Mix It Up!
Spring has definitely SPRUNG here in SW Virginia! Spring and fall are my two favorite seasons of the year because they are so FULL of Color!
I find winter more tolerable when there’s been an abundance of snow to shape the dull browns & grays of the landscape into soft, white, sculptural forms, but this past winter didn’t deliver a single snowflake! I believe that’s why this spring seems so much more vibrant than years past.
I also might favor spring a little more than fall because my birthday is May 1. From the time I was seven, my mom would order a special May Day basket for my birthday from the local florist. The arrangement was different every year, but always presented in a beautiful woven basket, and always scheduled to arrive right after I got home from school on my special day. My friends and siblings thought I was weird being elated about a bunch of flowers instead of some much-hyped toy or doll, but I would sit for hours and sketch the arrangement, trying to duplicate its beauty. When the blooms started to fade, I would press them in a book. So, growing up in the blustery suburbs of Chicago in the 1960’s, that basket of colorful spring flowers was like gold to me – the rebirth of all that had disappeared during the snowy winters…COLOR!
The Recipes for May are a combination of soft and bright hues… just like spring. Bold, in-your-face blues and greens, along with soft yellow and pink, reminiscent of my baskets of birthday flowers.
Our palette for May is comprised of two, brand new paint recipes, Pink Trillium (my favorite Virginia wildflower!) and Red Bud. Pink Trillium show up each spring with pale pink & white blossoms that gloriously blanket the mountainsides of the back roads for a few weeks, and then disappear. And if you’ve never seen the splendor of a Red Bud tree in bloom, I should point out that they are actually not red at all, but a vibrant, purplish fuchsia color. In the spring, they dazzle the landscape for several weeks dancing across the SW Virginia mountains and fields, creating a stark contrast with all the fresh grass and leaves. Gorgeous!
There’s also two of our popular pre-mixed colors, Blue Ridge & Go Green, and two of my all-time favorite classic recipes I created when I first started “Mixing it Up” in the Black Dog paint studio, Lemon Sorbet and Blue Bird. This combination of colors and recipes is sure to bring a smile to your face. I hope you enjoy them.
And remember, if you create a color you love, please send me the recipe! I would like to feature your creative talents on my page to inspire all.
Happy Spring Everyone!
Swooz
Color Recipes
2023 May Bouquet Color Recipes:
Lemon Sorbet:
2 parts Clean Canvas + 1 part Star City Sunshine
Pink Trillium:
1 part Appalachian Sunset + 3 parts Clean Canvas
Blue Bird:
2 parts Clean Canvas + 1 part Blue Ridge
Virginia Red Bud:
1 part Appalachian Sunset + 1 part That’s Gonna Leave a Mark
Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint is completely mixable which means you can create your own colors using any of the pre-mixed hues.
Adding Clean Canvas (our true white) will allow you to create a “tint” or lighter shade of any of the colors. Adding Black Dog Black will allow you to create a “shade” or darker hue of any of the colors.