More Snow, More Colors

another snowy day

That famous little furry groundhog of ours saw his shadow this year at Gobbler’s Knob and that means six more weeks of winter for our region.

I’ve been thinking about what would happen if someone dragged me out of my nice warm bed only to face my shadow on a cold and snowy day and it is a frightening thought.

Not because our shadow selves are evil or mean but self-work at 5 AM only happens after coffee.

Our shadow self, according to Psychology, is the pieces parts of ourselves that we choose to forget, ignore or abandon altogether.

These shadows are shaped by our perceptions and what we have chosen (even if it is unconsciously) as the parts of us that don’t mesh with everything else.

They are not negative pieces of us.  These shadows are just things that we have kept deep down.  They could be things that we are super proud of but are afraid to share because of the chance of ridicule.  They could be the fact that we always do things last minute which ends up in things being done less than standard.  They could just be a simple fear magnified that led us to make different life choices to avoid facing that fear.

In truth, they could be anything.  Every person’s shadow is as individual as they are.  They are a necessary part of us that provides balance to the light in us.  Even people who are purely happy have a shadow self.

This shadow self cannot be banished, healed, or waved away, it is a part of us.  What is called for here is understanding, compassion, and holding space for our shadow self.

There is deep insight that we can gain about our inner workings from working with our shadow selves but it takes a bit of work as does any good relationship.  In the end, I think all self-work is worth it if it helps me function a little better.

One of my shadow self traits is an overwhelming irrational fear response to something as simple as making a phone call.  

If my shadow self has deemed that I have waited too long to contact a friend then it becomes this source of anxiety to me that first, I have been a horrible friend since I didn’t reach out, second that this person must be upset with me now and three I ruined a beautiful friendship.

When I finally face my fear and do make the connection with my friend they are like, “well, I could have reached out too you know?”  

Well, no, that never occurred to me in all the scenarios that go through my brain that I wasn’t alone in this situation.

This is one of my biggest shadow self challenges is understanding irrational fear responses to simple things like opening a box I ordered, going back to a pattern I messed up, or simply making a call that I want to make.

My head makes up so many reasons why I should not do these things that I actually lose the reality of the situation.

It is very hard to sludge through the mire to find the kernel of truth for this response being blown out of proportion.

I find talking to friends about these fears or journaling about them brings up insights that help my perception to shift a little bit or allow me to see that I am not alone in some of these fear cycles.

And that is the biggest thing that starts to transform a fear for me is acknowledging that I am not the only one who feels this way.  There are other people who face these challenges and connecting with them has helped me to feel like part of a fear collective group than facing all these challenges alone.

When these feelings arise I try and write them down in my journal and then I work out with some inner dialogue why there is fear in this situation and what is the central core of this fear.

If I’ve talked about this before, forgive me but it is my best example of this process.

I became afraid of the mice in the basement.  It became so bad I was afraid to even step foot in there.

The fear was doing its job, keeping me safe.  The virus that mice can carry is real.  It is usually a fatal virus and it is horrible.  

My early fear cycle response made this an easy path for me to follow without even realizing it.  Just avoid the fear, and thus I am safe.  Simple.

But then I tried bringing in light and listening to the fear because as I stated the fear itself is based in reality and the fear was just trying to protect me.

Without judgment, I tried to understand and then incorporate a way that both I and the fear would be happy.

We agreed that I would wear a mask, use gloves, and clean everything with a virus-killing agent.

Once this agreement was made the fear was still with me for a while, I think it was waiting to see if I would uphold my end of the bargain, which I did.

All the while, I thanked the fear for allowing me to do this cleaning that not only uplifted me but the entire household.  It also allowed me to rid the house of the thing that the fear was well…afraid of.

As time went by the fear realized that we were true partners and it was as if a veil lifted and I felt lighter when I would go in the Basement.  The fear was gone.  Together the fear and I were co-creating a different path.

It all started with listening.

Some revelations take longer than others but with time, compassion, and understanding the answers will come.

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Last week we touched on the first six colors of the spectrum that makes up the twelve pure color families.  Today we will continue that discussion.

Here is my palette sampler of colors that were closest to the pure hues of the spectrum.

It really looks more like this:

(my yarn example above is flipped from the chart but cats prevented me from redoing it)

Here we can see that our six colors once again created new colors, the name of these colors changes based on preference.  The primary color is always listed first and then the secondary.  A primary and secondary color creates a tertiary color. 

red / purple = red-purple or magenta

blue / purple = blue-purple or violet

blue / green = blue-green or teal

yellow / green = yellow-green or chartreuse

yellow / orange = yellow-orange or amber

red / orange = red-orange or vermillion

These new additions open up a whole new world of possibilities.

When looking at complementary colors we can now choose things like magenta and chartreuse or teal and vermillion for example.

Also, our warm and cool colors have now expanded.  Magenta, amber, and vermillion are warm colors, and violet, teal, and chartreuse are cool colors.

This expansion of the colors also allows us to create new combinations.

Analogous colors are three colors side by side; they are inherently harmonious with each other.  They dominate, support and accent each other at the same time.  They are soothing and calming to the eye.

An example would be: chartreuse, green, and teal

Split complementary colors are when you go across the wheel to the complementary color and then you move one wedge over.  You can choose either of the two wedges that surround the complementary color.  These combinations add brightness and vibrancy that allows the eye to relax.  

An example of this would be:  starting with yellow, its complementary color is purple.  You can choose, violet or magenta as a compliment. 

Triadic color combinations skip every three colors from your starting color to create an equilateral triangle.  These combinations have a balanced contrast and are harmoniously balanced at the same time.

An example of this would be:  starting with red, skip 3 to yellow, skip 3 to violet

Tetradic or rectangle combinations use four colors arranged into two complementary pairs. The tetradic color scheme works best if you let one color be dominant.  You should also pay attention to the balance between warm and cool colors in your design.

An example of this would be:  vermillion and teal + amber and violet

Quartet combinations skip every two colors from your starting color to create a square.  These groupings provide balance in contrast between warm and cool colors.  In most cases, the colors will not be used in the same proportions to create a harmonious color scheme.

An example of this would be: starting with blue, skip 2 to vermillion, skip 2 to orange, skip 2 to 

chartreuse

For any of these combinations, you can choose any color on the chroma spectrum of that wedge that includes its hue, shade, tint, and tone.

Here are some other examples:

In this sample, you can see the use of tints to create
a spring palette that is pleasing to the eye. 
Magenta and chartreuse complement each other as do amber and violet.  

This is a very different take on the same pattern using a shaded palette that is very earthy and comforting to the eye.  Dark blues and greens are accented with earthy neutrals of grey, brown, and tan.

This is a cool color example of green, purples, and blues creating a serene feeling in a fabric.
This colorway invokes nature with either a seascape or a green field surrounded by a beautiful blue sky.

This hat uses green as a background color and then a gradient yarn that changes from deep purple into violet and then white. 
It reminds me of a garden dotted with flowers.

This piece makes me think of fall. 
The orange goes through a chroma transformation
that is accented by the black transforming into white.

These are just some examples of a few of the myriad of different combinations that you can create. 

I can't wait to see the beautiful things you design!

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If you have any questions or comments on this or any of my other tutorials, please leave me a comment.

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏