Exploring Color
The world of color is a fascinating world to be studied and explored, especially for those who wish to use art as a tool for spiritual development. We can learn how to utilize the desire to create to dive within. Colors are not only a beautiful way to express creativity, they are magical phenomena, a tool to be discovered and applied. Colors can also serve as ‘guides’ to the mystery which is beyond words, shape, matter and logic.
Colors are the spices that give life its flavor – striking bright colors fill life with sweetness and charm, while the lack of color is naturally dark, dull and perhaps gloomy, sad and weak. By connecting to colors, we can touch beauty and create harmony – directly and purely. Exploring colors abstractly, with no form, substance or structure, is a simple, yet enchanting, way to take upon an inner journey; one that is filled with profound meaning and wisdom.
Rainbow
In looking at a rainbow in the sky, our heart expands, our eyes shine and we feel something special taking place. Somehow, we just know there is something magical about this physical phenomenon of light and water.
This miracle wonder, if taken the time to be observed, can make us feel content and joyful for no defined reason; the natural manifestation of colors, spontaneously and “out of the blue”, not only fascinates us, but, in a gentle and silent way, reveals to us a glimpse of divinity.
In the biblical story of Noah and the arch, the rainbow is a symbol of a sacred bond between mankind and God. The rainbow is a visual oath, in the form of a marvelous colorful ray of light coming down to us from above. Connecting earth and sky, the rainbow displays a perfect order of the six main colors and the natural flow between them: yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green. Yellow, red and blue are known in the world of visual art as ‘primary colors’; while purple, green and orange and their respective opposing colors are known as ‘secondary colors’.
The colors of the rainbow flow from one color to the next, and yet each color is clearly distinguished from another and remains defined by its unique individuality.
Playing with Color
If you had ever looked at a child painting with color, you probably have seen that if not given any guidelines or instructions, the child is completely satisfied and captivated to abstractly explore the color itself. This investigation is made with no particular purpose and in no attempt to “make” anything. Simply looking at and discovering the colors’ unique qualities and their nature can be a good way to start discovering the depth of a color and the world of colors in general. An innocent childlike exploration is a wonderful adventure to undertake at any age, at any time.
Regardless as to whether we have been painting for years or have never tried painting before, it is always a perfect time to go and learn and experience the magical world of the colors. What is it that the colors say and mean?
The colors ‘speak’ in a different language from us, they speak with no words, only vast feelings, which are subtle yet precise.
Exploring each color, one by one, can be seen as the first and basic step to develop a real and intimate relationship with colors. Such a relationship is a hallway that can lead us inwards, revealing to us secrets of our self and of universal truth. This may require time and much patient, dedicated attention, sincerity and genuine interest.
Those who take this journey, discover a real jewel that is always new and fresh. It is a never-ending road that can lead us along our inner search and beyond.
