The power and pleasure of color!

Hello! The new year is here and it’s a lot! Despite the heavy news, I still believe we have the power to color our world the way we want it to be, the way it ought to be. This month’s newsletter is all about color. From colors that connect us, to colors that show us our power. Color is a sign of life. A colorful world is a world alive with hope and the promise of new things to come. It may sound corny but I deal in color all day. I see the power it holds and how it can express both the deeply personal and universal all at once. Let’s get into it…

Pictures & Words

I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of my advance copy of A Language of Stitches. What a thrill to actually hold the physical book in my hands. I’m excited about this book. I can’t wait for you all to get your copies. (Pre-orders will arrive in July) Here’s a peek inside at the endpapers, some of the colorful “extras” that make this book so special.

The endpapers help tell the story. The book opens with rows of stitches and closes with the Flying Geese quilt squares, moving from a new learner to celebrated artist. The three colors I use are intentional. Rosie Lee Tompkins often used this combination of yellows, oranges and purples. They had personal significance to her. The colors related to members of her family. When using these colors she was able to stay connected to family far away, and even those who had passed away. Colors have the power to bridge the in-between spaces of time and distance, life and death. Color was a motivating source in her work. Over her life time of creating she became a master of color.

Art in School

How do artists get serious about play?

There’s absolutely nothing more exciting than color mixing with Kindergarten. The art room comes alive. Students are animated and joyous. “Look! Look! I made….” the list of colors students have created are wonderfully wild. Some of the most memorable names are “baby black” (aka grey), “golden light” “the grass and the nature color”, “ramoon” (I think they meant maroon but rearranged the sounds with the absolute certainty and adorable confidence only 5 year olds have.), “deep ocean blue”, “space blue”, “teal-ish”, “turquoisey” and just today someone made “bones”. For some reason “bones” made everyone giggle. They are discovering their ability to make a kind of real life magic happen. Colors hold so much power, meaning, emotions and mystery. To be able to create and name a color is a wonderful feeling.

Studio News

New art work is great, but old art work is priceless! Sometimes a black and white photo has as much impact and meaning as brightly colored work. I started the year deep cleaning the studio and came across this gem - a b/w collage from my Kindergarten year.

I still connect to the little girl that once was and still is. I loved color even then. Although I was always making (baking, coloring, imagining, dancing, building, sewing) I was very, very shy and private/protective of my creativity. Becoming an Artist was not part of the adult world I knew. Seeing these old photos I’m glad I’m still making stuff and finding the courage to share it with the world. Little Constance would be/is proud of Me and how far I’ve come.

Grown-up me has a few book related events coming up…

I’ll be running a joyful art experience at the African American Regional Education Alliance 17th annual Professional Development Summit on January 31. Registration for AAREA is still open!

I’ll be doing an intergenerational collage workshop and book talk at Bay Farm Island Library in Alameda on February 28th. Check out their calendar for the details.

Does July seem too far away to get your copy of the book? I’ll be doing a book *GIVE AWAY* on a Creativebug LIVE, March 4th. I’ll have more details in next month’s newsletter.

In the meantime you can take a class with me on Creativebug.com. Inspired by Picture Books is a daily practice that will spark your imagination with prompts based on a new picture book every day. This is a class for curious creatives of all ages.

Thank you for taking time to read. Please forward this newsletter to anyone who might enjoy a monthly dose of creativity in their inbox, or send them over to constancemoore.com to join my list.

I truly appreciate your support.

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