Lilac - Pantone Sheer Lilac

Lilac; flower I genuinely enjoy, but my husband doesn't due to it being too fragrant. Plum; a sweet fruit. Aubergine or eggplant; something I'd rather not eat if given the choice. I typically associate my favorite color with food or plants. Purple cauliflower or carrots. Cabbage. Even verbena, lavender, asters, cosmos, and pansys. These beautiful plants and in a stunning array of shades of purple. To me, purple plants, are unique yet sure. A bold statement of the confidence of Mother Nature.

Purple, by definition,  can mean ornately and showily phrased or marked with profanity, regal or imperial. It's meant to be bold and unassuming.

So here I am working towards a "professional" looking blog; with my own domain name, a better website, email subscription for monthly updates and free downloads, and ultimately working to a goal of some kind of side business or really well-invested hobby that is shared online. The "Lilac Flannel" isn't just about my favorite work shirt, but it's about being bold and unassuming in my own life. Flannel is comfort, lilac is confidence. To be both is to be sure of one's self. Right?

A week prior to my wedding, a family friend gave me a piece of art she made. Now I've always been an avid art fan; when possible I like to have it in my house. I can't even come close to dreaming about affording a Vermeer or Van Eyck, yet I can collect art from artists I know. One day I'll have an original Laffer; until such time I'll satisfy myself with my present collection.

Lavender Mist, 2011 by Kay Lee. It's a simple piece mounted and matted to look larger than it is. It's a simple landscape depicting a field of lavender on a misty morning. What draws me to the piece, time and time again, not just the soft juxtaposition between colors lilac and sage but the texture and shades of purple that come from the texture. The piece looks different depending on the time of day, time of year, and even the direction I have it. The shades of purple remind me that you can be single faceted, and be emboldened by that brazen confidence of "what you see is what you get". Typically that's a richer hue with more blue than red, to me at least. Or, much like the art piece "Lavender Mist", you can have depth and shade. Multifaceted and complex, without singular vantage points the confidence to be soft and bold simultaneously takes a different level of being self-aware. These softer hues, lighter hues, of purple that are harder to break down the ratio of red to blue are the hues I am most drawn to. At first glance lilac, lavender, iris, periwinkle are simply purple with white to make them lighter. Yet side by side, each of these lighter shades has an additional level of complexity to them - secret hints of other colors.

To be bold and unassuming, confident in your own uniqueness, takes a certain kind of someone.

Is that me? Some days I'd like to think so, other days I don't understand my own thoughts.

It's funny how things work the way they should. I initially sat down to write this to get it over, knowing next week's post would have more involved with photos and planning. Now, I'm realizing the point - for me at least - of all of this. My why.

What's that you ask?

Coming soon. 

Poison Ivy, Oil on Canvas. Erik Laffer

In the event you wondered what kind of art I wish to hang in my house, this is one of my favorites. Regrettably for me, it's sold.