Colors From Words

This body of work is focused on color. Language is the source of the color. The color words are from “A Dictionary of Colour” by Ian Paterson. They are terms that are seldom used, oddball in their nature, yet capture time and sensation, as words can.

There are no color samples in “Dictionary.” The actual colors were realized, by me, via an image search for the word. I then used a program to create the formula for that specific color in paint. I like this poetic entry point, combined with an idiosyncratic system, plucking words from a dictionary, as a way to investigate color. The monochromatic paintings present the substance of paint, its variation in opaque to sheer, stubble and smooth, giving permission to ponder. This body of work is in keeping with my previous conceptually driven explorations of color yet offers a new strain of exploration, transposing words to color. The paintings are crude, on purpose, showing their failure, expressing time and adjustments.