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Every Friday I like to blog about people, places and things that inspire me to create. Remember the old Disney intro song, "The world is a carousel of colour!" ? Although I did go on a bit of a red rant a while back, I must confess that one of my absolute favourite colours is turquoise. I've never really noticed until my daughter and her friend pointed it out to me one day many years ago. Apparently it was so evident that I was the brunt of jokes! It goes back to an ambitious project to recover a corner sectional sofa I got for free from friends. It had been destroyed by their cats but I had been searching for a sectional and this one fit perfectly for my needs. I had come across a fabric sale of faux leather (vinyl) in a pastel turquoise. Once again I was off on a new adventure discovering the intricacies of upholstery work. Over time my interest in that colour faded as I often get distracted by some other new project (squirrel!).
Fast forward to a new house a new partner and a new life. My love for turquoise was revived partly because I saw the Caribbean Sea for the first time during my first ever visit to Cuba. I was inspired! For those of you who have only seen travel photos I can assure you that that colour is not photoshopped. It is real and it is mesmerizing! So rich and blue-green! Sigh! I took many photos to bring home with me to try to paint at a later date which will be fodder for another post!
That was 5 years ago! It sure takes me a while to get around to things but such is the creative mind, constantly distracted by some new trinket, bling-bling, or idea that has me running into so many directions I make myself dizzy! I also believe that when the time is right, the tools for the project magically begin to appear, usually in threes, and so they did....
Though my daughter and her friend would tease me about my colour choices, it so happened that she painted an entire wall in turquoise and boy if you want to rub something back into someone's face, that was the time. But instead I was more honoured than anything else. Like mother like daughter! She gladly let me have that leftover paint I coveted! For the Cuba trip, I had sewed myself a caftan with a lovely Moroccan pattern in shades of turquoise with plenty leftover. A wicker rocking chair in bad need of repainting came into my possession and there you have the three ingredients that set my heart racing. The turquoise binge had begun!
Fast forward to a new house a new partner and a new life. My love for turquoise was revived partly because I saw the Caribbean Sea for the first time during my first ever visit to Cuba. I was inspired! For those of you who have only seen travel photos I can assure you that that colour is not photoshopped. It is real and it is mesmerizing! So rich and blue-green! Sigh! I took many photos to bring home with me to try to paint at a later date which will be fodder for another post!
That was 5 years ago! It sure takes me a while to get around to things but such is the creative mind, constantly distracted by some new trinket, bling-bling, or idea that has me running into so many directions I make myself dizzy! I also believe that when the time is right, the tools for the project magically begin to appear, usually in threes, and so they did....
Though my daughter and her friend would tease me about my colour choices, it so happened that she painted an entire wall in turquoise and boy if you want to rub something back into someone's face, that was the time. But instead I was more honoured than anything else. Like mother like daughter! She gladly let me have that leftover paint I coveted! For the Cuba trip, I had sewed myself a caftan with a lovely Moroccan pattern in shades of turquoise with plenty leftover. A wicker rocking chair in bad need of repainting came into my possession and there you have the three ingredients that set my heart racing. The turquoise binge had begun!
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The wicker chair was in need of a paint job mainly due to age and flaking white paint making a mess wherever I placed it. It had remained in the barn until I could decide on a colour. It took longer than expected and was tedious just making sure every spec of white was covered. On hindsight, I should have used an electric spray gun.
As you can see I found the perfect turquoise planters and had just enough paint left to redo a sage green "SIMPLIFY" sign that I just love. It's become my mantra as I go through our home decluttering and discarding long forgotten items that we've hoarded over the years.
I like decorating the house in a unified colour to make it easier to borrow items from other rooms as well as creating a less busy decor. The kitchen was next! Being glass and black wrought iron, it was a simple matter of making cushions and a matching table cloth. Although I can be quite careful and detailed in my art, I tend to cut corners when it comes to sewing as you may noticed the lack of a hem on the tablecloth (blushing here!). One of these days......
I like decorating the house in a unified colour to make it easier to borrow items from other rooms as well as creating a less busy decor. The kitchen was next! Being glass and black wrought iron, it was a simple matter of making cushions and a matching table cloth. Although I can be quite careful and detailed in my art, I tend to cut corners when it comes to sewing as you may noticed the lack of a hem on the tablecloth (blushing here!). One of these days......
Our bathroom was actually the first place to go turquoise a while back. Our photos from Cuba were framed along with a painting I bought and a Caribbean theme evolved. It was just a matter of finding turquoise accessories which seem to abound in bathroom decor!
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I don't think I'll tire of it anytime soon. I find the bright colours make winter more tolerable.
With Love,
Rolande
With Love,
Rolande
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