Color Conversations with Cristina

Color does more than convey a mood or set off a room. Color is a language that continually evolves with the cultures that contribute the shades and tones of meaning each of us sees. Artist and Color Consultant, Cristina Acosta, shares her insights and expertise about the colors in your life – your home – your business.

The Colors Inside Beige, Taupe and Other Neutrals – Dying Suede Shoes with Acrylic Paint

Neutral colors such as beige, taupe and tan can be the result of a surprising blend of colors. This quality is especially important for neutral wall paint colors as they are exposed to different levels and colors of light throughout the day and their base colors can become more or less prominent depending upon the light quality.

Is Blue the New Green, or are they Just Best Friends?

Calling natural gas the new “blue” doesn’t turn it green no matter how many times anybody says it. And when the gas company insists that it does, their efforts to tint the green movement into a shade that they wash their product with takes green-washing to a new low.

Choosing Colors Can be Like Chasing a Rainbow

Color communicates. Any color expert, designer or artist will agree with that statement. But ask those creative types what exactly a color is communicating and the answers you get may have surprisingly little in common. Here’s why: Color is a language that continually evolves with the cultures that contribute the shades and tones of meaning each of us sees. And, each individual brings their personal biases and perceptions to the mix, further complicating things. Consequently, the meaning of a color is a moving target.

Creating with Colors from the Landscape

I’ve been thinking a lot about color and culture, and have been exploring that theme in my fine art for many years. The landscape around us effects how we perceive color. This week I painted this silk scarf directly from the inspiration of some recent travels.

Modern Metallics Meld Traditional Surfaces with Contemporary Design

Mixing metallics into your home design can give a small space a stylish vibe. Put the metallic accents on existing cabinetry and your small space can remain clear and uncluttered – both practically and visually. And when those metallics come in a coppery pink tone, the result is gorgeous! Metallic finishes can play up modern architecture like this master bath at the same time they link traditional materials like marble with the contemporary shapes of the home design.
The perfect wall paint color brings together the variety of surfaces with a unified color. With that in mind, choosing the color that works with every color in the bathroom is very important. Helping my clients choose the best color for the room meant first determining a few basic concepts.

When the Color Yellow isn’t Sunny

One of the unexpected changes that can happen to the aging eye includes the color yellow. For some people the lens of the eye becomes increasingly dense and more yellow with age. With that change, contrast sensitivity declines and dark colors can be difficult to distinguish from each other.
The yellowing effect may not be affecting you personally, but if you are a retailer or manufacturer selling products, how your products are being perceived by the older customer with this condition affects your sales.

Feeling a Color or Tasting a Sound isn’t Crazy, it’s Synesthesia

Have you every noticed that a color can feel heavy (even if it’s a light color)? Or tight, or smooth, or have a flavor? If the colors you see register as tastes, sounds or physical sensations, then you might have synesthesia. When I walk through a client’s home, the colors, shapes and textures speak to me kinesthetically as well as visually. And sometimes I get the sensation of a taste or sound, depending upon how the colors in the room interact. I never gave much thought to this ability until I read Ramachandran and Hubbard’s work. Then a way of experiencing the world that I had considered a personal idiosyncrasy was suddenly something with a name that I now know is experienced by others.

The Colors of Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead)

Brilliant colors and stark value contrasts between dark and light with the addition of warm earthen tones make up the complex palette of colors associated the Mexican Celebration of Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). Not only are these colors seen among the flowers and decorations that make up the various ofrendas (altars), foods and decor that are part of the celebration, the colors metaphorically and symbolically mirror the mystical underpinnings of the Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Seeing Color Through the Eyes of Neuroscience

Visualize “fire engine red” and the color red rushes to mind with or without a vision of the wheels. Seeing color is such a natural condition that we often don’t question why we see colors and we presume that everybody sees the same colors. Though most of us do see the same colors, some people can’t.

Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold. Is it a Color Trend or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

Because silver and white are such popular car colors, car manufacturers will tend to play it safe and make more silver and white colored cars. Is the most popular car color the sign of a trend or a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Color Captures Your Attention – So Think Before You Paint Your Garage Door Trim

Put a red tomato on a white sand beach and your eye will instantly focus on the tomato. The color difference (even if you know nothing about tomatoes) will be enough to capture your attention. Not only does this visual attribute help you find a snack or your socks, it’s an important concept to keep in mind when you’re painting your house.

Blanca, a New Meaning for the Color White

Mother Nature was giving us a lesson in whites along with a reminder that the borders we humans put around our cities, states, territories and countries are invisible to her. During those moments I spent looking at the subtly colored layers of white snow, white became my new “green”.

Color Meanings, Color Symbolism and Color Psychology

You were covered in color psychology from the day you saw your first pink or blue baby blanket. Scientists, religions, governments, mystics and artists have always assigned meaning to colors over the centuries of human kind and there’s no way to get away from those meanings. Regardless of the culture you’re from you’ve been steeped in color symbolism.

How those color meanings translate for you depends upon when and where you were born as well as your gender, socio-economic status, the perception of your race and culture within the larger population, as well as your personal thoughts, beliefs and experiences.

Lighting and Your Eyesight – Tips and Sources

Light reflected from a surface into our eyes (then sorted out by our brain) is what we perceive as color. Without the proper indoor light fixtures and lighting design, color perception is compromised. Here are some tips and links to get you started on your home lighting design plan

Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15th thru Oct 15th – The Colors of Culture

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the beauties and gifts the heritage of Hispanic culture as well as to acknowledge the mosaic of cultures that make up all of the U.S. The irony for me being an acculturated Latina born in Los Angeles is that I know that though Anglos from many cultures have representative crafts saturated with color, like Polish paper-cuts or Scandinavian tole painting, American Anglos will often focus on the colorful aspects of Mexican American visual culture while ignoring most of the subtle colors that are part of the same mix. To this day, there are no Latina visual artists licensing their decor lines at the supported level of acceptance any of the above Anglo artists have achieved.

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