COLOUR ME IN (FROM THE OUTSIDE)

I am not colour blind. I would describe me as colour co-ordinated blind though. I just don’t get why some colours go with other colours. Can’t see it. I know a little physics which I understand to be a science thus its real. So, know about colours of rainbows and emitting from prisms (bow to Dark Side of the Moon). But when it comes to personal choice why is blue complimentary of red? Why do some colours clashes yet I can’t see that. Red and orange and green and black, who cares. Some say you can’t put too much colour together and need to break it up with greys. Boring, boring, boring!

I have just helped hang some paintings for an exhibition and boy oh boy was I on a steep learning curve. I would have placed pictures in a right mix up without any acknowledgement to design or themes or whatever. Just bang them up and walk away. I think the viewers would enjoy a bit of abrasive reaction and comment accordingly. Heaven, forbid we get a lorry load of apathy from exhibition attendees!

I made a lot of glass thistles for an exhibition and coloured them every colour under the sun except the colours that represented nature. After all I want to create and not recreate! I made thistles with red leaves yellow tops and white balls. Someone asked me why I don’t make them more natural looking. I answered rudely ( I was always told never answer a question with a question), why? And so, it goes on. All this matching up.

Same with socks. What’s the great thing about a matching pair. I have two feet which require two socks and if you wear off socks often enough then they become a pair and wearing so called matching socks seems odd. Well, it does to me. In fact, I go out of my way to search my drawers for unmatched socks.

I hate it when customers ask me to make something for them to match their décor. So, they have beige curtains, yellow carpets, and a blue sofa. Big deal! What goes with that? Well, it’s obvious its nothing other than clear glass. That goes with everything.

I get the concept that you can’t fit a 3-inch diameter metal pipe in a two-inch diameter hole but why can’t you mix up numbers like 5 and six? Does everything have to be uniform and fit in? I mean life is the complete opposite. Nothing in life for us mere humans’ fits. How many couples have we all seen that just look ill at ease with each other? A tall person falls in love with a short person, and we accept it. But make two so called matching candle holders and if they are even just a millimetre different then all Hell lets lose.

I used to make a glass double candle holder which by definition held two candles. I used to make the candle holders which shared the same glass base, the same height. I could never get it perfect. Every time, one holder was slightly higher or lower than the other. So, I decided to give up trying to match two pieces of glass by making the same height and make then different sizes. They looked better and sold well.

I make one off glass sculptures so how can I fit my glass into the rest of the World? Doesn’t make sense. Shapes and meanings of stuff interest me and I would rather have a house full of meaningful objects than live in a designer led, magazine looking, showroom that I would be scared to breathe in. I put pictures on the walls where there is space not where they fit in and compliment my other pictures. I often dream of organising an exhibition where all the paintings were hung back to front so all anyone could see was the string and back of canvases!

My Father-in-Law used to write letters to various people including me and loved mixing up upper- and lower-case characters. I hAVe followed hIs exAmPles at TimEs WhIcH HaS CoNfUsed THE postman!

I suppose we all want to live in a nice place with nice things but at the same time we want to be comfortable with what we’ve got. If its not nice and well designed, then we just have to redefine the word “compatible!