cherry red colour.
ReplyDeleteI did buy a pair of bright red patent pumps but I felt far too conspicuous in them. And they used to squeak when I walked like they were screaming for attention! They had to go after a couple of wears. xx
I just like this:)
ReplyDelete