Beat the Winter Doldrums with Color

During the gray days of winter when the trees are bare of leaves and the streets are coated in mud brown slush, the least bit of color catches our eyes, making us yearn for the warm days of spring. One way to add color to our lives right now is to update a room with paint and new fabric. Another way to add color to our lives is with artwork. At Art 3 Gallery we work with several designers who are expert at choosing color, furnishings and accessories to complement your home and life style. If you are in the Manchester NH area, please stop at the gallery to look at what we have hanging on the walls, something colorful might just catch your eye.

Below is a brief overview of how an artist might use color:

Decorative color tends to provide a pleasing background for daily life. Decorative colors are chosen for their stylistic properties and are often flat in nature, meaning there is little or no modulation of tone.

Realistic color forms a natural record of life, depicting things as our eyes would perceive them. These colors tend to be literal and descriptive, utilizing a range of tomes to create the illusion of three dimensions.

Symbolic color moves away from realism with the aim being to express feelings and ideas about the narrative of an artwork. Color then becomes a symbol for allusions, emotions, thoughts, etc.

Impressionistic color can be described as realistic color reinterpreted. Often pure colors are juxtaposed on the surface - rather than mixed on a palette - where the eye mixes them visually.

Abstract color has no agenda to render appearances as they are witnessed, therefore colors are chosen to create visual movement, space, form, or dynamic relarionships.

In any style of art, color is of primary importance, and it is vital to recognize that none of these applications of color are mutually exclusive. Often within a single artwork, several modes of color will exist. Some colors will dominate, thus influencing the overall effect of the piece.

Art 3 Gallery is open M-F from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Evening and weekend appointments are always welcome.