HISTORIES OF COLOUR
In the modern world colour is too often taken for granted. We are now saturated in all manner of vivid hues but do we consider the origins of how they were sourced, created and revered in ancient times? In this series of workshops we look in depth at the history of individual colours and some of what they represented to people in the past. Using authentic pigments and genuine examples from throughout time we bring this fascinating story back into memory and celebrate the wonder that is colour in all it’s many varieties.
Red…
Red is perhaps the colour with which humanity has had the greatest reverence for. Across the planet cultures have used this colour in all manner of ways from cave paintings, body art and burial ceremonies to name a few.
Green…
Green is most representative of nature being the colour of most plants and trees. From a vibrant copper based mineral to the advent of more recent green pigments, we travel with this alluring and symbolic colour through the ages.
Yellow…
The colour of the sun and the radiance of gold, all is bright and yellow. A colour held with huge amounts of reverence by cultures all over the world. During the course we first journey with the wide array of yellow ochres from different countries before looking at the more unusual and unfamiliar examples of yellow that appear through art history.
Blue…
Blue has long represented the heavenly and divine realms. The colour of sky and distance it has particular symbolic resonance. From a particular mountain in Afghanistan to a chemist in 1700’s Germany we explore some of the extraordinary origins of blue across time.
Black…
Black is the primordial origin of all things, the darkness that contains the light. Quite possibly the earliest colour, in the form of charcoal, used by people across the planet. During this workshop we make different charcoals and other from of carbon black seeing the different ways they can be applied.
If you would like to book a workshop or talk on the history of a particular colour, please get in touch for more details.