My Green Obsession

I have a compulsion to use green in almost all of my colorways, as illustrated in the pictured random sampling of my yarn colorways. A customer recently asked for a custom colorway "without any green," and then yesterday, another one asked me to modify one of my colors to play up the green. Color preferences fascinate me. Often we think of them as mere personal idiosyncrasies, but actually our preferences reveal more about us than we realize.

We know from science that he brain processes color in ways that impact our emotions. Eastern cultures have long incorporated color properties and symbolism into healing and balancing arts, while modern western cultures have for decades applied color theory to marketing and to manipulating consumer behavior. Only more recently have we recognized the profound psychological repercussions of color in our designed environments, beyond simple matters of taste and trend.

Individuals gravitate to certain colors for reasons beyond visual pleasure. Color is a vital part of life, being a property of light. Light is wavelength and is a form of vibration, which means energy. Light penetrates all matter, every atom and molecule in the universe, including those within our bodies. Not only is color directed into our brains through our eyes, but it literally interacts with us physically as our body’s internal energy reacts with external energy that surrounds us constantly.

While we should all enjoy our own personal color preferences just for the simple pleasure it brings, whether we recognize it or not we are always absorbing and transmitting color’s energy. Consciously or not, we seek out colors that bring us joy and comfort. Those who are interested may consciously experiment with specific colors to promote a positive response or balance whatever is amiss on a given day, or through a time of transition or healing. In researching color meaning, ancient eastern theories abound, characterized by terminology such as chakra or Qi, as well as plenty of modern day studies into behavioral, psychological and marketing aspects of color. Regardless of the data source, some striking common threads emerge in all of these disciplines.

Some interesting theories about physiological responses to color can be found at this interesting website : biopulse.org