Avoid being overwhelmed with color.

     When it comes to selecting a color for something, anything, are you decisive or do you waiver? This is a question that has fascinated me since I started teaching beading techniques 12 years ago. For me, color is a joyous form of expression. As I taught more and more ladies, I saw what a frustration selecting a color for a beading project was causing many. When faced with a wall of beads in every imaginable color, many are more than overwhelmed, some are almost panicky. I help them select colors, but they would express a lack of confidence all of the way through that process. I feel bad for them. I have always wanted to help in a way greater than just picking out the beads for one project on that one day.

     This has led to my studying color in a new way. This meant getting out side of myself and trying to see color from another point of view. I am grateful that I naturally understand color. When presented with a color wheel, I just thought, "Oh that's handy," but already understood what colors went with who. After helping hundreds of women select colors to make a jewelry piece, I'm convinced a color wheel looks like a kaleidoscope of color with no true meaning to many. Not the tool, a color wheel can be. Let's try to make some sense of that wonderful color wheel and have some fun with color.

         During the next few blog posts, I will attempt to clear the fog about color. Sharpen the relationships that each color has. Give you some tools to play with color in your life. Let's get rid of the frustration when it comes to choosing color. First pick your base color for wardrobe. This color will give you freedom from wavering. Mine is black or gray. I know how boring that sounds. The freedom of having every element in my wardrobe in black gives a confidence that you will be put together every time you leave the house. You can have two colors, but keep them in the same family or shades of the same color. You might select brown and tan. I have a friend that loves red. Some days she is dressed in nothing but red, another day there is just a splash of red, possibly her shoes or a scarf. Red is always part of her identity. Without one color to unify your wardrobe, your décor, your jewelry, you are going to continue to bounce around, undecided, every time you are put in a position of making a color choice.

    Let's continue to talk about color into the future, but for now pick your base color. This color will be your go to, when selecting other colors and to match things up. Make a commitment to this color, and we will explore this further.